Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

SOCII.

34

6

SOLITAURILIA.

had either been conquered by the Romans,
or had come under their dominion through
other circumstances. When such nations
formed an alliance with Rome, they gener-
ally retained their own laws ; or if they
were not allowed this privilege at first, they
usually obtained it subsequently. The con-
dition of the Italian allies varied, and mainly
depended upon the manner in which they
had come under the Roman dominion ; but
in reality they were always dependent upon
Rome. The following are the principal duties
which the Italian Socii had to perform to-
wards Rome : they had to send subsidies in
troops, money, corn, ships, and other things,
whenever Rome demanded them. The num-
ber of troops requisite for completing or in-
creasing the Roman armies was decreed
every year by the senate, and the consuls
fixed the amount which each allied nation
had to send, in proportion to its population
capable of bearing arms, of which each nation
was obliged to draw up accurate lists, called
formulae. The consul also appointed the
place and time at which the troops of the
socii, each part under its own leader, had to
meet him and his legions. The infantry of
the allies in a consular army was usually
equal in numbers to that of the Romans ; the
cavalry was generally three times the number
of the Romans : but these numerical propor-
tions were not always observed. The consuls
appointed twelve praefects as commanders of
the socii, and their power answered to that
of the twelve military tribunes in the con-
sular legions. These praefects, who were
probably taken from the allies themselves,
and not from the Romans, selected a third of
the cavalry, and a fifth of the infantry of the
socii, who formed a select detachment for
extraordinary cases, and who were called the
o.xtraordinarii. The remaining body of the
socii was then divided into two parts, called
the right and the left wing. The infantry of
the wings was, as usual, divided into cohorts,
and the cavalry into turmae. In some cases
also legions were formed of the socii. Pay
and clothing were given to the allied troops
by the states or towns to which they be-
longed, and which appointed quaestors or
paymasters for this purpose : but Rome fur-
nished them with provisions at the expense
of the republic : the infantry received the
same as the Roman infantry, but the cavalry
only received two-thirds of what was given
to the Roman cavalry. In the distribution
of the spoil and of conquered lands they fre-
quently received the same share as the Ro-
mans. They were never allowed to take up
arms of their own accord, and disputes among
then were settled by the senate. Notwith-

standing all this, the socii fell gradually
under the arbitrary rule of the senate and
the magistrates of Rome ; and after the year
b. c. 173, it even became customary for ma-
gistrates, when they travelled through Italy,
to demand of the authorities of allied towns
to pay homage to them, to provide them with
a residence, and to furnish them with beasts
of burden when they continued their journey.
The only way for the allies to obtain any
protection against such arbitrary proceedings,
was to enter into a kind of clientela with
some influential and powerful Roman. Socii
who revolted against Rome were frequently
punished with the loss of their freedom, or
of the honour of serving in the Roman
armies. Such punishments however varied
according to circumstances. After the civitas
had been granted to all the Italians by the
Lex Julia de Civitate (b. c. 90), the relation
of the Italian soeii to Rome ceased. But
Rome had long before this event applied the
name Socii to foreign nations also which were
allied with Rome, though the meaning of the
word in this case differed from that of the
Socii Italici. There were two principal kinds
of alliances with foreign nations : 1. foedtts
aeguum, such as might be concluded either
after a war in which neither party had
gained a decisive victory, or with a nation
with which Rome had never been at war;
2. a foedus iniquum, when a foreign nation
conquered by the Romans was obliged to
form the alliance on any terms proposed by
the conquerors. In the latter case the foreign
nation was to some extent subject to Rome,
and obliged to comply with anything that
Rome might demand. But all foreign socii,
whether they had an equal or unequal alli-
ance, were obliged to send subsidies in troops
when Rome demanded them ; these troops,
however, did not, like those of the Italian
socii, serve in the line, hut were employed
as light-armed soldiers, and were called
milites auxiliares, auxiliarii, auxilia, or some-
times auxilia externa. Towards the end of
the republic all the Roman allies, whether
they were nations or kings, sank down to the
condition of mere subjects or vassals of Rome,
whose freedom and independence consisted in
nothing hut a name. [Compare Foedi:e.atak
Civitates.]

SODALmUM. [Ambitus.]

SOLARIUM. [Horologium.]

SOLEA was the simplest kind of sandal
[Sandalfcm], consisting of a sole with little
more to fasten it to the foot than a strap
across the instep.

SOLIDUS. [Aram.]

SOLITALRILIA. [Sacrificium ; Lustra-
tio; and woodcut on p. 343.]