acknowledged them as the allies of the Greek states."

The Romans now began to look with hungry eyes upon GALLIA CISALPÍNA.
The appetite for conquest was well whetted. There had been peace with
the Gauls since the battle of Lake Vadimónis in 283. The _ager
publicus_, taken from the Gauls then, was still mostly unoccupied.
In 232 the Tribune Gaius Flaminius [Footnote: Gaius Flaminius, by his
agrarian laws gained the bitter hatred of the nobility. He was the first
Governor of Sicily, and there showed himself to be a man of integrity and
honesty, a great contrast to many who succeeded him.] carried an agrarian
law, to the effect that this land be given to the veterans and the poorer
classes. The law was executed, and colonies planted. To the Gauls this
seemed but the first step to the occupation of the whole of their
country. They all rose in arms except the Cenománi.

This contest continued for ten years, and in 225 Etruria was invaded
by an army of 70,000 men. The plans of the invaders, however,
miscarried, and they were hemmed in between two Roman armies near
TELAMON in 222, and annihilated. The Gallic king was slain at the
hands of the Consul MARCUS CLAUDIUS MARCELLUS. PAGE 61 Rome was now
mistress of the whole peninsula of Italy, excepting some tribes in
Liguria, who resisted a short time longer.

Three _military_ (Latin) colonies were founded to hold the Gauls
in check; PLACENTIA and CREMÓNA in the territory of the Insubres, and
MUTINA in that of the Boii. The _Via Flaminia_, the great
northern road, was extended from SPOLETIUM to ARIMINUM. [Footnote:
During this period the _Comitia Centuriáta_ was reorganized on the
basis of tribes (35) instead of money.]