The Importance of Insourcing in the Roman Empire

After conquering half the known world, these citizen soldiers came home to find that Italy had been transformed and they were left out in the economic cold. The largest state owners did not need free Roman citizens for the planting or for the harvest. Now slaves ran the farms, and tilled the soil, and carried the bushels. Suddenly, once fine upstanding members of the community were landless, homeless, and growing desperate.