Samnium

“ SAMNIUM was an inland district, bounded on the north by the Marsi and Peligni, on the east by the Frentani and Apulia, on the west by Latium and Campania, and on the south by Lucania. It is a mountainous country, being entirely filled with the masses of the Apennines. Its inhabitants, the Samnites, were of Sabine origin, as has been already mentioned, and they settled in the country at a comparatively late period. They were one of the most warlike races in Italy, and carried on a long and fierce struggle with the Romans. ”

“ In the north of Samnium, the Romans were surprised by an Etruscan army, and nearly destroyed; but when they were more than half killed, they began to look alive, and completely exterminated the foe, whose survivors, consisting of their cattle, fell into the hands of the conquerors. The Consul, C. Marcius, had succeeded in taking a place called Allifæ; but the Samnites soon afterwards brought themselves completely round, and made him the centre of a circle, which, as he was entirely cut off from Rome, was to him a centre of extreme gravity. ”

“ The Romans took advantage of it to establish on the frontiers of Apulia, Samnium, and Lucania, the large colony of Venusia, the native place of Horace: twenty thousand coloni are said to have been sent thither; if this be true, it must have got a large country district. By means of this colony, Samnium was cut off from Tarentum, and such indeed was its importance, that the number [Pg 535] given becomes not unlikely: in the war against Pyrrhus, it saved Rome; without it, after the battle of Heraclea, the army of Lævinus would have been utterly destroyed. ”

“ The Samnite army had come to them completely provided with arms and a war chest, and were ready to follow them at once, even if they led them to an attack on Rome itself.
17 While they were thus busy with their intrigues in Etruria the warfare which the Romans were carrying on in Samnium was terribly destructive. When P. Decius had ascertained through his scouts the departure of the Samnite army he summoned a council of war. "Why," he asked, "are we foaming through the country districts, making war only upon the villages? Why are we not attacking the walled cities? ”

“ Rome had entered into an alliance with the Samnites; but the latter became rather suspicious, when they found the former making friends with all their enemies. Every one who aimed a blow at Samnium was forthwith taken into the favour of Rome; and as Samnium was being attacked on every side, the new connexions of Rome became very numerous. Alexander of Epirus, who had come over as a friend to the Tarentines, thought he might vary the object of his visit by becoming the foe to somebody else ”

“ Publilius informed them that 2000 troops from Nola and 4000 Samnites had been admitted into Palaeopolis, more under pressure from Nola than from any great desire for their presence on the part of the Greeks; Cornelius sent the additional information that orders for a general levy had been issued throughout Samnium, and attempts were being openly made to induce the neighbouring communities of Privernum, Fundi, and Formiae to rise. Under these circumstances it was decided to send ambassadors to the Samnites before actually commencing war. The Samnites sent an insolent reply. ”

“ The envoys were referred by the senate to Marcius, to whom they had given full powers to treat, and he received the formal surrender of the Hernicans. The other consul in Samnium, though superior in strength, was more hampered in his movements. The enemy had blocked all the roads and secured the passes so that no supplies could be brought in, and though the consul drew up his line and offered battle each day he failed to allure the enemy into an engagement. It was quite clear that the Samnites would not risk an immediate conflict, and that the Romans could not stand a prolonged campaign. ”

“ During this year the Samnites made incursions into the district of Stellae in the Campanian territory. Both the consuls were therefore sent into Samnium, and proceeded to different regions, Postumius to Tifernum, Minucius to Bovianum. The first engagement happened at Tifernum, under the command of Postumius. Some say, that the Samnites were completely defeated, and twenty thousand of them made prisoners. Others, that the army separated without victory on either side ”

“ Why not attack the cities and fortified places? No army now guards Samnium. They have fled their country; they are gone into voluntary exile." The proposal being universally approved, he marched to attack Murgantia, a city of considerable strength; and so great was the ardour of the soldiers, resulting from their affection to their commander, and from their hopes of richer treasure than could be found in pillaging the country places, that in one day they took it by assault. Here, two thousand one hundred of the Samnites, making resistance, were surrounded and taken prisoners ”

