Editing Samnite Wars (section)

==Background==
By the time of the First Samnite War (343 BC), the southward expansion of Rome's territory had reached the River Liris (see [[Liri]]), which was the boundary between [[Latium]] (land of the Latins) and [[Campania]]. This river is now called [[Garigliano]] and it is the boundary between the modern regions of Lazio and Campania. In those days the name Campania referred to the plain between the coast and the Apennine Mountains which stretched from the River Liris down to the bays of Naples and Salerno. The northern part of this area was inhabited by the Sidicini, the Aurunci, and the Ausoni (a subgroup of the Aurunci). The central and southern part was inhabited by the Campanians, who were people who had migrated from Samnium (land of the Samnites) and were closely related to the Samnites, but had developed a distinctive identity. The Samnites were a confederation of four tribes who lived in the mountains to the east of Campania and were the most powerful people in the area. The Samnites, Campanians, and Sidicini spoke [[Oscan language]]s. Their languages were part of the [[Osco-Umbrian languages|Osco-Umbrian linguistic family]], which also included [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]] and the Sabellian languages to the north of Samnium. The Lucanians who lived to the south were also Oscan speakers.

[[Diodorus Siculus]] and [[Livy]] report that in 354 BC Rome and the Samnites concluded a treaty,<ref>Diodorus, xvi.45.7.</ref><ref>Livy, vii.19.3–4.</ref> but neither lists the terms agreed upon. Modern historians have proposed that the treaty established the river Liris as the boundary between their spheres of influence, with Rome's lying to its north and the Samnites' to its south. This arrangement broke down when the Romans intervened south of the Liris to rescue the Campanian city of Capua (just north of Naples) from an attack by the Samnites.

{{anchor|First Samnite War}}