Italy in Revolt: Understanding the Social War

After the death of the popular Tribune Drusus, Italy set perched on a knife's edge - Rome's allies across the peninsula were growing impatient with stalled reforms and began to question the ability of traditional politics to deliver the citizenship rights they coveted.

Soon the Roman Republic would find itself facing an uprising of unprecedented proportions with half of Italy taking up arms against Rome in what was effectively the first Roman civil war. This video takes a look at the meaning of the social war, and how the failure of politics set ancient Rome on a path of further decline that made future conflicts inevitable.

The conflict is unfortunately often overlooked in traditional historical narratives but this documentary offers an analysis of the underlying economic, political and social tensions that fueled the rebellion. ultimately the war was a struggle for rights and political representation but it had long-term consequences on Roman society and politics.