(also War of the Allies; sometimes called the Marsic or Marsian War because of the participation of the Marsi tribe), an anti-Roman uprising of Italian tribes from 90 B.C. (or 91 B.C.) to 88 B.C.
The Social War began when the Roman Senate refused to grant citizenship to socii in Italy. The alliance of socii, called Italia by its members, was centered in the cities of Corfinium and Bovianum Vetus and headed by a council of 500. The rebels minted a silver coin with a symbolic representation of a bull trampling the Roman she-wolf. Each tribe supplied an army; the total strength of the forces reached 200,000 men in 90 B.C., exceeding the numbers of the Roman army. The rebels were joined by the lowest strata of Roman colonists, the provincials.
Under these conditions, the Romans made the first concession: in accordance with Lucius Caesar’s Lex Julia of 90 B.C., Roman citizenship was granted to the tribes who had not taken part in the Social War—in effect, the Etruscans and Umbrians. This caused vacillation in the ranks of the insurgents; however, the Marsi, Samnites, and Picenes continued to fight bitterly. The Romans were forced to make a further concession: the granting of Latin citizenship to Cisalpine Gaul, and the granting of citizenship to the Italians if they would lay down their arms within 60 days. This undermined and divided the rebel forces, which led to their defeat at Campania, Samnium, and Apulia. In the summer of 88 B.C., Italian resistance was overcome. The Romans granted citizenship to all Italians but restricted the new citizens to eight (or ten) of the 35 tribes, thus eliminating the sociopolitical influence of the Italians. All the Italian communities became Roman municipia.
The Social War undermined the Roman polis organization and hastened the latinization of Italy and the formation of the Italian nationality.
I. L. MAIAK