Cimbrian War
In the midst of the Cimbrian War, Italian allies of Rome, upon the mustering of troops, protested "publicani" tax farmers selling their citizens into slavery as punishment for tax arrears. As these abuses interfered with Roman ability to speedily raise troops, the Senate decreed that any citizen of an ally would be immediately emancipated. The Senate assigned Nerva to establish a tribunal in Sicily to determine who qualified for release.