“ Rome's defeat of Samnium left her without a rival in Italy and ready for contests with her later and greater rivals. The close of the Third Samnite War, however, did not end the resistance of the Samnites to Roman rule. Even down to the time of the contests of Marius and Sulla we find this race grasping [77] every opportunity to strike a blow against Roman dominion.
In 284 B.C. the Tarentines succeeded in bringing about a union of the Samnites, Lucanians, Umbrians, Bruttians, Etruscans, and Gauls against Rome. This war was a series of victories for the Romans. ”

“ The Tarentines and Samnites were very closely allied; and the former spent their money in getting up a distant war against Rome. The Romans looked upon the occupation of Palæopolis by the Samnites as an act of hostility, and complained of it to the assembly at Samnium. The evacuation was a moral impossibility; and the answer was, that one must not quibble about single grievances, that war was what they [Pg 473] wanted, and war they should have. ”

“ On the consuls casting lots for the provinces, Etruria fell to Carvilius, to the great satisfaction of the soldiers, who could no longer bear the intensity of the cold in Samnium. Papirius was opposed at Saepinum with a more powerful force: he had to fight often in pitched battles, often on a march, and often under the walls of the city, against the eruptions of the enemy; and could neither besiege, nor engage them on equal terms; for the Samnites not only protected themselves by walls, but likewise protected their walls with numbers of men and arms. ”

“ The Romans, however, had a far bolder plan. Just as formerly in the Latin war, they described a semicircle round Samnium; but with much greater risk than at that time. The Samnites were intensely [Pg 477] hated by the Apulians; the latter, the ruling tribes of whom were Oscan, may have partly overpowered, partly incorporated with themselves, and partly driven out the old Pelasgian inhabitants. The country of Apulia is a basin in the midst of mountains; it is like a theatre. The hills are ranged in the form of a horseshoe, and they likewise belong to Apulia ”

“ Six years after the conclusion of the treaty which ended the Second Samnite War, news arrived that the Samnites were harassing the Lucanians. Rome at once interfered to Third Samnite War, 298-90 = 456-64. protect her allies. Samnium was invaded in force, the country ravaged and one stronghold after another captured. Unable any longer to hold their own in a position where they were hedged round by enemies, the Samnite leaders turned as a last hope to the communities of northern Etruria, to the free tribes of Umbria and to the once dreaded Celts. ”

“ Nearly 2800 men were killed there, and 4270 made prisoners. Papirius with a fresh army raised by senatorial decree successfully attacked the city of Duronia. He made fewer prisoners than his colleague, but slew a somewhat greater number. In both towns rich booty was secured. Then the consuls traversed Samnium in different directions; Carvilius, after ravaging the Atinate country, came to Cominium; Papirius reached Aquilonia, where the main army of the Samnites was posted. For some time his troops, while not quite inactive, abstained from any serious fighting. ”

“ The Gauls were stationed on the right, the Samnites on the left. Q. Fabius posted the first and third legions on the right wing, facing the Samnites; to oppose the Gauls, Decius had the fifth and sixth legions, who formed the Roman left. The second and fourth legions were engaged in Samnium with L. Volumnius the proconsul. When the armies first met they were so evenly matched that had the Etruscans and Umbrians been present, whether taking part in the battle or attacking the camp, the Romans must have been defeated. ”

“ For generations the excess population of the Samnite valleys had regularly overflowed into the lowland coast areas, and such migrations had given rise to the Lucanians, Bruttians, and a large part of the Campanians themselves. However, the danger of being submerged by fresh waves of Samnites caused the peoples whose territories bordered on Samnium to look to Rome for support, and so Rome found allies in the Central Italian peoples, and in the Apulians and the Lucanians. ”

