Editing Samnites (section)

== History ==

=== Origins and early history ===
[[File:Regio IV Samnium map.svg|thumb|275x275px|Map of Ancient Samnium]]
The Greek [[geographer]] [[Strabo]] wrote that the Samnite civilization originated from a group of [[Sabines|Sabine]] [[exile]]s. According to this account, during either a [[famine]], or as part of an attempt to end a war with the [[Umbri]]ans, the Sabines [[Votum|vowed]] to hold a [[Ver sacrum|Ver Sacrum]]. As part of this ritual, all things produced that year were [[sacrifice]]d, including [[Infant|babies]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tikkannen |first=Karin W. |date=2017 |title=On the Building of a Narrative |journal=Mnemosyne |volume=70 |issue=6 |pages=964 |doi=10.1163/1568525X-12342173 |jstor=26572882 |url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-313463 |quote="There are statements of origin, such as that the Sabini are the oldest and most original people on the peninsula, from whom the Samnites originate (Str. 5.3.1), but Strabo also offers a long narrative concerning precisely how this 'originating' took place: the Sabines had been long at war with the Umbrians, and in order to end the hostilities made a vow—καθάπερ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τινές, 'common with some of the Grecian nations'—that they would consecrate to the gods the produce, τὰ γενόμενα, meaning everything born or otherwise come into existence (animal or agricultural produce) of the year.13 They were victorious, and accordingly of the produce the one kind were sacrificed, the other consecrated." |doi-access=free }}</ref> Once these babies had reached [[adult]]hood they were exiled, and then guided by a [[bull]] to their new [[homeland]].<ref name=":34">{{cite book |title=A history of Rome, from the earliest times to the establishment of the empire |date=1890 |ol=7070377M |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofromefro00liddrich/page/177 |publisher=American Book Company |place=New York|first=Henry George |last=Liddell |pages=177–178}}</ref><ref name=":23">Strabo, ''Geography'', book 4, 7 BCE, p. 465</ref> Upon reaching this land they sacrificed this bull to [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{cite book |last=Rüpke |first=Jörg | title=A Companion to Roman Religion |date=2011 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sn0V41Z4iBIC&pg=PA46 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-3924-6 |oclc=709666554 |page=46 }}</ref> Other Samnite tribes claimed to have been guided by different animals. The [[Hirpini]] claimed they were guided by a [[wolf]], and the [[Picentes]] claimed to have been guided by a [[woodpecker]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tikkannen |first=Karin W. |title=On the Building of A Narrative: The Ver Sacrum Ritual |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |location=University of Gothenburg |pages=967 |quote="The practice is stated to have originated among the Sabines, who gave birth to the Samnites (Var. L. 29), as well as the Picentes (Str. 5.4.2; Plin. Nat. 3.110). The Samnites in turn sent out youths to populate the lands in the south, who, having become the Lucani, in their turn brought forth the Bruttii (Str. 5.3.1).20 In Strabo's tale of the Samnites the selected children were led by a bull, bos, and founded the city of Bovianum (Str. 5.4.12); there are other references stating that the Hirpini and the Lucani were guided by a hirpos and a lucos, in their respective tongues the word for 'wolf' (Str. 5.4.12; Fest. 93L), and that the future Picentes were guided by a picus, a woodpecker."}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | jstor=41616993 | title=Samnite and Roman Cumae | last1=Salmon | first1=E. T. | journal=The Vergilian Digest | year=1958 | issue=4 | pages=10–15 }}</ref> Alternatively, the Samnites may have been connected to [[Sparta]]. This legend is possibly [[apocrypha]]l. It might have been created by the [[Greeks]] for an alliance with the Samnites, or to include the [[Italic peoples]] within their worldview, and possibly to highlight similarities between the Samnites and Spartans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McInerney |first=Jeremy |editor1-first=Jeremy |editor1-last=McInerney |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epub/10.1002/9781118834312 |title=A Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-118-83431-2 |pages=448–450, 487, 514–522|doi=10.1002/9781118834312 }}</ref> Archaeological evidence shows that Samnite civilization likely developed from a preexisting Italian culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Dusen |first=Rachel |title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History |chapter-url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20121 |chapter=Sabines and Samnites |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4443-3838-6 |pages=1–2 |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20121 |quote=It is more likely that the Sabines and Samnites arose out of existing cultures than that they entered by immigration. Archaeological evidence from Samnium and the interior of Sabinium reflects a cultural facies influenced by pre-existing cultures.}}</ref>

