The correct answer is D) the territorial expansion tended to benefit the wealthy and increase their control, often at the expense of the small farmers.
The creation of an empire affected Rome's society and economy in that the territorial expansion tended to benefit the wealthy and increased their control, often at the expense of the small farmers.
The Empire expansion started fast until gaining total control of the Italian territory. Then, they moved to conquer some African territories but to do that they had to defeat Carthage in the Punitive Wars, which they did in 146 BCE. Then, the troops went west to capture the Iberic peninsula and to the East to capture the rest of Europe and parts of Asia. This expansion did not benefit so much to the middle and low classes of Rome as it did with the upper-class level that increased their wealth.
