Forum: history.stackexchange.com
Tags: <ancient-rome>
Title: Were there any conquests that Ancient Rome undertook explicitly to gain control of a natural resource?
Question: Was there ever a case when Rome conquered a territory  solely  for the purpose of gaining control of a specific resource (spice, ore, timber, etc....)?  I'm looking for something backed up by historical evidence - e.g. a document from a military/civilian leader, a public speach etc... admitting to such motivation.  Please note that I'm only including extractable natural resources here as understood today - e.g things like slaves, extra economy, markets, waterways or strategic territory are NOT in scope.

Answers:
sents: text: Whele senators and ordinary civilians could justify a war with such considerations, the official pretexts for the wars were always different.
text: All wars Rome conducted were officially motivated by international law.
text: Particular motivations being: Defending the allies (first and second Punic wars, Gallic war)
text: Breach of a treaty by the other party (second Punic war) Invitation by a foreign pretender to the throne to help him against his adversary (invasion of Judea) Pacification of warlike tribes (Caesar's invasions of Britain and Germany) and so on.
text: It should be noted that "we just will conquer you" statements are quite rare in world's history.
text: This is because if you use such arguments, you will experience problems in the future with concluding any treaties with other peoples, thus diplomatically unwise.
text: The most close possibly being Islamic conquests which were based on theological arguments.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/466/Anixx
score: 13
sents: text: The only (to my knowledge) province that Rome brought under its control primarily based on a resource need was Egypt.
text: Egypt, and to a lesser extent, north Africa, were the so-called "granary of Rome".
text: Egypt was a necessary supplier of grains in a time where Rome (the city) and the standing army were growing, and an increasing number of citizens was relying on handouts by politicians or the state - the so-called "plebs frumentaria".
text: At its apex Rome imported approximately 350000 tonnes of grains each year and 200-300 thousand citizens were living off handouts.
text: Egypt also offered good connections to Asian trade routes.
text: But if trade is considered a resource, then the Punic wars and the Hellenic wars might also be considered a resource driven assessment.
text: As user357320 already mentioned, the annexation of Dacia and Iberia also had some economic agendas, but that was not the main reason given at the time.
text: Also, here is a picture of where you find what resources:
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/4078/Matthaeus
score: 10
sents: text: At one point, the Romans extended the frontier in central Germania to swallow up a modest bit of land that was rich in silver mines.
text: IIRC this was around the time of the Emperor Domitian.
text: Sources:
text: The primary source was from The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire by Edward Luttwak.
text: It discusses the annexation and mentions the region as securing some fertile land and supporting a friendly tribe, as well as pressing on the hostile Chatti.
text: It also provided a buffer for Maintz and the flank of the annexation of the Agri Decumantes to the south.
text: However I did find a supporting remark from Tacitus' Annals Book XI, 20, from the time of Claudius: Nor was it long before the same distinction was gained by Curtius Rufus, who had opened a mine, in search of silver-lodes, in the district of Mattium.
text: The profits were slender and short-lived, but the legions lost heavily in the work of digging out water-courses and constructing underground workings which would have been difficult enough in the open.
text: Worn out by the strain — and also because similar hardships were being endured in a number of provinces — the men drew up a private letter in the name of the armies, begging the emperor, when he thought of entrusting an army to a general, to assign him triumphal honours in advance.
text: Here Curtius Rufus gets triumphal ornaments by sending his troops over the border to do some quick work Silver Mining in Germany.
text: This is the same area that the lines would later extend out to encompass a generation or so later.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/3116/Oldcat
score: 6
sents: text: Several Roman authors criticised Roman imperialism.
text: Two that I am aware of include: • Sallust, De bello Iugurthino.
text: The book however traces Rome’s warlikeness back to inner politics, not acquisition of resources.
text: •
text: Caesar, De bello Gallico, 7th book.
text: Caesar negotiates with Vincengetorix.
text: In the book, Caesar criticises Roman imperialism via Vincengetorix’ speech during that negotiation.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/668/mzuba
score: 5
sents: text: It was always my understanding that the Roman conquests in Spain and Dacia were motivated by their respective gold and silver mines.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/1089/Karlth
score: 3

Summary of the answers:
Rome conquered Egypt for its resources, Spain and Dacia for their gold and silver mines and Germania for silver mines also.
There are a few examples of Roman territorial gains which may have been motivated by a need for resources, such as gold and silver in Spain, silver in Germania and other resources in Egypt.