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===Social and Economic impact of the wars===
[[File: 662px-Marius Chiaramonti Inv1488.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|A bust of Marius from the 1st century AD]]
The wars devastated large areas of Italy and the loss of life was substantial. The historian Florus believed that the Social War was the worse in Italian history ‘’neither the devastation brought about by Hannibal nor by Pyrrhus was more serious’’. <ref>Florus, Epitome of the Roman Histories. 2.6</ref> During the war the small farmers suffered most and many were forced off the land. In the aftermath of the war, banditry became very common and demobilized soldiers terrorized local communities. In 78 BCE, there was a revolt among the rural poor who threatened to march on Rome. <ref>Plutarch. Life of Pompey. 24. 7</ref> The local elites often turned their villas into fortresses. At this time, many Italian farmers had to migrate to Rome and elsewhere.
