Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now, the name of Capua comes from the Etruscan Capeva. The meaning is City of Marshes and its foundation is attributed by Cato the Elder to the Etruscans, and the date given as about 260 years before it was taken by Rome. If this is true it refers not to its capture in the Second Punic War but to its submission to Rome in 338 BC, placing the date of foundation at about 600 BC, while Etruscan power was at its highest. In the area several settlements of the Villanovian civilization were present in prehistoric times, Etruscan supremacy in Campania came to an end with the Samnite invasion in the latter half of the 5th century BC. About 424 BC it was captured by the Samnites and in 343 BC besought Roman help against its conquerors, the citizens of Capua received the civitas sine suffragio.
In the second Samnite War with Rome, Capua proved an untrustworthy Roman ally, so that after the defeat of the Samnites and it was the capital of Campania Felix. In 312 BC, Capua was connected with Rome by the construction of the Via Appia, the most important of the military highways of Italy. The gate by which it left the Servian walls of Rome bore the name Porta Capena and others have suggested that the luxurious conditions were Hannibals Cannae because his troops became soft and demoralized by luxurious living. Historians from Bosworth Smith onwards have been skeptical of this, observing that his troops gave as good an account of themselves in battle after that winter as before. Considerable difficulties occurred in preventing illegal encroachments by private persons, and it was, after that period, not to large but to small proprietors. Frequent attempts were made by the leaders to divide the land among new settlers. Brutus in 83 BC actually succeeded in establishing a colony, but it was soon dissolved, the town of Capua belonged to none of these organizations, and was entirely dependent on the praefecti.
Its luxury remained proverbial, and Campania is especially spoken of as the home of gladiatorial combats, from the gladiatorial schools of Campania came Spartacus and his followers in 73 BC. The number of colonists was increased by Mark Antony, Augustus, in the war of 69 it took the side of Vitellius. Under Constantine we hear of the foundation of a Christian church in Capua, in 456 it was taken and destroyed by the Vandals under Gaiseric, but must have been soon rebuilt. During the Gothic War, Capua suffered greatly, when the Lombards invaded Italy in the second half of the 6th century, Capua was ravaged, later, it was included in the Duchy of Benevento, and ruled by an official styled gastald. In 839, the prince of Benevento, was assassinated by Radelchis I of Benevento, sicards brother Siconulf was proclaimed independent prince in Salerno and the gastald of Capua declared himself independent
Battle of Nola (214 BC)
The Third Battle of Nola was fought in 214 BC between Hannibal and a Roman army led by Marcus Claudius Marcellus. It was Hannibals third attempt to take the town of Nola, once again, Marcellus successfully prevented the towns capture. This victory brought the Romans to the brink of despair, the Senate had issued a decree that forbade anyone to say the word, Peace within the city itself. Mourning was legislatively circumscribed to 30 days, women were not permitted to cry in the public venues and this proposed defection was put down and all thoughts of surrender were circumscribed. To be sure, there were colonies that had detached from the Confederacy in Cisalpine Gaul. So after Cannae, Hannibal set about just this task and it was indeed upon the basis of his being able to detach the confederates of Rome, that Hannibal had calculated upon a lasting victory. Without them, nothing serious could be brought about, so after the battle itself, Hannibal started to conduct diplomacy to this effect. Phillip of Macedon promised a navy and an army to descend on Italy - it was in way that he hoped to simultaneously strike a blow at Rome herself while regaining Epirus to his kingdom.
In addition to this, Hiero II of Syracuse recently passed, however, in spite of the seeming ascendancy of Hannibal over Rome, his cause was in reality anything but that. His military chest was stretched to its limit, and to this effect he sent a deputation to Rome that requested money in return for hostages, what happened at this point, was a number of Roman Allies - although no Latin confederate - were detached. Capua, the city of all Italy and in a commanding position on the crucial plain of Campania was detached. This city had been oppressed by the Romans, and faced discriminitory treatment by the Senate. This city was said to be able to furnish Hannibal with 30,000 foot and 4,000 cavalry and this was a major blow to the Symmachy, and was in and of itself as demoralizing as the defeat at Cannae had been. Hannibal had effectively won over all of southern Italy, from the mouth of the Vulturnus river to the peninsula of Mons Garganus and south nothing could be found except a string of Roman forts holding out and adherents of Hannibal
Vespasian
Vespasian was Roman emperor from AD69 to AD79. Vespasian founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empire for twenty-seven years, Vespasian was from an equestrian family that rose into the senatorial rank under the Julio–Claudian emperors. While Vespasian besieged Jerusalem during the Jewish rebellion, emperor Nero committed suicide, after Galba and Otho perished in quick succession, Vitellius became the third emperor in April 69. The Roman legions of Roman Egypt and Judaea reacted by declaring Vespasian, their commander, emperor on 1 July 69. In his bid for power, Vespasian joined forces with Mucianus, the governor of Syria, and Primus. Primus and Mucianus led the Flavian forces against Vitellius, while Vespasian took control of Egypt, on 20 December 69, Vitellius was defeated, and the following day Vespasian was declared Emperor by the Senate. Little information survives about the government during Vespasians ten-year rule and he reformed the financial system at Rome after the campaign against Judaea ended successfully, and initiated several ambitious construction projects.
