In the old days, before Rome entered on a career of foreign conquest, her citizens were famous among men for their love of country, their simple lives, and their conservative, old-fashioned ways. They worked hard on their little farms, fought bravely in the legions, and kept up with careful piety all the ceremonies of their religion. But now the Roman republic was an imperial power with all the privileges of universal rule. Her foreign wars proved to be immensely profitable. At the end of a successful campaign the soldiers received large gifts from their general, besides the booty taken from the enemy. The Roman state itself profited from the sale of enslaved prisoners and their property. Large sums of money were sometimes seized and taken to Rome. When once peace had been made, the Roman governors and tax collectors followed in the wake of the armies and squeezed the provincials at every turn. The Romans, indeed, seem to have conquered the world less for glory than for profit. GROWTH OF LUXURY So much wealth poured into Rome from every side that there could scarcely fail to be a sudden growth of luxurious tastes. Rich nobles quickly developed a relish for all sorts of reckless display. They built fine houses adorned with statues, costly paintings, and furnishings. They surrounded themselves with troops of slaves. Instead of plain linen clothes they and their wives wore garments of silk and gold. At their banquets they spread embroidered carpets, purple coverings, and dishes of gilt plate. Pomp and splendor replaced the rude simplicity of an earlier age. DISAPPEARANCE OF THE PEASANTRY But if the rich were becoming richer, it seems that the poor were also becoming poorer. After Rome became mistress of the Mediterranean, her markets were flooded with the cheap wheat raised in the provinces, especially in those granaries, Sicily and Africa. The price of wheat fell so low that Roman peasants could not raise enough to support their families and pay their taxes. When agriculture became unprofitable, the farmer was no longer able to remain on the soil. He had to sell out, often at a ruinous sacrifice. His land was bought by capitalists, who turned many small fields into vast sheep pastures and cattle ranches. Gangs of slaves, laboring under the lash, gradually took the place of the old Roman peasantry, the very strength of the state. Not unjust was the famous remark, "Great domains ruined Italy." [15] THE EXODUS OF THE CITIES