The Samnites were a group of warlike mountain tribes from the southern Apennines, challenging Rome in the political supremacy of the region. Just like the Sabines and Latins, they were indo-european people who had settled in Italy around the 10th century BC. Over the centuries, they would clash with Rome and the Latin tribes inhabiting the territory nearby.
In the 4th century BC, the Samnites began to attack other prosperous cities. In order to protect Latium, the Latin cities supported Rome to ward off the invaders. As a result, a long military conflict ensued, known as the Samnite Wars. At the end of these military struggle, the Romans came out victorious as they began to exercise political and cultural hegemony in the whole central portion of the Italic peninsula.
First Samnite War (343-341 BC)
It began when the rich city of Capua asked Rome for military help as their inhabitants were being existentially threatened by the Samnites. As a result, the Romans sent a large army, which defeated the Samnites, repelling them Campania, seizing territory. After the war, the Latin League, which had been allied to Rome, was dissolved as several Latin cities became part of the Roman State. As a consequence, the Latins outside Rome were awarded with Roman citizenship.
Second Samnite War (327-304 BC)
The peace treaty and the temporary alliance with the Samnites did not last long as hostilities broke out again in 327 BC. After successful military campaign against the Samnite garrison in the cities of Campania, the Romans were ambushed and defeated at Caudine Forks in 321 BC, with the consuls being forced to sign a peace treaty, in which the Romans gave up the territory they had conquered.
When the consuls went back to Rome, the treaty they had signed was rejected by the Senate and they resumed the war. However, in 309 BC, they would suffer another defeat, forcing them to change their tactics. Thus, instead of marching out in an offensive, the Romans decided to wait for the Samnites to attack them, choosing the battlefield ground. The Samnites attacked the enemy positions in Campania but this time the Romans came out victorious as in 304 BC they made peace with the Samnites.
Third Samnite War (298-290 BC)
This armed conflict broke out in 298 BC over a Roman military campaign in Etruria and Umbria, which were located north of Rome. The Samnites joined forces with the Etruscans and Umbrian people to stop the Roman march. However, the uncoordinated alliance was not enough to stop the Roman Army, which, by that time, had been beefed up to become a force of 40,000-men strong. The turning point of the third war was when the Roman legions decisively defeated the Samnites, Etruscans, and Umbrians at the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. Although the Samnites would hold out for another five years, they signed a definitive peace treaty with Rome in 290 BC. The peace terms left Rome as the sole military power, seizing the whole territory of Campania as the Samnites lost their independence. However, they would be given Roman citizenship over the years and be absorbed into the Roman culture.
Below, 18th Century painting depicting four Samnite Warriors.
