r, and in
connexion no doubt with these measures, the Jus Latii was conferred on
a number of towns north of the Po, by which every magistrate in his
town might, if he chose, claim the franchise. Some of the free allies
of Rome did not look upon the Lex Julia as a boon. Heracleia and
Neapolis hesitated to accept it, the latter having special privileges,
such as exemption from service by land, which it valued above the
franchise. Probably these towns and Rhegium made a special bargain,
and, while accepting the franchise, retained their own language and
institutions. [Sidenote: Effects of these laws.] The general result
of the legislation was this. All Italy and all Latin colonies in
Cisalpine Gaul, together with all allied communities in Cisalpine Gaul
south of the Po, received the franchise. All the other Cisalpine towns
north of the Po received the Jus Latii. A general amnesty was in
fact offered; and though the provisions as to the new tribes were
unsatisfactory, its effect was soon apparent.

[Sidenote: B.C. 89 The second year of the war.] [Sidenote: Successes
of Pompeius in the north.] The consuls for 89 were Lucius Porcius
Cato, who took command of the army in the Marian district, and Cnaeus
Pompeius, who retained the command in Picenum. Caesar was succeeded
in Campania by Sulla. Flushed with hope, the confederates opened the
campaign by despatching 15,000 men across the Apennines to join the
Etruscan insurgents. But Pompeius intercepted and slew 5,000 of them,
and dispersed the rest, who, even if they had reached Etruria, would
have found that they had come on a bootless errand. He followed up
this success by blow after blow. One of his lieutenants, Sulpicius,
crushed the Marrucini at Teate. Another, Q. Metellus Piso, subdued the
Marsi. Pompeius in person fought a great battle before Asculum, as
before related, and captured the town; and in the following year
the Peligni and Vestini submitted to him.

[Sidenote: Successes of Cosconius in the south-east.] In the
south-east of Italy, Cosconius, the praetor, burnt Salapia in Apulia,
received the submission of Cannae, and besieged Canusium. Marius
Egnatius came to its aid; but though he at first drove back Cosconius
to Cannae, he or his successor was defeated and slain in another
fight, and Cosconius became master of all Apulia and the Iapygian
peninsula, which he laid waste with fire and sword.

[Sidenote: Successes of Sulla in the south-west.] While the Roman
sup