In fact it is clear that in many cases, especially in Apulia, influential aristocrats managed to keep their particular communities loyal to Rome even as the rest of the countryside rose in rebellion. At this point of absolute and vital importance was the attitude of the Latins and the colonists. The ‘Latins’ were those people who possessed the Latin Right, the right to make commercial agreements, to marry or transfer citizenship to another Latin state if they moved there. This right gave Latins many of the privileges of Roman citizenship. Though Latins did not have the vote, they were
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