Social War Rome Italian allies citizenship

Rome granted citizenship to enemies to help end a war

In 91 BCE, Rome's Italian allies rebelled after being denied Roman citizenship despite fighting in Rome's armies. Rather than relying on military force alone, Rome offered citizenship to many Italian communities. The concession helped weaken the rebellion and transformed who could legally call themselves Roman.

Repeated phrases helped poets improvise the Iliad

The Iliad uses many familiar phrases again and again. During spoken performance, a poet could use one of these ready-made phrases to fill part of a line while creating the rest. Repetition could make live improvisation easier rather than prevent creativity.

A Spanish coin helped set the quarter at 25 cents

The U.S. dollar began at the same value as the Spanish-American silver dollar, a trade coin already used widely across the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Colonists knew its two-real coin, worth a quarter of a peso. That familiarity helped make the U.S. quarter worth 25 cents rather than 20.

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Social War Rome Italian allies citizenship

Rome granted citizenship to enemies to help end a war

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