Rome, in consolidating its control of southern and central Italy, plants Roman and Latin military colonies on confiscated lands.

They award complete Roman citizenship only to some cities and tribes as a way of rewarding them for rapid romanization and faithfulness to Rome.

The Romans impose limited citizenship on other cities and tribes, forcing them to conclude a perpetual alliance with Rome and to provide soldiers for Roman wars, and depriving these cities of an independent foreign policy.

In 264 BCE, Roman Italy comprises about fifty-two thousand square miles (one hundred and toirty five thousand square kilometers), populated by two hundred and ninety two thousand Roman (male) citizens, and about seven hundred thousand Roman allies.

Gladiators—professional combatants drawn from the ranks of prisoners of war, criminals, enslaved people, and volunteer freedmen—compete from 264 as public entertainment as part of memorial ceremonies in Rome.