Roman soldier-farmer

As Seneca the Younger once said: “Wherever the Roman conquers, there he dwells”¹. The conquests of the Roman Republic resulted, to a large extent, mainly from the need to acquire land and increase crops.

A classical citizen of the Roman Republic was a soldier farmer who tended to his land after his military service. Wanting to subdue the conquered lands, the Romans did not stop at creating colonies, like the Greeks, but settled in the conquered areas. It was estimated that only a hundred years were needed for the conquered province to become fully Romanized, and for the local inhabitants to be loyal to the central authority of Rome².