The fundamental problem was the failure of inclusivism. This itself had two parts. Firstly, after the second Punic War the Roman Republic, originally one of the most open societies in the ancient world, changed its policy of absorbing communities into the Roman citizen body. Instead Rome began to guard the citizenship jealously, creating divisions between those who had the privileges and rights of citizenship and those who wanted them. Secondly, the Roman leadership, also once open and inclusive, fell into the hands of a largely closed community of aristocrats. This community defended its
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