Samnium

historical region in Southern Italy

14 dated entries naming Samnium, drawn from 14 separate years between 340 BCE and 553 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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4th century BC

340 BCEThe Romans succeed in detaching the Campanians from their alliance with the Latins (through their fear of the Samnites) and induce them to make a separate peace. Three Campanian cities, including Capua and Cumae, are granted Roman citizenship and thus become part of the Roman state. The Roman state now extends to the Bay of Naples.source
334 BCEAlexander of Epirus, at the request of the colony of Taras (Tarentum) crosses over into Italy, to aid them against the Lucanians and Bruttii. He wins victories over the Italian Samnite tribes.source
326 BCEFollowing their defeat by the Roman forces in Naples, the Samnites declare war on Rome starting the Second Samnite War. To help defeat the Samnites, the Romans make alliances with the peoples of Central Italy to the north of Samnium and with the Apulians to the southeast.source
321 BCETwo Roman consuls, Spurius Postumius Albinus and Titus Veturius Calvinus, leading an invading force into Samnium, are trapped in a mountain pass known as the Caudine Forks (Caudium) near Beneventum, where they can neither advance nor retire, and after a desperate struggle, they are forced to submit to the humiliating terms imposed by the Samnite victor, Gaius Pontius. The captured consuls pledge themselves to a five-year treaty on terms most favourable for the Samnites.source
312 BCEThe Second Samnite War continues: there are rumours of a mobilisation of the Etruscans; since the consul Marcus Valerius Maximus Corvus is campaigning in Samnium and his consular colleague Publius Decius Mus is to ill to lead an army, the people appoint Gaius Sulpicius Longus as dictator. Sulpicius appoints Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus as his Magister Equitum (Second-in-command). Sulpicius ' mission is to defend against the Etruscan invasion which never materialize; Sulpicius and Brutus remain in camp at Rome until the end of the campaigning season.source
306 BCEThe Romans invade Iapygia and begin a siege of Silvium (garrisoned by the Samnites). Eventually, they take the city by storm, taking 5,000 prisoners. After the Siege of Silvium they invade Samnium itself, pillaging the countryside for five months.source

3rd century BC

296 BCEThe consul Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens and the proconsuls Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus and Publius Decius Mus devastate the lands of Samnium.source
295 BCEThe proconsul Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens defeats a Samnite army at Mt Tifernus and invades Samnium.source
291 BCEThe proconsul Q. Fabius Maximus Gurges and legate Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus besiege the Samnite town of Cominium Ocritum, but the consul Lucius Postumius Megellus orders Fabius Gurges to relinquish his command and evacuate Samnium, despite the fact that the Senate had appointed Fabius proconsul to campaign against the Samnites.source
290 BCEThe consuls Manius Curius Dentatus and Publius Cornelius Rufinus invade Samnium and defeat the Samnites in several engagements. The Samnites sue for peace, thus ending the Third Samnite War. The Samnites are recognised by the Romans as autonomous allies but are subordinate to Rome and must give up land as compensation.source
216 BCEFollowing Hannibal's victory, many regions begin to defect from Rome, while others are conquered by Hannibal's forces. In Apulia, Lucania, Samnium and in Bruttium, Hannibal finds many supporters.source

1st century BC

42 BCEOctavian returns to Rome and arranges for ± 40,000 veterans' settlements in Campania, Etruria, Picenum, Samnium, Umbria, and in northern Italy.source

5th century

413May 8 – Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.source

6th century

553Gothic War: Frankish invasion — Two Frankish-Alemanni dukes, brothers Lothair and Buccelin, cross the Alps from Germany with a force of 75,000 men, mostly Frankish infantry. In the Po Valley, they win an easy victory over a much smaller Byzantine force at Parma, and are joined by remnants of the Gothic armies, bringing the total strength of the invaders to about 90,000 men. Narses, gathering his forces as quickly as possible, marches north to harass the Franks, but is not strong enough to engage them in battle. In Samnium (Southern Italy) the brothers divide their forces: Lothaire goes down the east coast, then returns to the north, to winter in the Po Valley. Buccelin follows the west coast into Calabria, where he spends the winter — his army being seriously wasted by attrition and disease.source