The reason for expanding the franchise of Roman citizenship to the auxilia seems not to have originated from forward-thinking benevolence, but rather, as part of a necessary expedient engendered by Rome’s territorial expansion. As the burgeoning civilization spread its dominion further and further afield from its homeland, it naturally began to rule over an ever-growing populace. While some could be kept firmly under its yoke, without much in the way of conciliation, the paradox of being a part of ‘Rome’, but unable to share in its franchise, was a source of tension that the state wrestled with for centuries. Such tensions truly came to a head in the Social War of 89 BC, wherein the apparent Italian ‘allies’ (socii) of the Roman Republic rebelled against what they saw as Rome’s tyrannical politics.
Central to their indignation at Roman policy was their belief that they deserved to have more of a say in the decision-making going on from the centre; in essence, they
