The indigenous peoples of Spain were renowned in antiquity for the steadfastness of their personal loyalties. , the specifically Roman practice of official patronage, was a prize worth striving for by a Roman aristocrat in the Iberian Peninsula, and propelled many men of property into the political life of the capitol. Against the general background of an increasingly influential Spanish presence in Rome, Professor Weinrib provides an intensive examination of aristocratic retrenchment during the most turbulent decades of the first century BC and the consolidation of the empire. Detailed investigation of sources and elaborate argumentation are combined to illuminate that process with special reference to prominent Spanish personalities.