Expanding the Republic

Rome rebuilt quickly after the Gallic invasion and re-emerged as the main power in the central part of the Italian peninsula. Still, other cities challenged Rome, leading to another series of war. In 343 b. c.e., the Romans fought the Samnites, an association of tribes to the southeast. After a Roman victory two years later, the two sides became allies. They then joined together to fight the tribes in the Latin League, who were beginning to challenge Rome’s authority. This so-called Latin War ended in 338 b. c.e. with another Roman victory.

After the war, the Latin League was dissolved and Rome was clearly the dominant force in the region. Rome took control of some of the territory held by the Latin cities. Other defeated peoples kept their independence, but they were expected to provide military aid when Rome asked for it.

Rome also expanded by founding colonies. Settlers agreed to give up their Roman citizenship in return for land. The new colonial towns were called Latin colonies, as they received the same rights held in the past by the members of the Latin League. Smaller settlements, known as Roman colonies, were usually military posts. Roman citizens who moved to these colonies kept their Roman citizenship. Rome’s influence also grew by signing treaties with other tribes and winning more victories on the battlefield.

Rome’s continuing growth led to two more wars with the Samnites. Around 327 B. C.E., the former allies supported opposing sides in a political struggle in the city of Naples. Their war ended more than 20 years later in a draw, and a third Samnite war began in 298 B. C.E. This time, the Samnites called on the Gauls and Etruscans for help, but in the end Rome and its allies won a major victory. In 290 B. C.E. the Samnites came under Roman control, and within the next two decades Rome had also defeated the Gauls and the Etruscans. The Roman Empire was now secure in the central part of the Italian peninsula.

The Municipa

As it conquered its former Latin allies, Rome gave many of them a large level of local control, and their people received the full rights of Roman citizenship. For the non-Latin peoples it defeated, Rome created a special form of citizenship that included many rights and obligations (including a duty to serve in the military and pay taxes), but not the right to vote. This class of citizenship was known as civitas sine suffragio— "citizenship without suffrage." In either case, Rome called these defeated cities municipia, which came from the Latin word for "duty," munus. Today, towns and cities are sometimes called municipalities, and municipal refers to local government affairs or officials.

With Roman influence spreading farther south, the Republic came into conflict with the Greek city of Tarentum (the modern city of Taranto). Rome made alliances with several smaller Greek cities in the southern part of the Italian peninsula, challenging Tarentum’s dominance. In 280 B. C.E., a Greek force led by King Pyrrhus (c. 318-272 B. C.E.) invaded Roman lands. Pyrrhus won several victories but suffered heavy losses, and today the phrase “Pyrrhic victory” describes any victory that is eventually more damaging to the winner than the loser. Roman forces finally drove Pyrrhus out of Italy and captured Tarentum. Rome now owned or controlled almost all of the Italian peninsula.