After the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] abandoned [[Campania]] in the [[5th century]], the Samnites conquered the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ring |first1=Trudy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fYH7AQAAQBAJ&dq=Samnites+expanded+into+Greek+territory&pg=PA81 |title=Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places |last2=Watson |first2=Noelle |last3=Schellinger |first3=Paul |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-25965-6 |pages=81–85 |language=en}}</ref> Cities like [[Pompeii]] and [[Herculaneum]] were conquered.<ref>Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2802439 "The Town Planning of Pompeii and Herculaneum Having Streets Aligned Along Sunrise on Summer Solstice"] (June 30, 2016). p. 3.</ref> It is unclear what Samnite cities took part in the campaign, or why.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Allen M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Q83DAAAQBAJ&dq=Samnites+expanded+into+Greek+territory&pg=PA78 |title=History of the Roman People |last2=Heichelheim |first2=Fritz M. |last3=Yeo |first3=Cedric A. |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-51120-7 |pages=78–79 |language=en}}</ref> They could have wanted its [[Soil fertility|fertile soil]], or to alleviate [[overpopulation]]. This theory relies on the Samnites having a poor agricultural industry, which is contradicted by other evidence. Alternatively, the Samnites could have wanted access to the [[Volturno|Volturno River]] and other [[resource]]s. Once Greek [[hegemony]] in Italy waned, the Samnites invaded and conquered much of their former land.<ref name=":14">Rotter, Timothy W. (1990). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLyYAnf9EPcC&q=Samnites Roman Italy]''. [[University of California Press]]. pp. 34–38, 42–47, 50, 53, 68, 74, 76–77  {{ISBN|978-0-520-06975-6}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Schultz |first1=Celia E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQaQDwAAQBAJ&dq=Samnites+expanded+into+Greek+territory&pg=PT103 |title=A History of the Roman People |last2=Ward |first2=Allen M. |last3=Heichelheim |first3=F. M. |last4=Yeo |first4=C. A. |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-75470-5 |pages= |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://search-alexanderstreet-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C2233591 Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii & Herculaneum]. Anonymous Prod. Sheppard Phil. Phil Sheppard Productions, 2008. "The Etruscans and Greeks dominated until the Samnites took possession of most of this area, uniting Campania. Pompeii became more Italic in character, relinquishing the last traces of Hellenistic influence. In 80 BC, after a war against Rome, the Samnites surrendered Pompeii, and from then on its history was linked to Rome."</ref> They conquered cities like [[Cumae]], only failing to take [[Naples]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Darwin |first=N.T |date=April 25, 2017 |title=Pompeii |pages=1 |work=The Northern Territory News |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1891389663 |id={{ProQuest|1891389663}} |quote=From Samnite Conquest to Roman Town: At the end of the 5th century the Samnites, an ancient people who lived in south central Italy, conquered Pompeii.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Master |first=Daniel M |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref:obso/9780199846535.001.0001/acref-9780199846535-e-119?rskey=QxayPy&result=5 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology |chapter=Pompeii and Herculaneum |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-984653-5 |quote=In the later fourth century b.c.e. Oscan-speaking Samnites, originally a nonurban culture, advanced from inland and gradually took over Greek and Etruscan centers throughout Campania. They took over Etruscan Capua in 424 b.c.e. and Greek Cumae in 421 b.c.e. and seem to have established a modest settlement in Pompeii by ca. 350 b.c.e. Only Greek Naples seems to have resisted successfully.}}</ref><ref>"[https://go-gale-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=News&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&hitCount=3&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&docId=GALE%7CA320956443&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAM-MOD1&prodId=BIC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA320956443&searchId=R3&userGroupName=wikipedia&inPS=true Pompeii exhibition: a timeline of Pompeii and Herculaneum; A brief history of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which feature in a major new British Museum exhibition in London.]" Telegraph Online, 3 Mar. 2013. Gale In Context: Biography, "Samnites – a people from south-central Italy who spoke Oscan – invade the area."</ref> In the ensuing centuries, they would wage more war against the Campanians, [[Volsci]]ans, [[Epirote Greek|Epirot Greeks]], and other [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latin]] communities.<ref name=":15">Roselaar, Saskia T. (2012). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KMXeTELDkQoC Processes of Integration and Identity Formation in the Roman Republic]''. [[Brill Publishers|Brill]]. pp. 17, 189–196, 221–223, 242–244, 252 {{ISBN|978-90-04-22911-2}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | jstor=3290441 | last1=Robson | first1=D. O. | title=The Samnites in the Po Valley | journal=The Classical Journal | year=1934 | volume=29 | issue=8 | pages=599–608 }}</ref>

