the degradation of such great majesty, as if from something too abominable to be seen. The consuls, almost nude, were the first to be sent under the yoke. Then, as each was next in rank, so was he subjected to debasement and humiliation; then the legions passed, one by one, under the yoke. The armed Samnites stood around, calling them cowards and insulting them. They also threatened many with their swords, even wounding and killing those whose faces showed their bitterness at suffering such indignities and thereby offended their conquerors. (Livy IX.5.12-IX.6.2)
The second war with the Samnites had ended, in 321 B.C. One source says that the Romans reneged on their humiliating treaty and continued fighting from 316 to 314, but most historians believe that they abided by the terms.
In the following years, the Romans did not fight the Samnites again, but they did not remain inactive. They made alliances with the Samnites' neighbors, the most important being the region called Apulia. The Samnites were now surrounded by Rome's allies or subjects. The Romans were waiting for the opportunity to avenge the humiliating peace of the Caudine Forks.
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The Third Samnite War
The Samnites themselves offered Rome the opportunity to break the treaty between them, by attacking Rome's allies the Lucanians, who naturally asked Rome for help against the Samnites. Roman fetials, the priests whose duties included deciding upon the justice or injustice of a war, were sent to the Samnites to demand reparations for the injuries to the Lucanians, but were told by the Samnites' messengers that if they met any Samnite council they would not leave uninjured. The Romans then declared war on the Samnites, in 298 B.C.
The Romans experienced many successes in the early stages of the war. The consul Gnaeus Fulvius captured one of the Samnites' main towns, Bovianum; Roman armies took other towns, such as Romulea, Murgantia, and Ferentinum, and destroyed much of the Samnites' territory. The Samnites nonetheless did not give up; instead they instigated a general revolt of the Etruscans, Umbrians, Gauls, and other peoples Rome had subdued in Italy, Rome was facing a serious war not only with the Samnites, but also with the Etruscans, and with their combined forces.
One of the great battles in the war was fought at Sentinum. The Gauls, Umbrians, Etruscans, and Samnites had joined forces against the Romans. In charge of the Romans' four legions were Q. Fabius and P. Decius. Neither side was winning, when Decius ordered his cavalry to attack; they drove far into the enemy forces, but suddenly became alarmed by the enemy bearing down upon them in war chariots. The Romans had never encountered those war chariots before, and their horses bolted; the Roman cavalry fled. Failing to restrain their flight, P. Decius decided to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of Rome. The Romans believed that a general could sacrifice himself and the enemy army (in Latin, devovere is the verb, devotio the noun) to the gods of the Underworld and to Mother Earth; Decius' father had sacrificed himself at the Battle of Veseris. Here is how the younger Decius did it:
He ordered the priest M. Livius to dictate the words for sacrificing himself and the enemy's army on behalf of the army of Rome. He then offered himself while saying the same prayers and wearing his toga in
Page 83
ceremonial fashion, as his father had when he offered himself in the Latin War, at Veseris. Saying the solemn prayers, he had claimed that he was driving before himself terror, flight, slaughter, and bloodshedall the wrath of the gods of the Underworldand that he would pollute the standards, arms, and missiles of the enemy with awful destruction, and the place of his destruction would be the place of the destruction of the Gallic and Samnite armies. After bringing this curse on himself and the enemy, he turned his horse to where he saw the Gauls were the thickest, lashed his horse, and galloped
The second war with the Samnites had ended, in 321 B.C. One source says that the Romans reneged on their humiliating treaty and continued fighting from 316 to 314, but most historians believe that they abided by the terms.
In the following years, the Romans did not fight the Samnites again, but they did not remain inactive. They made alliances with the Samnites' neighbors, the most important being the region called Apulia. The Samnites were now surrounded by Rome's allies or subjects. The Romans were waiting for the opportunity to avenge the humiliating peace of the Caudine Forks.
Page 82
The Third Samnite War
The Samnites themselves offered Rome the opportunity to break the treaty between them, by attacking Rome's allies the Lucanians, who naturally asked Rome for help against the Samnites. Roman fetials, the priests whose duties included deciding upon the justice or injustice of a war, were sent to the Samnites to demand reparations for the injuries to the Lucanians, but were told by the Samnites' messengers that if they met any Samnite council they would not leave uninjured. The Romans then declared war on the Samnites, in 298 B.C.
The Romans experienced many successes in the early stages of the war. The consul Gnaeus Fulvius captured one of the Samnites' main towns, Bovianum; Roman armies took other towns, such as Romulea, Murgantia, and Ferentinum, and destroyed much of the Samnites' territory. The Samnites nonetheless did not give up; instead they instigated a general revolt of the Etruscans, Umbrians, Gauls, and other peoples Rome had subdued in Italy, Rome was facing a serious war not only with the Samnites, but also with the Etruscans, and with their combined forces.
One of the great battles in the war was fought at Sentinum. The Gauls, Umbrians, Etruscans, and Samnites had joined forces against the Romans. In charge of the Romans' four legions were Q. Fabius and P. Decius. Neither side was winning, when Decius ordered his cavalry to attack; they drove far into the enemy forces, but suddenly became alarmed by the enemy bearing down upon them in war chariots. The Romans had never encountered those war chariots before, and their horses bolted; the Roman cavalry fled. Failing to restrain their flight, P. Decius decided to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of Rome. The Romans believed that a general could sacrifice himself and the enemy army (in Latin, devovere is the verb, devotio the noun) to the gods of the Underworld and to Mother Earth; Decius' father had sacrificed himself at the Battle of Veseris. Here is how the younger Decius did it:
He ordered the priest M. Livius to dictate the words for sacrificing himself and the enemy's army on behalf of the army of Rome. He then offered himself while saying the same prayers and wearing his toga in
Page 83
ceremonial fashion, as his father had when he offered himself in the Latin War, at Veseris. Saying the solemn prayers, he had claimed that he was driving before himself terror, flight, slaughter, and bloodshedall the wrath of the gods of the Underworldand that he would pollute the standards, arms, and missiles of the enemy with awful destruction, and the place of his destruction would be the place of the destruction of the Gallic and Samnite armies. After bringing this curse on himself and the enemy, he turned his horse to where he saw the Gauls were the thickest, lashed his horse, and galloped
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