Cataclysm 90 BC: The Forgotten War that Almost Destroyed Rome

by Philip Matyszak

the southern group aimed at consolidating and extending the territory under their control by taking the countryside and smaller towns away from Rome. The example of Venusia had shown that opinion in the southern colonies was not unanimously pro-Roman. The further from Rome it was, the more likely it was that the population had ‘gone native’ as the Venusians had done. Therefore colonies in the south of Italy, cut off from Rome and with the Italians in control of the countryside, might decide to re-think their loyalties. Furthermore, not everyone in a colony had to join the rebel side. With a bit of luck and a lot of treachery, all it might take was a few dozen men prepared to open a critical gate at the right time. So Mutilus’ operations had the focus of beating the Romans in the field, but not simply because from the Italian point of view this was a good thing in itself. Victory also helped to sway the hearts and minds of waverers, and where sympathy for the rebels was not enough, Mutilus was happy to add a healthy dose of terror by demonstrating the consequences of resistance. The Roman strategy on the other hand could be summarized with the words defend, consolidate, survive. That is, the Romans had to defend their colonies for exactly the