Rome is able to build the deep well of military resources that enable them to compete with carthage in the punic wars, which are these knock down, drag out fights. The romans don't make allies when they go out side of italy. They make provinces and then promptly begin recruiting those provincials into the roman army. By the reign of tiberius, the second emperor, were told that half of the rRoman army were the legions, which consisted of italians. Now all by this point, all the italians, or roman citizens, to these ar the citizen legions. Ahmen.