LA MULTI ANI ROMA PARTEA-3!

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“That day broke, for the first time, the power of the Etruscans after their long-continued and abundant prosperity.”

The string of recent Roman victories seemed to be bringing the war to its conclusion in 312 BC, until news was heard that the Etruscans – more feared than the Samnites – were mobilising against Rome. As the Consul Valerius Maximus Corvus was in Samnium, his sickly colleague Publius Decius Mus appointed Gaius Sulpicius Longus as dictator to prepare for war. The following year saw Consul Gaius Junius Bubulcus head to Samnium, while his colleague Quintus Aemilius Barbula marched for Etruria. The reinvigorated Samnites captured the town of Cluviae, scourging its prisoners, though Junius recaptured the town before sacking Bovianum.

The Samnites sought to ambush the Romans, and spread misinformation that there was a large flock of sheep in an inaccessible mountain meadow. Junius was ambushed on the march there, though fought through and formed up on level ground at the top, routing the Samnites. The dense woodland blocked their escape, and most of their soldiers were cut down. The Etruscans besieged Sutrium, so Aemilius marched to the town’s relief. There’s was a great battle the next day, and the Romans were starting to gain the upper hand when darkness fell. The heavy Etruscan losses deterred them from offering further battle that year, though the legions had suffered heavy losses too.

310 BC saw the Consul Quintus Fabius Maximus Rulianus go to Sutrium with reinforcements, where he was checked by a larger force of Etruscans. The Etruscans charged in haste, discarding their javelins as they were keen to press their advantage of numbers. The Romans pelted them with javelins and stones, unsettling the Etruscans, whose line wavered. This allowed a Roman charge, which broke them. Their attempt at an orderly retreat was prevented by the encircling Roman cavalry, and they thus made for the mountains rather than their camp. From there they went to the impassable Ciminian Forest, which the Romans were so scared of that none of them had ever crossed it. In an age where myths, gods and omens were taken for granted as real, the concept of a “forbidden forest” or “haunted wood” would have held genuine peril, with few being detached enough to entirely vanquish such irrational fears. One man that did was Marcus Fabius, brother of the Consul, who spoke Etruscan and ventured to explore the forest disguised as a shepherd. He reached Camerinum in Umbria, where the locals supplied the Romans. Fabius passed through the forest and ravaged an area around the Cimian Mountains, which enraged the Etruscans. They gathered their largest army yet, and marched on Sutrium.

The Etruscans advanced on the Roman rampart, but were forced to wait by their enemy’ refusal to engage. Fabius told his outnumbered legionaries that he had a secret weapon, that the Etruscans would be betrayed. At dawn his Romans marched out while it was still dark, attacking the sleeping Etruscans and routing them. Again the culture at the time of believing in superstition, beasts and gods would have made a night attack truly terrifying. Being awoken before it is fully light by the screams of your comrades and the clash of steel, many would assume that it was not men attacking them, and officers would have to remain calm themselves and move swiftly to reassure and organise the men. In this case they failed to do so, and the terrified Etruscans fled their camp for the hills and the forest. The Etruscan cities of Perusia, Cortona and Arretium (Etrusca was a coalition of settlements rather than a centralised state) sued for peace, and agreed a 30-year truce with Rome.

Elsewhere, the Consul Marcius captured Allifae in Campania, and destroyed a number of forts and villages. The fledgling Roman fleet made for Pompeii in Campania, pillaging the territory of Nuceria. The greedy sailors ventured too far inland, and found themselves set upon by furious farmers who killed many of them. The Samnites heard that the Etruscans were besieging the Romans, so moved to attack Marcius. They agreed that if the Romans avoided battle, they would march to Etruria through the lands of the Marsi and Sabines to unite their armies against Rome. Marcisu did confront the Samnite host in a bloody but indecisive battle, in which he was wounded and lost several officers.

Lucius Papirus Cursor was appointed dictator, though Quintus Fabius rejected the oligarchs’ decision due to a personal grudge. A delegation was sent to persuade him to obedience, and Fabius reluctantly handed his legions over to Papirus. The dictator relieved Marcius of command at Longula, then marched forth to meet the Samnites. When he found their army, both lined up but did not offer battle on the first day. Elsewhere, a fresh Etruscan army had been raised under oath to fight to the death, and engulfed the Romans at the Battle of Lake Vadimo. The drawn out battle saw both sides commit their reserves, but by afternoon all troops had been committed to the fray. The Roman cavalry dismounted to join the legionaries on foot, and the extra weight of these fresh troops managed to break the Etruscans, who army was annihilated by day’s end. Roman military power in the area was now assured, with Livy commenting: “That day broke, for the first time, the power of the Etruscans after their long-continued and abundant prosperity.”

Papirus won a huge battle against the Samnites in 309 BC, adding to Rome’s impressive string of victories, celebrating a huge triumph. The Etruscans broke their truce, though their ad hoc force was crushed by Fabius near Perusia, leading to the city’s surrender and his re-election as Consul alongside Decius Mus. 308 BC saw Fabius take on Samnium, refusing peace offers from Nuceria Alfaterna and besieging it into surrender. He routed a combined Samnite and Marsi army, and then crushed the Paeligni. Decius obtained a 40-year truce in Etruria, taking corn from Tarquinii and seizing strongholds of the Volsinii. He agreed only a one-year truce when the remaining Etruscan cities sued for peace, ordering the coalition to give each Roman legionary a year’s pay and two tunics. An Umbrian revolt looked to bypass Decius and march on Rome, though the Consul ordered forced marches and coordinated with Fabius to surround them, Some attacked Fabius’ camp, and were routed, while most fled before battle back to cities which swiftly declared their exit from the war. The rest of Umbria capitulated within days, and Rome looked poised to complete her victory in the war.