Samnite League

Origins

The Samnites lived in the mountains of modern Molise and inland Campania. They believed they descended from Sabines who had migrated south in a 'sacred spring'. By the 5th century BCE they had formed a confederation of four peoples, the Pentri, Caraceni, Caudini and Hirpini, with Bovianum as a main centre.

Rule and society

Each people (touto) was governed by an elected magistrate, the meddix tuticus, and the league acted together in war. Society was rural, living in villages and hill forts. The great sanctuary at Pietrabbondante, with its temple and theatre, was a federal centre. Samnite warriors were famed for their armour, and their expansion carried Oscan speech into Campania, Lucania and Bruttium.

Decline and legacy

Rome fought three Samnite Wars from 343 to 290 BCE. The Samnites trapped a Roman army at the Caudine Forks in 321 BCE but lost at Sentinum in 295 BCE and accepted Roman alliance in 290 BCE. They later backed Pyrrhus and Hannibal, and Sulla crushed them at the Colline Gate in 82 BCE.