Historical Cohesion of The Roman Alliance
This section deals with how successfully the Rome's alliance with the socii withstood the military challenges it faced in the two and a half centuries of its existence (338–88 BC). The challenges may be divided into three broad periods: (1) 338–280 BC, when the confederation was tested mainly by challenges from other Italian powers, especially the Samnites; (2) 281–201 BC, when the main threat to the confederation was intervention in Italy by non-Italian powers i.e. Pyrrhus' invasion (281–75 BC) and Hannibal's invasion (218–01 BC); (3) 201–90 when the socii were called upon to support the Rome's imperialist expansion outside Italy. Elements of all three phases overlap: for example, Gallic invasions of the peninsula from the North recurred throughout the period.
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