What changes occurred in the Roman Republic as a result? What were the effects of these conquests? With conquest came immense wealth and Rome's economy, society, and political structure started to change.

Small farms were replaced by large estates which used slaves to plant and harvest crops. Farmers either sold or abandoned their small farms and moved to the cities. One could make the argument that these events were the beginning of the end of the Republic of Rome.

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Source: Olice Groves in Syria, High Contrast, Wikimedia

During the Second Punic War, Hannibal's invading army lived off the land as they moved through Italy. Roman farmers burned their fields and crops to prevent them from getting food. Much of the arable land was now ruined, and small farmers did not have the money to restore their land. Patricians and rich businessmen bought the small farms and replaced them with large estates called latifundias. Latifundias produced olives, grapes, sheep, and cattle, but Rome no longer grew its own wheat. Rome imported wheat from the newly conquered territories in Sicily and North Africa.

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Source: Campo Vaccino, Claude Lorrain, Wikimedia

Urban Life
Farmers who sold or abandoned their land moved to the cities. They lived in wooden apartment-like buildings that often caught fire or collapsed. Most of these buildings were not connected to the system of aqueducts, so there was no fresh water and sewage remained in the streets. Diseases like typhus were common. Farmers could not make a living in the city because most of the work was done by the newest, cheapest workforce in Rome, slaves. To make money, farmers started to sell their votes to politicians.

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Source: Death of Gaius Gracchus, Jean-Baptiste Topino-Lebrun, Wikimedia

The Gap Between Rich and Poor
Because Rome had expanded its territory, politicians began to demand taxes and slaves as payment from newly conquered areas. Rome sold tax contracts to "publicans," who would pay taxes for the people and charge them 10 per cent interest, like a loan. Farmers and others had no money or a means of paying the money back. The gap between rich and poor grew even wider. The poor hated the rich for what they had done to them, and the rich resented and feared the poor. Rome was no longer politically stable.