recovery of sums wrung by them from the provincials. Senators
of the old-Roman party, among them Cato and Paullus, conducted
the several cases on behalf of the Spaniards. Two of the culprits
went into exile to avoid judgment; but this merely meant a change
of residence (probably not permanent) to Latin towns hard by.
No effective redress was gained. But the Macedonian war was
on foot, and the Senate did what it could to gratify the Spaniards
by passing strict orders forbidding certain practices of governors.
These abuses were connected with the collection of tribute, par-
ticularly with the valuation of corn. But to get good regulations
carried out was the really difficult matter, and so it remained.
And yet it had been wise to resent oppression. The worst abuses
of provincial government were never established in Spain. Another
Spanish question was that of the half-breeds, children of Italians
and Spanish mothers. A number of these were granted a town ¹
on the southern coast, where they formed with the present in-
habitants a peculiar colony, linked to Rome on special terms.
It seems that the amalgamation of races and Romanizing of the
peninsula, which took place much later, might have made great
strides now. But Roman misgovernment was destined to do
much more mischief yet in Spain, as we shall see.

234. Sardinia and Corsica. These islands, necessary to
Rome as lying near Italy on the way to Spain, had been annexed
when Carthage was helpless after the first Punic war. But after
half a century they had still never been really conquered. The
combined province was ruled by a succession of yearly praetors,
who often had to fight the natives of the interior. Of the final
result there could be no doubt, but the reluctance to act boldly
and firmly led the Romans here as elsewhere into wasteful wars,
in which much blood was shed needlessly. In 177 Sardinia was
taken in hand. Gracchus was sent there as consul, and kept on
as proconsul in 176. He quelled all resistance. The slave-market
was glutted with his captives, so that 'Sards for sale' became a
phrase for anything dirt-cheap. But there was an end of general
risings, and the conquest of Corsica in 173 left the province
normally a quiet one; that is, unable to give Rome serious trouble
or escape the extortions of bad governors. When a spare praetor
was wanted for some special purpose it was usual to employ the
man to whom the Sardinian province had fallen.

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