Auxilia externa: the use of non-Italian manpower under the Roman Republic

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In the period between 264 and 49 BC the Roman Republic extended its empire beyond the Italian peninsula to embrace most of the Mediterranean world. By the end of this period Rome had established a system of provincial government which was to endure for centuries. However, the means by which Rome not only conquered but subsequently controlled that territory, ultimately by the establishment of regular geographical provinces, and the way in which the system of provincial government evolved in the period of expansion remains unclear in many regards. One aspect of this expansion which has never been comprehensively studied is the military use made by Rome of the manpower available in the lands which it conquered. It has always been recognised that Rome's use of the manpower of the Italian peninsula was a remarkable and distinctive feature of Roman imperialism, which contributed to the incorporation of the Italic peoples into the Roman state. This study will demonstrate the extent to which this approach was in fact employed beyond Italy.Extensive but scattered evidence for this practice exists in both the literary and epigraphic sources from the period. A complete survey of this evidence has never been undertaken, although limited local studies of the practice have been made in the past. A demonstration of the existence of such use of local manpower across the Republican empire opens up several further important areas of research. In the first place, the way in which Rome actually established and maintained the provinces has long been a subject of debate among scholars. Provinces were slow to become a regular institution, and the Roman citizen army was not well suited to the maintenance of standing garrisons. The use of local manpower has never previously been seriously considered as an element in this process and this study will change our understanding of Roman provincial government. In the second place, the incorporation of local manpower both within the Roman army and within the Roman control of provincial territory will have provided a clear conduit for cultural interaction between Rome and the different regions of the Mediterranean. It will also have exercised a clear role in the political incorporation of subject peoples within the Roman empire, offering a positive role for non-Italians within the Roman imperial structures.In two respects, this study will also be important for our understanding of the Roman Empire. The auxiliary elements of the army of the Roman Empire have been very extensively studied, and their importance both militarily and culturally has been clearly demonstrated. However, the origins of the Roman use of auxiliaries are not properly understood, and this study will place our knowledge of this on a new footing. Secondly, the spread of Roman culture (often referred to by the label of 'Romanisation') is very obvious in the age of Augustus, but the reasons for the rapid spread of visible indicators of Roman culture at the very end of the Republican period (in contrast to the earlier period of Republican empire) still need to be fully explained. By revealing the extent of the use of local manpower in the preceding period we shall have a much clearer idea of one of the foundations for the Augustan 'Romanisation' across the different regions of the Mediterranean.