Roman colonies developed as a consequence of the traumatic Latin War, which finished in 338 BC. Before then Rome had looked at the other states of Latium as colleagues in mutual defence. The fact that these states sided with other local tribes against Rome was a sobering experience that convinced the Romans that they needed to look to their own defence. The idea of doing so with military colonies was not a new one. There were plenty of examples from earlier Greek history from which the Romans could learn, though some aspects of the foundation process made Roman writers think that the original
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