The Samnite Wars were three wars between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, a confederation of Oscan-speaking peoples of the central and southern Apennines. The first began when Rome came to the aid of Capua. The second included the Roman disaster at the Caudine Forks, where an army was trapped and forced to pass under the yoke, but Rome recovered and built the Via Appia and colonies to secure its gains. In the third war the Samnites allied with Etruscans, Umbrians and Gauls and were defeated at the Battle of Sentinum. The wars made Rome the master of central and southern Italy, trained its legions in mountain warfare, and led soon afterward to conflict with the Greek city of Tarentum and King Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Before and after
- 370 BCEDeath of Hippocrates
- 20 July 356 BCEBirth of Alexander the Great
- 4th century BCEOrigins of Servian Wall
- from 351 BCE to 1494Construction of Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
- from 343 BCE to 290 BCESamnite Wars
- 342 BCEBirth of Epicurus
- from 341 BCE to 338 BCESecond Latin War
- from 336 BCE to 323 BCEWars of Alexander the Great
- from 335 BCE to 86 BCEConstruction of Lyceum
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- from 73 BCE to 71 BCEThird Servile War
- from 58 BCE to 51 BCEGallic War
- 49 BCECaesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
- 451 CEAetius and Theodoric stop Attila at the Catalaunian Plains
- 476 CEFall of the western Roman Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 4th century BCE.