COLONIAE AND MUNICIPIA
numbered several thousand[1]. The majority of those who were sent to a Latin colony were Latins or Italian allies, but Romans who were willing to accept Latin in place of their Roman citizenship were also enrolled. The Latin colonies of the early period bore the same relation to Rome that the members of the Latin League had held. They were free from the payment of tribute. They had the right of coinage. They had their own magistrates and laws, and they enjoyed the same rights as Roman citizens[2]. On the other hand, while the settlers in the early Roman colonies were excused from regular military service, each Latin colony was required to furnish a military contingent to serve in the alae or cohortes. However, the twelve Latin colonies were founded after 268 B.C. suffered a diminution in their privileges. They lost the right of coinage and the ius conubii, and they found it more difficult to obtain Roman citizenship[3]. Still another change in the situation came about in 89 B.C., for by virture of the grant of Roman citizenship to the Italians in this year, all Latin colonies south of the Po were transformed into Roman municipia. In the same eyar the cities in Transpadane Gaul were givent the rights of Latin citizenship, to be transformed in 49 B.C. into those of Roman citizenship. Consequently Latin colonies henceforth disappear from the peninsula.
In Italy and the provinces the Latin colonies numbered about sixty-one, and the Roman colonies, about three hundred and eighty-one[4]. The earliest colonies were established as military outposts to hold and Romanize newly acquired territory. The most characteristic feature of the Roman colonies was the fact that they were established on the coast. This practice was follow without exception until 183 B.C., when the rule was broken by sending
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