Hostages in Republican Rome

“Is a study of hostageship in the Roman Republic worth the considerable effort? The answer must be an unequivocal yes; the institution is an important part of Rome’s political history. The exaction of hostages occurs in all periods and in all geographical regions of the empire; it is synonymous with Roman victory and Roman expansion. Indeed, the very importance of the practice is responsible for the fragmentary nature of the surviving evidence, because our sources assumed its significance to be so obvious as to need no explanation. The fact of the exaction made details superfluous in many cases, but the difficulty of the reconstruction of the practice is outweighed by its value for our conception of Roman international affairs. We cannot fully appreciate the foreign policies of Rome or the diplomatic and administrative skill which the Romans displayed in manipulating governments without a clear comprehension of the nature and the potential of hostageship.”

— From the Preface