=== Samnite Wars ===
{{main|Samnite Wars}}[[File:Battle of the Caudine Forks.jpg|thumb|[[Lucanian vase painting|Lucanian depiction]] of the [[Battle of the Caudine Forks|Battle of Caudine Forks]]|250x250px]]The Samnites and Romans first came into contact after the Roman conquest of the Volscians. In 354&nbsp;BC, they agreed to set their border at the [[Liris River]].<ref name=":7">Oakley, SP (1998), [https://books.google.com/books?id=m0oTDAAAQBAJ&q=Samnites ''A Commentary on Livy Books VI–X'', Volume II: Books VII–VIII], Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 24–646, {{ISBN|978-0-19-815226-2}}</ref> [[Livy]], a Roman historian who serves as a source on the Samnite Wars, states that when the Samnites attacked the Campanians, the latter civilization formed an alliance with the Romans. Igniting war between them and the Samnites in 343&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Terrenato |first=Nicola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RG2MDwAAQBAJ&dq=Samnites+expanded+into+Greek+territory&pg=PA139 |title=The Early Roman Expansion into Italy: Elite Negotiation and Family Agendas |date=2019 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-42267-3 |pages=127, 134, 139, 150, 190 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tuck |first=Steven |title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4443-3838-6 |pages=1 |language=English |quote=Capua allied with Rome during the Samnitewars (343–290). The alliance allowed Capuato overthrow Samnite dominance while givingRome the chance to confront the Samnites with a two-front war.}}</ref><ref name=":13">Esposito, Gabriele (2021). [https://books.google.com/books?id=JBsJEAAAQBAJ ''Armies of Ancient Italy 753–218 BC: From the Foundation of Rome to the Start of the Second Punic War''. Pen and Sword Military.] pp. 23, 59–69, 74–81, 117, 128, 133–147, 151–153, 165, {{ISBN|978-1-5267-5188-1}}.</ref> This account of the war's cause is not universally accepted by modern historians.<ref name=":8">Forsythe, Gary (2006). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=F7MnW50qi1sC A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War]''. University of California Press. pp. 287–365 {{ISBN|978-0-520-24991-2}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rood |first=Tim |date=2018 |title=Cato the Elder, Livy, and Xenophon's Anabasis |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568525X-12342352 |journal=Mnemosyne |volume=71 |issue=5 |page=842 |doi=10.1163/1568525X-12342352 |s2cid=165356329 |quote=Like the Thermopylae comparison, the use of Xenophon operates teleologically to present the Romans as the heirs of Greece in the defense against barbarism. |via=The Wikipedia Library}}</ref>  Livy may be writing [[propaganda]] or trying to compare this war to other conflicts. After three Samnite defeats and a Roman invasion, the Samnites agreed to sign a [[peace treaty]].<ref name=":6">Cornell, Tim (2012). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UgoOD2XDpzIC The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000–264 BC)]''. Routledge. 345–390, 458, 465, 507, {{ISBN|978-1-136-75495-1}}.</ref><ref name=":10">[[Polybius]]'', [https://www.yorku.ca/inpar/polybius_one.pdf The Histories]''. Vol.&nbsp;1. pp.&nbsp;4–5.</ref><ref name=":11">[[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], [https://tertullian.org/fathers/eutropius_breviarium_2_text.htm Abridgment of Roman History] Vol. 2. VIII–XIV</ref>

There are two accounts of the cause of the Second Samnite War. Possibly, Rome declared war due to a Samnite alliance with the [[Vestini]] and wars against [[Fregellae]] and [[History of Naples|Paleopolis]].  Additionally, the Romans wished to use the economic prosperity of the city of [[Venafrum]] for their own benefit.<ref name=":7" /> Conflict may have also emerged because the Samnites desired to solidify their hold over crucial economic positions.<ref name=":2" /> After the Roman defeat at the [[Battle of the Caudine Forks]] both sides agreed to an [[armistice]].<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Spawforth |first1=Anthony |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-553?rskey=QxayPy&result=16 |title=Rome (history) |last2=Eidinow |first2=Esther |work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-870677-9 |edition=2nd |quote=…in which the Romans, after a major setback at the Caudine Forks.}}</ref> Fighting resumed in 326 BC.<ref name=":8" /> The war ended after a Roman campaign into Apulia and Samnium.<ref name=":6" /> Following the end of the war, the Romans annexed [[Bojano|Bovianum]] and Fregellae, and forced the Samnites out of Apulia.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" />

