Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Romans
The First Punic War (264-241 BC) saw Rome challenge Carthage for possession of Sicily,
and at the end of the war the victorious Romans claimed the island as their first province
outside the Italian mainland. Under the Romans, the majority of Sicilians lived in horrify-
ingly reduced circumstances; native inhabitants were refused the right to citizenship and
forced into indentured slavery on
latifondi
- huge landed estates that were to cause so
many of the island's woes in later years. Not surprisingly, Rome's less-than-enlightened
rule led to a revolt by slaves in 135 BC and the Second Servile War in 104-101 BC.
