Taking Stock

-Rome now controlled the Italian peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia, Greece, Macedonia, the Iberian peninsula, and parts of North Africa.
   -The Romans grew rich with slaves and treasure.
      -Most of this ended up in the hands of the already wealthy, however.
-The Roman economy was transformed- patricians bought up more and more land, and had slaves work on it instead of plebs.
-The military was transformed too.
   -Originally, you had to be a landowner to serve in the army, but these standards were becoming unsustainable due to the amount of troops needed to maintain such vast amounts of territory.
      -100 BC- the landowner prerequisite to join the army was abolished, and the military became open to anyone.
         -Soldiers were paid in how much their commander gave them after a battle/raid/siege.  The Roman legions were then transformed into more of a mercenary fighting force as opposed to something the aristocracy participated in out of a sense of duty, honor, or glory.
-Rome thus was transformed into more of an oligarchy, as opposed to a true republic.