Editing Samnites (section)

=== 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>