The Social War, 91 to 88 Bce: A History of the Italian Insurgency Against the Roman Republic

265 Pages·2014·2.34 MB·English

by  Christopher J. Dart

THE SOCIAL WAR, 91 TO 88 bce
For Antonia
The Social War, 91 to 88 bce
A History of the Italian Insurgency
against the Roman Republic
CHRISTOPHER J. DART
University of Melbourne, Australia
RO Routledge
U
TLE
DG Taylor & Francis Group
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2014 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright© Christopher J. Dart 2014
Christopher J. Dart has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
formor by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
includingphotocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permissionin writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
foridentification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Dart, Christopher J.
The Social War, 91 to 88 BCE : a history of the Italian insurgency against the Roman Republic
/ by Christopher J. Dart.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4724-1676-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4724-1678-0 (ePub) 1. Rome – History – Social War, 90–88 B.C. 2. Insurgency
– Italy – History – To 1500. 3. Italy – History, Military. I. Title.
DG257.3.D37 2015
937’.05—dc23
2014023590
ISBN 9781472416766 (hbk)
Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 The Modern Study of the Social War 9
2 Ancient Perspectives on the Social War 23
3 Italians and the Roman State in the Second Century bce 43
4 Livius Drusus, Poppaedius Silo and the Looming Conflict
(91 bce) 69
5 The Outbreak of the War (91 to 90 bce) 99
6 The War in Italy (90 bce) 125
7 The Collapse of the Italian Insurgency (89 to 88 bce) 149
8 The Lex Iulia, Lex Plautia Papiria and Enfranchisement
(90 to 88 bce) 171
9 Ongoing Conflicts and Enfranchisement (88 to 70 bce) 189
Conclusions 213
Appendices
1 Important Legislation 215
2 Roman and Italian Commanders 221
vi The Social War, 91 to 88 bce
3 Cities Besieged during the Social War 225
4 Examples of Enfranchised Individuals 231
Bibliography 235
Index 249
List of Figures
1 Cities of Italy at the time of the Social War 7
2 Ethnic Regions of Italy at the time of the Social War 8
3 Anonymous insurgent coin of the Social War depicting an
oath scene. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum 112
4 Bilingual insurgent coin of Paapius Mutilus depicting the
dioscuri. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum 115
5 Anonymous insurgent coin showing a wolf attacked by a bull.
Image © The Trustees of the British Museum 131
6 Anonymous insurgent coin depicting Italia and Victory.
Image © The Trustees of the British Museum 131
7 Insurgent coin of Paapius Mutilus in Oscan depicting an oath
scene. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum 165
8 Anonymous insurgent coin of the Social War. Image © The
Trustees of the British Museum 166
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Acknowledgements
The genesis of this book occurred many years ago when I was in the final stages
of completing my PhD thesis under the supervision of Prof. Ronald Ridley. The
concept lay dormant for several years until through many subsequent discussions
with Prof. Ridley and upon the frequent encouragement of Frederik Vervaet I
first began to work on this book in earnest in 2011. I have been very fortunate
throughout this period to have been an Honorary Fellow of the School of
Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and this
book would certainly not have been possible without the University’s excellent
facilities. I would like to thank all the colleagues, both here in Australia and
abroad, who have generously offered their advice, sent articles, posed challenging
questions for which I have endeavoured to find answers and made valuable
suggestions in the course of writing this book, including Fiona Tweedie, Federico
Santangelo, the late Ernst Badian and Erich Gruen. I thank the Istituto di
Cultura Sicilia Australia (ICSA), which supported an enlightening visit to Italy
in 2013 during which much valuable work on the manuscript was completed.
I wish to thank the readers, editors and staff at Ashgate and most especially Sarah
Charters, from whom I have received prompt and insightful feedback at every
stage. Many thanks must go to copy-editor Lindsey Brake; those faults which
remain are mine. I have had the good fortune at the University of Melbourne to
be surrounded by many talented colleagues and good friends. I am particularly
indebted to three: Dr Trudie Fraser, Dr Frederik Vervaet and Prof. Ronald
Ridley, I have benefited immensely from their many insights, ardent backing
and consistent generosity over many years. It is a well-worn trope to thank one’s
family but it could not be more genuinely called for than in my case. I would
like to thank my family, and especially my mum Gayle and my sister Cassie; they
have been eternally supportive of me. Finally, I cannot thank enough my wife
Camilla and our daughter Antonia, who are a constant inspiration to me.