“ And when the levy was conducted by them with more activity than was deemed necessary in the case of neighbouring wars, scouts were sent out and brought word, that there was perfect quiet with the Gauls in every direction. It was suspected that Samnium also was now for the second year [Pg 527] in a state of disturbance in consequence of their entertaining new designs: hence the Roman troops were not withdrawn from the Sidicinian territory. But a hostile attack made by Alexander of Epirus on the Lucanians drew away the attention of the Samnites to another quarter ”

“ A part, more determined, however, retaining their arms, rushed out by the opposite gate, and their boldness brought greater safety to them, than their fear, which inclined them to credulity, did to the others: for the Samnites, having surrounded the latter with fires, burned them all to death, while they made vain appeals to the faith of gods and men. The consuls having settled the province between them, Papirius proceeded into Apulia to Luceria where the Roman horsemen, given as hostages at Caudium were kept in custody: Publilius remained in Samnium, to oppose the Caudine legions. ”

“ Nor were they wrong in their judgment: all the forces of the Samnites, old and new, fled to the nearest mountains. These the Roman army also ascended, so that no situation afforded safety to the vanquished; they were beaten off, even from the summits which they had seized. And now they all, with on voice, supplicated for a suspension of arms. On which, being ordered to furnish corn for three months, pay for a year, and a tunic to each of the soldiers, they sent deputies to the senate to sue for peace. Cornelius was left in Samnium. Marcius returned into the city, in triumph over the Hernicians ”

“ Levies were raised from the citizens, from Africa, and from Gaul. Lastly, in view of the inevitably scattered form which the fighting would take, each consul was to have five lieutenants. [Sidenote: Generals of Rome.] Lupus was to command in the northern district, from Picenum to Campania. Among the generals who acted under him were the father of Pompeius Magnus, and Marius. Samnium, Campania, and the southern district fell to Lucius Julius Caesar, and among the five officers who went with him were also two men of mark, Publius Licinius Crassus and Sulla. ”

“ In the middle of it all the consul, raising his hands towards heaven and speaking in a loud voice so that he might be well heard, vowed a temple to Jupiter Stator if the Roman army stayed its flight and renewed the battle and defeated and slew the Samnites. All officers and men, infantry and cavalry alike, exerted themselves to the utmost to restore the battle. Even the divine providence seemed to have looked with favour on the Romans, so easily did matters take a favourable turn. The enemy were repulsed from the camp, and in a short time were driven back to the ground where the battle began. ”

“ Just at this moment the standards were descried on the hills, and a fresh battle-shout arose from the Roman ranks. The alarm which was created among the Samnites was greater than circumstances warranted, for Fabius exclaimed that his colleague Decius was coming, and every soldier, wild with joy, took up the cry and shouted that the other consul with his legions was at hand. This mistake occurring so opportunely filled the Samnites with dismay; they dreaded, exhausted as they were by fighting, the prospect of being overwhelmed by a second army, fresh and unhurt. ”

“ In this timid and reluctant mood they commenced a feeble fight, without receiving any order to attack or raising any regular battle-shout, and not a man stirred a foot from where he stood. Then the consul, in order to infuse some spirit into the combatants, sent a few troops of cavalry to make a demonstration; most of them were thrown from their horses and the rest got into hopeless confusion. A rush was made by the Samnites to overpower those who had been dismounted; this was met by a rush from the Roman ranks to protect their comrades. ”

“ He requested to be allowed a triumph, but this honour was refused him on the ground that he had lost so many thousands of men, and also because he had sent his prisoners under the yoke without its having been made a condition of their surrender.
37 The other consul, Postumius, finding nothing for his troops to do amongst the Samnites, led them into Etruria and began to lay waste the district of Volsinia. The townsmen came out to defend their borders and a battle ensued not far from their walls; 2800 of the Etruscans were killed, the rest were saved by the proximity of their city. ”