Whatever their differences at home, Italians and Romans abroad had co-operated enthusiastically in exploiting the lands they had jointly conquered. Indeed, this exploitation at times approached the point of pillage, and the resentful peoples being plundered cared little about the political disagreements of their hated occupiers. The idea that they might side with one against the other lost its attraction to foreigners when both sets of oppressors appeared equally unsavoury.