In 298&nbsp;BC, the [[Third Samnite War]] broke out due to tension over the [[Lucanians]], who had asked Rome for protection.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":10" /><ref>Harris, William Vernon (1985). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=tSE8PW5Eq1wC War and Imperialism in Republican Rome, 327–70 B.C].'' [[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]]. pp. 177–182, {{ISBN|978-0-19-814866-1}}.</ref> On another front, treaties between the Romans and Picentes caused conflict with the Etruscans. This war came to end after the Samnite defeat at the [[Battle of Aquilonia]].<ref name=":6" /> Afterwards, Samnium was conquered and the Samnites were assimilated into Roman society.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":11" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Antonelli |first1=Fabrizio |last2=Taelman |first2=Devi |title=Provenance of the white and polychrome marbles used for the architecture and sculpture of roman Sentinum (Sassoferrato, Marche, Italy) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/arcm.12690 |journal= Archaeometry|year=2022 |volume=64 |pages=3 |doi=10.1111/arcm.12690 |s2cid=236563924 |quote=The site is best known from the final battle of the Third Samnite War (295 BCE) in which the Romans defeated a coalition of Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians and Senones, and which paved the way for Roman control over Central Italy. |via=Wiley Online Library|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Later history ===
[[File:Social War AR Syd 621.1.jpg|thumb|[[Social War (91–87 BC)|Social War]] coin depicting the Samnite soldiers taking an oath to fight the Romans]]
The Samnites were one of the Italian peoples that allied with King [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]] during the [[Pyrrhic War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sabini. |url=http://mek.niif.hu/03400/03410/html/7286.html |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=mek.niif.hu |language=en}}</ref> After Pyrrhus left for [[Sicily]], the Romans invaded Samnium and were crushed at the [[Battle of the Cranita hills|Battle of the Cranita Hills]], but after the defeat of Pyrrhus, the Samnites could not resist on their own and surrendered to Rome. Some of them joined and aided [[Hannibal]] during the [[Second Punic War]], but most stayed loyal to Rome.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Sagarna |first=Iñaki |chapter=Cult Places and the Samnite Identity |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/36238910 |title=Σαυνῖται: The identity of Samnite through their cult places |series=Case Studies of Pietrabbondante and San Giovani di Galdo |language=en |pages=1–14 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref> After the Romans refused to grant the Samnites [[Roman citizenship|citizenship]], they, along with other Italic peoples, rebelled against the Romans. This war, known as the [[Social War (Italian)|Social War]], lasted almost four years and resulted in a Roman victory. After this bloody conflict, Samnites and other Italic tribes were granted citizenship to avoid the possibility of another war.

The Samnites supported the faction of [[Gaius Marius the Younger|Marius]] and [[Gnaeus Papirius Carbo (consul 85 BC)|Carbo]] in the [[Sulla's civil war|civil war]] against [[Sulla]]. The Samnites and their allies were led by [[Pontius Telesinus]] and a Lucanian named [[Lamponia gens|Marcus Lamponius]]. They gathered an army of 40,000 men and fought a battle against Sulla at the [[Battle of the Colline Gate|Colline Gates]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knoow.net |first=Equipa |title=Samnitas – Knoow |url=https://knoow.net/historia/historiaantiga/samnitas/ |access-date=2022-05-03}}</ref> After their defeat in the battle, and subsequently the war, Pontius was executed.<ref>Crawford, Michael Hewson (1993). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PoTAz6MHlosC The Roman Republic]''. Harvard University Press. pp. 16–17, 21, 33–35, 43, 53, 75, 149–150, 189, 211, 221, 238
{{ISBN|978-0-674-77927-3}}.</ref><ref>Dart, Dr Christopher J. (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=yRidBQAAQBAJ The Social War, 91 to 88&nbsp;BCE: A History of the Italian Insurgency against the Roman Republic]''. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 206 {{ISBN|978-1-4724-1678-0}}.</ref><ref>"[[Appian]], [https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-samnite-wars-1/#:~:text=Appian%2C%20Samnite%20Wars%201%20Appian%20of%20Alexandria%20%28c.95-c.165%29%3A,a%20Roman%20History%20in%20twenty-four%20books.%20The%20Author Samnite History], Fragments". Retrieved 2021-12-30. p. 9</ref>

As a consequence of Sulla's victory and his establishment as [[Roman dictator|dictator of Rome]] he ordered the punishment of those who had opposed him.<ref>Roller, Matthew B.. "[https://courses.knox.edu/latin211_311/MRoller_exemplarity.pdf Exemplarity in Roman Culture: The Cases of Horatius Cocles and Cloelia]." ''[[Classical Philology (journal)|Classical Philology]]'' 99 (2004): 1–57.</ref> Samnites, who were some of the most prominent supporters of the Marians, were punished so severely that it was recorded, "some of their cities have now dwindled into villages, some indeed being entirely deserted." The Samnites did not play any prominent role in history after this, and they were [[Romanization (cultural)|Latinized]] and assimilated into the Roman world.<ref name=":23" /><ref name=":9">"Lacus Curtius, Vellius Paterculus, Book II, Chapters 1–28". ''penelope.uchicago.edu''. Retrieved 2021-12-30.</ref> Several of their [[gens|gentes]] would go on to achieve high distinction, including the [[Cassia gens|Cassii]], the [[Herennia gens|Herennii]], [[Pontia gens|Pontii]] and the [[Vibia gens|Vibii]].<ref name=":4" />