ABSTRACT
The Roman conquest of Italy was already reshaping Italian agriculture by 264 BC From 338 to 264, the ager Romanus increased from about 2200 square miles to over 10,000, about 20 percent of peninsular Italy's surface area. Starting around 350 BC, the Romans began to conquer central Italy. The reforms attributed to Licinius and Sextius in 367 BC had preserved internal harmony as the Romans reasserted themselves after the Gallic sack. They also had created a government and army capable of handling and promoting Rome's growing power. The reorganized Roman state easily turned back a new Gallic invasion about 349 BC. After the Gallic sack, Rome's growth as a center of trade and manufacturing and as the largest city in Italy resumed. During the fourth century, Rome's fiscal needs, particularly pay for soldiers, increased. As early as 289 BC, the Romans created a mint and a board of three moneyers, triumviri monetales, to run it.
