My current study guide said something interesting: that it was the wars in Spain (roughly first half of the second century) where it became increasingly popular for Roman governors to go "triumph hunting" - so-and-so is the military governor, works out a truce or peace with such-and-such tribe. Then his replacement comes out and tears up the treaty (or works back in the Senate to prevent ratification) so that HE can go after the tribe(s) again in order to win enough personal clout for his own triumph and future career.

I do not recall having read this about Roman administation in earlier provinces. I wonder if Spain started this regrettable vision of "after me, peace can come"?

Second, the cost of the war in money and lives was frankly enormous - tens of thousands, maybe nearly 100,000 Roman casualties between 200 and, say, 130 BC. That ties right in to the Gracchi problems and the beginning of the cracks in the Republic, with "what do we do with all the crippled soldiers who've lost their lands to speculators while they spent 10 years in the army," etc.

Also, the point was made that Rome grew from roughly 50,000 people in the time of Cato the Censor, to nearly 500,000 people by the time of Cicero (??60 years). A tremendous number of these were discharged veterans who were NOT given land and small farmers ruined and driven off the land due to the constant wars. I know Spain was one of several, but I wonder how much Spain had to do with creating a turbulent and impoverished head-count?

One more interesting detail I hadn't quite realized - Trajan, Spanish, WAS the first non-Italian emperor, but 150 years earlier, Cornelius Balbus (yees, THAT Balbus, Caesar's banker) was the first non-Roman ever chosen as Consul, in 40 BC.