Chapter VI – Plebeian Revolts (280-279 BC)
Rome's military campaigns continued in Italy throughout the decade that followed the Syracusan War. The tribes of Cisalpine Gaul, who had raided Roman border settlements for years, were subjugated in 289 BC. The Bruttii were eventually annexed peacefully to the Republic in 283 BC, and the last Greek colony in Italy, Tarentum, fell in 282 BC after a short war.
The influx of new lands, especially those suitable for farming, soon proved troublesome to the Republic. Much of these areas were sold or rented to the plebeians, who would work the land themselves and pay the appropriate taxes to the State.
[1] But the patricians began to purchase these smaller plots, often under persuasion and at times, by force, slowly absorbing the neighbouring small estates into huge farms owned by rich landowners, who preferred to use slaves to work their lands leaving many of Rome's poor citizenry even poorer and without jobs. There were old laws, that prevented individuals from owning more than 300 acres of land
[2], but there are no indications such laws were enforced.
In early 280 BC, plebeians in Northern Italy, Sicily and Samnium revolted, attacking the larger farms and the local administration. These small, unorganized groups however were quickly put down by the legions stationed nearby. The larger threat to the Republic was Lucius Clepsina, a General in Cisalpine Gaul, who openly supported the plebeians. He vowed to march South with his Sixth Legion, to Rome herself if necessary, in support of the plebeians.
Clepsina had underestimated the support he would get from the military and so the Seventh and Fifth legion, who Clepsina had expected to join his side, now blocked his way into the rest of Italy. This setback meant that Clepsina's rebellion was a failure from the start. Facing exile or in worst case death, he headed West, to Massilia through the region known as the Maritime Alps. The Massilians were in friendly terms with the Republic, but Clepsina knew their military strength would not be enough to challenge him. In Massilia Clepsina hoped to acquire enough ships to escape with his soldiers to Spain or North Africa.
The Senate had learned of Clepsina's intentions from loyalists in Cisalpine Gaul and had dispatched the Fourth Legion under Quintus Gallus to Maritime Alps by sea. Shortly after emerging from the mountain pass, the rebels came under attack by Gallus' legion. Clepsina suffered a costly defeat and withdrew South to the coast, then turned East towards Liguria, where in the Fall of 279 BC Clepsina's army was defeated decisively. Lucius Clepsina was brought to Rome, where he was executed for treason.
c.280 BC
1: ”[..]tenth of the grain and a fifth of the fruit.” -Appian, The Civil Wars
2: e.g. Lex Licinia Sextia, 367 BC