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[[File: 673px-Roman Legionaries-MGR Lyon-IMG 1050.jpg |thumbnail|200px|Roman legionaries 1st century BCE]]
==Social and Economic impact of the wars==
The wars devastated large areas of Italy and the loss of life was substantial. The historian Florus believed that the Social War was the worse in Italian history ‘’neither the devastation brought about by Hannibal nor by Pyrrhus was more serious’’. <ref>Florus, Epitome of the Roman Histories. 2.6</ref> During the war the small farmers suffered most and many were forced off the land. In the aftermath of the wars war, banditry became very common and demobilized soldiers terrorized local communities. In 78 ADBCE, there was a revolt among the rural poor who threatened to march on Rome. <ref>Plutarch. Life of Pompey. 24. 7</ref> The local elites often turned their villas into fortresses. At this time, many Italian farmers had to migrate to Rome and elsewhere. By contrast the local Italian elites did very well <ref> Florus, Epitome of the Roman Histories. 2.6</ref>. They were the only ones who could benefit from the new rights conceded to the Italian communities as only they could meet the property qualifications required a citizen. They also could expand their estates at the expense of the many small farmers ruined by the Social Wars and indeed the other Civil Wars. The local elites in many cases were absentee landlords who lived in towns such as Pompeii, Capua or even Rome. This helped to boost urbanisation in many regions of Italy. The elite often spend lavishly in urban centres and the aftermath of the Social Wars witnessed many amphitheatres, theatres and temples built in towns such as Pompeii.<ref>Scullard, p 114</ref>. While the wealth was unevenly distributed the The Italian regions generally were able to develop significantly in the decades after the Social War, even though the wealth was unevenly distributed.
== Romanization==
One of the consequences of the Social War was the increasing Romanization of the Italian regions. Prior to the First Century AD there had been many distinct cultures in Italy even though they were allied to Rome. It seems that in the aftermath of the Social War that this changed. Many ancient cultures such as the Etruscans suffered greatly during the war and the subsequent civil wars between Sulla and Marius. So much so that the Etruscan language went into sharp decline by about 50BCE. This was a pattern repeated in many regions but unlike the Etruscans, many local cultures continued to retain something of their identity. Increasingly, the local elites be they Samnite or Oscan began to identify with Rome and its culture. This led to the increasing Romanization of the elite and especially urban areas in Italy.<ref> Scullard, 145</ref> Pompeii originally an Oscan town was by the First Century AD almost identical to every other Roman municipality with its forum and amphitheatre. It must be noted that regional cultures and identities continued to flourish in some rural areas.
