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That's not a very strong claim by the time of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire expanded comparatively little, in contrast to the strongly expansionist Roman Republic. War booty was a negligible amount of the Roman economy and government budget, and the Empire was at its most prosperous and successful in times of extended peace. Auxiliary soldiers which received citizenship did not receive land; legionaries who received retirement bonuses already had citizenship. Roman soldiers at the time of the Empire were rarely directly awarded land - more often their retirement bonus was paid in cash. There was generally resistance to further expanding the military in the Roman government because it was not economical, and did not make greater returns than its expense.