Editing Samnites (section)

=== 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>