The ager Campanus have been the only territory to become Roman ager publicus in its entirety, complete with buildings, although it is thought by some that Telesia also had all of its territory confiscated. It is generally thought that Rome confiscated the best arable land and that this was usually turned into pasture, thus contributing to the destruction of small and medium-sized farms. There is undoubted evidence that this change of use did occur in certain specific areas, but it cannot be considered the norm, as the conditions and methods of farming in second-century Italy were extremely varied. During the second century BC. The establishment and spread of Rome's political predominance in the Mediterranean basin brought with it growing commercial and economic expansion as well as the benefits that sprang directly from the military victories. The transformation of society and of the agrarian economy was but the final unfolding of a situation which had been developing since the third century.

The religious evolution of Iran during the centuries from the Arab conquest to the rise of the Saljuqs was determined by a number of factors which, so far, have not been adequately isolated and analysed. This chapter identifies the politico-economical dimension of rebellions and heresies, and at the same time single out a few recurring and typical traits deserving the attention of the student of Iranian religious phenomena. It considers political and social developments of Iran by analysing their factual background before proceeding to a religious interpretation. The leader's wealth stressed by sources and the claim to Abū Muslim's treasure do not allow one to bracket this revolt together with other purely "protest" movements. The very term of Khurramdīn can in fact incorporate a number of meanings ranging from ambiguous though plausible identification with a reformed branch of new Mazdakism adjusted to Islamic pattern, to a vague sort of common denominator for a number of small sects mentioned by heresiographers.