"The Savage Interlude: War and Conquest in Southern Italy" Topic

… (342-327)

"Before the conclusion of the First Samnite War in 341 BC, the Roman republic and Samnite confederation found themselves seriously confronted with uprisings and wars beyond the scope of their immediate struggle for Campania. Indeed, rather than there being any sort of a real 'end' to the First Samnite War, there was in reality only a transition to an even more complex phase of anarchy. No people or state in the region was left at peace, as all were forcefully drawn into a wider war of even greater significance than its immediate predecessor. The results of this period of strife were remarkable and far-reaching: whereas Tyrrhenian Italy existed in 342 BC as a hodgepodge of smaller states and peoples, sandwiched uncomfortably between the two growing powers, by 327 BC these had been largely swept away and incorporated into the hegemonic blocks of Samnium and Rome. This evolution was anything but peaceful. There were great campaigns of manoeuvre across mountain and plain. Cities were besieged and territories plundered into waste. The smaller political entities of the region, faced with the terrible onslaught, made every effort to maintain their old ancestral freedom, forging new innovative alliances and putting large armies in the field to back them up. To the south, the ongoing conflict between the larger Sabellian diaspora, including the Samnites, Lucani and Bruttii and the Greek city-states of Maegna Graecia, continued to be waged un-remittingly. Foreign condotierri in the employ of Taras engaged in a series of fierce campaigns, taking war deep into the Apennines and eventually even up to the borders of Campania and Samnium proper. By doing so, the Greeks, Lucani and Bruttii also played an important part in Tyrrhenian affairs of this period. Rather be than kept separate, events in southern Italy must be included to gather a full understanding of the events and eventual outcomes.

There are many problems with attempting to put together a detailed and authoritative version of events for this period of Italian history. To begin with, the writings of our existing ancient sources were set down hundreds of years after the events in question. Some of the sources exist only in fragments, while others deal with Italian affairs only in passing. Compounding the problem is the fact that the ancient sources were not given over to historical analysis in the modern sense, writing their histories in a manner meant for particular audiences and sometimes with not a little bias. It must follow then that the farther modern scholars delve into the details of the ancient accounts, the more a healthy scepticism at any conclusions must come into play. The present work cannot escape suffering from this problem. The matters of opinion and the weighing of probabilities will be very easily discerned by the reader. That said, such problems cannot be a barrier to debate on the events and their historical significance. On the positive side, the extant ancient writings are of some quality and to a good extent corroborate each other on the main historical developments. The fullest account of the period that survives is that of Livy (books 8.3 – 14). Some sparse fragments of Dionysius of Halicarnassus are available and generally serve to back up Livy's account. Infrequent notices from Diodorus Siculus are helpful where they appear and focus on the most notable events. Passages from Plutarch, Polybius and from later annalistic sources such as Justin and Valerius Maximus, serve to complete the ancient commentary on the events in question. The Triumphal Fasti and archaeological work also help to round out the available evidence. For this period, modern scholarship has focused, understandably, on the Latin War of 340 – 338 BC and the immensely important Roman political innovations which followed it. Commentary on the smaller wars of the period, such as the reduction of the Volsci and Aurunci and the various expeditions against the Sidicini has been less debated, no doubt due to their relative historical obscurity. The works of various scholars, particularly Oakley, Salmon and Frederiksen, add much needed balance to the historical debate by highlighting the non-Roman history of the region, including the affairs of the Samnites and the historical tie-in with the concurrent history surrounding the various Sabellian peoples and the Greeks city-states of southern Italy. To sum up, there is general agreement as to the historicity of the most notable events of the period, such as the Latin War, the re-organization of the Roman hegemony following it and the wars of the various Greek Generals in the employ of Taras. In the various details, such as the status of the Sidicini, the critical events of 340 BC and Samnite actions following the Latin War, there remains an open and healthy debate…"
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Armand