Samnite Wars
The Samnite Wars were a series of conflicts between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, an agrarian and warlike people located in south central Italy. These wars, occurring from 343 to 290 BCE, were primarily driven by Rome's expansion into territories inhabited by the Samnites, who fiercely resisted Roman encroachment on their land. The first war began when the city of Capua sought Roman assistance against the Samnites, leading to a Roman victory and control over northern Campania, though the Samnites continued to reject Roman dominance.
The second phase of conflict saw the Samnites leverage their knowledge of the rugged terrain to counter Roman military tactics effectively, highlighted by the significant Roman defeat at the Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 BCE. Despite facing setbacks, Rome regrouped and ultimately initiated a third war, which resulted in Roman dominance over almost the entire Italian peninsula. Following their defeats, the Samnites remained defiant, actively supporting various rebellions against Roman rule, including alliances with notable figures like Pyrrhus and Hannibal. Ultimately, the Samnites were gradually absorbed into Roman culture, losing their identity as an independent people.
On this Page
Samnite Wars
At issue: Roman supremacy in central and southern Italy
Date: 343-290 b.c.e.
Location: Southern Italy
Combatants: Romans vs. Samnites
Principal commanders:Roman, Titus Veturius Calvinus, Spurius Postumius Albinus (fl. fourth century b.c.e.); Samnite, Pontius
Principal battle: Caudine Forks
Result: Roman victory and domination of central Italy
Background
The Samnite Wars arose from the Roman Republic’s expansion into territories controlled by other Italian tribes. The Samnites were mountain dwellers who lived southeast of Rome. Like the early residents of Pompeii, they spoke Oscan, a language loosely related to and later supplanted by Latin.
Samnite civilization was primitive, agrarian, and warlike. At the time of the Samnites’ conflict with Rome, they lived in agricultural communities of wattle-and-daub huts. Unlike Roman towns, these villages were usually not enclosed by a defensive wall. Fiercely independent, the Samnites resented Rome’s intrusion into south central Italy, a region they regarded as their own. Once the Romans bordered the Samnites after defeating the Etruscans and Gauls to the north, conflict between these two peoples was almost inevitable.
Action
The first hostility between the Romans and the Samnites arose over Capua. This city, under attack by the Samnites, requested Roman military aid. As the Romans prepared to relieve Capua, a conflict arose that grew to become the First Samnite War (343-341 b.c.e.). Little about the First Samnite War was recorded by later historians, but it is clear that the Romans defeated the Samnites and gained control of northern Campania, an important coastal region that included Naples, Capua, and Cumae.
The Samnites refused to acknowledge Roman supremacy in the area. The Romans were thus forced to besiege the city of Naples. Residents of Naples, seeing the Romans as aggressors, then appealed to the Samnites for assistance. The resulting conflict became known as the Second Samnite War (in two phases, 327-321 b.c.e. and 316-304 b.c.e.). The battles of the Second Samnite War were fought in the hilly regions of south central Italy, which gave the mountain-dwelling Samnites a clear tactical advantage. The Roman legions were most effective on broad plains and could not easily maneuver in the hills and narrow passes favored by the Samnites. At the Battle of the Caudine Forks (321 b.c.e.), an entire Roman division surrendered and was forced to undergo a humiliating ritual. They were marched under a yoke, symbolizing the Romans’ bondage and complete submission to the Samnites. The Samnites brought 600 Romans to Luceria as hostages to preserve the peace. The two Roman officers responsible for the defeat, Titus Veturius Calvinus and Spurius Postumius Albinus, resigned and volunteered to be surrendered to the Samnites, even though this would mean almost certain torture and death. In contempt, the Samnite leader Pontius refused to accept them.
After only five years, the Romans were ready to resume the offensive against the Samnites. While achieving only limited success, Roman action against the Samnites in the latter phase of the Second Samnite War prevented the Romans from losing control of southern Campania and its neighboring regions. Six years later, Rome began the third and final war against the Samnites (298-290 b.c.e.), leaving the Romans in control of almost the entire peninsula of Italy.
Aftermath
Despite their repeated defeats by the Romans, the Samnites remained steadfastly opposed to Roman rule. Until the end of the republic, they joined rebellions or sided with Rome’s enemies. They supported the mercenary general Pyrrhus of Epirus in his wars in southern Italy. They fought alongside Hannibal during the Second Punic War. They joined the rebellion of Rome’s allies (socii) during the Social War of 91-88 b.c.e. They besieged the Roman general Sulla, leading to the Battle of the Colline Gate (82 b.c.e.). Eventually, those Samnites who were not killed by the Romans became absorbed by them, ceasing to be recognized as an independent people.
Bibliography
Gabba, Emilio. Republican Rome, the Army, and the Allies. Oxford: Blackwell, 1976.
Oakley, Stephen P. The Hill-Forts of the Samnites. London: British School at Rome, 1995.
Salmon, E. T. Samnium and the Samnites. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1967.