LA MULTI ANI ROMA-PARTEA-1!

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“Because the leaders were not present when the attack was made, there was no limit to the slaughter, and the Ausonian nation was wiped out.”

After Nerulum was taken, the Roman dictator Lucius Aemilius besieged Saticula as the Second Samite War resumed in earnest in 316 BC. A large Samnite army nearby made a sortie, but Aemilius drove them back into the town and then attacked the relief army, who retreated to their camp and then fled at night. The Samnites instead moved to besiege the Roman allied town of Plistica. The following year saw the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Rulianus assume control of the siege of Saticula, while the Samnites raised fresh troops to try and divert the legions and lift the siege. While Fabius concentrated on the city, his Master of Horse (deputy) Quintus Aulius Cerretanus attacked the Samnites, killing their commander. The Samnites managed to size Plistica, while the Romans transferred their troops from Apulia and Samnium to attack Sora, a Roman colony in Latium which had defected to the Samnites, executing the colonists in the betrayal. Hearing that a Samnite army was approaching, the legions made to intercept them.

The Battle of Lautulae saw freshly recruited Roman levies pitted against Samnite veterans in a complete mismatch. The Romans were swiftly routed, with only Cerretanus remaining on the field to choose death in battle. The Roman territory was now split, with the south inhabited by Samnites who persuaded the citizens there to renounce their ties to Rome. The northern half had citizens with full rights, though facing increasing Samnite encroachment. Fabius and the Senate looked to defend any approach to the Eternal City, and though they were successful, their fortifications weakened Roman forces in the Liris Valley. This allowed the Samnites to cross the river and capture Sore. The Samnites could now break Roman lines of communication with Apulia, further isolating the sons of Aeneas.

Despite the defat, a second major shock following Caudine Forks, the Romans were adept at adapting. They had learnt to use round shields from the Etruscans, and siege craft from the Greeks, and now would refine their maniple system to confront the Samnites. Lautulae marked the zenith of Samnite power, and the turning point after which Rome would begin the long march to victory. Fabius led a fresh army to confront the Samnites, who concealed his army to launch an ambush, burning his own camp to show his men there could be no retreat. His questionable tactics worked, and he managed to throw the Samnites into disarray.

The Counsuls for 314 BC, Marcus Poetelius and Gaius Sulpicius, took fresh troops to Sora. The city was almost impregnable, but a deserter offered his support. Moving their camp close to the city, the next night saw the traitor lead ten men on an almost impassable steep path near the citadel. When dawn broke, he wailed that the Romans had taken the city – seemingly evidenced by those ten on the walls – and the panicked citizens threw open the gates to flee. The conspirators who had handed the city to the Samnites were executed in Rome, and a garrison was placed in Sore.

The Samnite victory at Lautulae had led to the Ausoni towns – Ausona and Minturnae, north of the Liris, and Vesica, across the river in Campania – had defected to Samnium. Some disillusioned young nobles offered to betray them to Rome, and detachments were duly sent to the towns. Livy stated that: “Because the leaders were not present when the attack was made, there was no limit to the slaughter, and the Ausonian nation was wiped out.” The same year saw Luceria betray its Roman garrison, though a nearby legion seized the city. Many senators wanted to raze the hostile and distant city, though a motion carried to send 2,500 colonists there to repopulate it following the sack.

A conspiracy was discovered to betray Capua, and the Samnites moved to support a rebellion in the key Campanian city. The Consuls Marcus Poetelius Libo and Gaius Sulpicius Longa moved to check them, and the right wing under Poetelius routed the Samnite left. An overconfident Sulpicius left his left wing to join his colleague, and his troops came close to defeat. His return spurned them to victory, and the Samnites fled to Maleventum. The tow Consuls next besieged Bovianum, the capital of the largest Samnite tribe of Pentri, and wintered there. The dictator Gaius Poetelius Libo Visolus replaced them in 313 BC, placing a garrison there before marching on Nola (Naples). Setting fire to buildings near the walls, Libo used the chaos and confusion caused by the flames and smoke to capture the city. Colonies were established at the Volscian island of Pontiae, the town of Interamna Sucasina, and Sussa Aurunca. Rome was now in the ascendancy, with the tide in the war having turned in their favour.