Third Samnite War (298-290 BC)

In 299 BC, the Etruscans, possibly due to the Roman colony set up at Narnia in next-door Umbria, prepared for war against Rome. However, the Gauls invaded their territory, so, the Etruscans offered them money to form an alliance. The Gauls agreed, but then objected to fighting against Rome, claiming that the agreement was only about them not devastating Etruscan territory. So, instead, the Etruscans paid the Gauls off and dismissed them. This incident led the RomansThe Roman Republic was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period - from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.Romans to ally with the Picentes (who lived on the Adriatic coast, in the south of modern Marche) who were concerned about their neighbours, the Senone Gauls to the north, and the Pretutii to the south. The latter had allied with the Samnites.

The Romans sent an army to Etruria led by the consul Titus Manlius Torquatus, who died in a riding accident. The Etruscans saw this as an omen for war. However, the Romans elected Marcus Valerius Corvus Calenus as suffect consul (an office which lasted for the remainder of the term of a deceased or removed consul) and he was sent to Etruria. This led the Etruscans to remain in their fortifications, refusing battle even though the Romans ravaged their land. Meanwhile, the Picentes warned the Romans that the Samnites were preparing for war and that they had asked them for help.

Early in 298 BC a Lucanian delegation went to Rome to ask the Romans to take them under their protection as the Samnites, having failed to bring them into an alliance, had invaded their territory. Rome agreed to an alliance. Fetials were sent to Samnium to order the Samnites to leave Lucania. The Samnites threatened their safety and Rome declared war. Dionysius of Halicarnassus thought that the cause of the war was not Roman compassion for the wronged, but fear of the strength the Samnites would gain if they subdued the Lucanians. Oakley suggests that Rome might well have deliberately sought a new war with Samnium by allying with her enemies.

• Outline of the Third Samnite War (298-290 BC)
  

  HISTORIC BATTLES

  Third Samnite War (298-290 BC)

  In 299 BC, the Etruscans, possibly due to the Roman colony set up at Narnia in next-door Umbria, prepared for war against Rome. However, the Gauls invaded their territory, so, the Etruscans offered them money to form an alliance. The Gauls agreed, but then objected to fighting against Rome, claiming that the agreement was only about them not devastating Etruscan territory. View Historic Battle »

  298 BC Conflicting Accounts: The Etruscans retreated during the night. Barbatus marched to the Faliscan district and laid Etruscan territory north of the River Tiber to waste.

  297 BC Rome turns to Samnium: The elections of the consuls for 297 BC took place amid rumours that the Etruscans and the Samnites were raising huge armies.

  296 BC Etruscan intervention: The Samnites pointed out that they could not defeat Rome by themselves, but an army of all the Etruscans, the richest nation in Italy, backed up by the Samnite army could.

  295 BC The Etrurian Campaign and the Battle of Sentinum: The Samnite raids in Campania created great alarm in Rome. In addition to this, there was news that, following the withdrawal of Lucius Volumnius' army from Etruria, the Etruscans were arming themselves.

  294 BC Samnite Raids: In 294 BC the Samnites raided three Roman armies (one was meant to return to Etruria, one to defend the border and the third to raid Campania).

  293 BC - 290 BC Defeat of Samnium: With the Samnite armies destroyed, the consuls decided to storm towns.

  Aftermath: When the Samnite War ended, the Romans moved to crush the Sabines who lived on the mountains to the east of Rome.

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Second Samnite War (326 to 304 BC)

The second one was the result of Rome's intervention in the politics of the city of Naples and developed into a contest over the control of much of central and southern Italy. The Samnites were one of early Rome's most formidable rivals. View Second Samnite War (326 to 304 BC) »

Third Samnite War (298 to 290 BC)

The wars extended over half a century and the peoples to the east, north and west of Samnium as well as the peoples of central Italy north of Rome and the Senone Gauls got involved to various degrees and at various points in time. View Third Samnite War (298 to 290 BC) »

 

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Samnite Wars", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.