Begging in the 3rd century, rome was developing a "soft belly". what dose that mean

It means that Rome has a soft belly

It meant that the romans became lazy and that if they were being yelled at that they were polite and remained calm.

Delaware, pennsylvania, new jersey, georgia, connecticut, massachusetts bay, maryland, south carolina, new hampshire, virginia, new york, north carolina, and rhode island and providence plantations where the 13 original colonies