Roman attitudes to empire and imperialism: the view from history

Extract

In a letter written to Atticus in mid March 60 B.C., Cicero (Att. 1.19.2) flagged up a number of concerns regarding the situation in Gaul:

In public life at the moment, fear of a Gallic war is the big issue. For the Aeduans, our brothers, have recently fought a hard fight and without doubt the Helvetii are up in arms and making excursions into the province. The senate has decreed that the consuls should cast lots for the two Gauls, that levies should take place with no exemptions valid, and that legates with authority should be sent to go to the Gallic communities and to make an effort to prevent them from joining forces with the Helvetii (author’s transl.)