He began the building of the Flavian Amphitheatre, better known today as the Roman Colosseum, in reaction to the events of 68–69, Vespasian forced through an improvement in army discipline. Through his general Agricola, Vespasian increased imperial expansion in Britain, after his death in 79, he was succeeded by his eldest son Titus, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to be directly succeeded by his own natural son and establishing the Flavian dynasty. Vespasian was born in a village north-east of Rome called Falacrinae and his family was relatively undistinguished and lacking in pedigree. His paternal grandfather, Titus Flavius Petro, became the first to himself, rising to the rank of centurion. Subsequently he became a debt collector, petros son, Titus Flavius Sabinus, worked as a customs official in the province of Asia and became a money-lender on a small scale among the Helvetii. He gained a reputation as a scrupulous and honest tax-farmer, Sabinus married up in status, to Vespasia Polla, whose father had risen to the rank of prefect of the camp and whose brother became a Senator.
Sabinus and Vespasia had three children, the eldest of whom, a girl, died in infancy, the elder boy, Titus Flavius Sabinus entered public life and pursued the cursus honorum. He served in the army as a tribune in Thrace in 36. The following year he was elected quaestor and served in Crete, the younger boy, seemed far less likely to be successful, initially not wishing to pursue high public office. He followed in his brothers footsteps when driven to it by his mothers taunting, during this period he married Flavia Domitilla, the daughter of Flavius Liberalis from Ferentium and formerly the mistress of Statilius Capella, a Roman equestrian from Sabrata in Africa. They had two sons, Titus Flavius Vespasianus and Titus Flavius Domitianus, and a daughter and his wife Domitilla and his daughter Domitilla both died before Vespasian became Emperor in 69
Nocera Inferiore
Nocera Inferiore is a city and comune in Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, at the foot of Monte Albino,20 km east-south-east of Naples by rail. Nuceria minted its own money, its coins bearing the head of the god, and developed its own alphabet called nucerino. It maintained its allegiance to Rome until 309 BC when it joined the revolted Samnites, in 308 BC it repulsed a Roman attempt to land at the mouth of the Sarnus, but in 307 BC it was besieged and surrendered. It obtained favourable terms, and remained faithful to Rome even after Cannae, hannibal reduced it in 216 BC by starvation, and destroyed the town. The inhabitants returned when peace was restored, in 73 BC it was plundered by Spartacus. At an early date the city became a see, and in the 12th century it sided with Innocent II against Roger of Sicily. In the 13th century, and long after, the town had the name of Nocera de Pagani because a colony of Muslim Saracens was introduced by Frederick II, the town was described as a genuine Muhammadan town with all its characteristic mosques and minarets.
It is said that, through their darker complexion and features, while the towns name was changed from Nocera de Pagani to Nocera Inferiore, a nearby town, Nuceria Christianorum, was renamed Nocera Superiore. But in 1239 Frederick II decided to expel the Muslim population of Nocera, a small colony of Saracens was actually introduced in the town around the 9th century. By the end of the 15th century, until 1806 had the epithet, today there is the town of Pagani, which lies about one 1.5 km to the west. In 1385 Pope Urban VI was besieged in the castle by Charles III of Naples, the widow of Manfred of Sicily, was imprisoned in the Castle and died here after the battle of Benevento. Here Urban VI imprisoned the cardinals who favoured the antipope Clement VII, the castle had as guests the writers Dante Alighieri and Boccaccio. About three kilometers to the east, near the village of Nocera Superiore, is the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Its chief feature is its dome, ceiled with stone internally and it is supported by 40 ancient columns, and in its construction resembles Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome.
The walls are covered with frescoes from the 14th century and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Hugh, ed. article name needed. Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno Alphabet of Nuceria A. S. G, nocerina History of Islam in southern Italy Saracinesco Ciciliano Media related to Nocera Inferiore at Wikimedia Commons Official Website
Avellino
Avellino listen is a town and comune, capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a surrounded by mountains 50 kilometres northeast of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. Before the Roman conquest, the ancient Abellinum was a centre of the Samnite Hirpini, located on the Civita hill some 4 kilometres outside the current town, the city could correspond to the ancient Velecha, documented by coins found in the area. Abellinum was conquered by the Romans in 293 BC, changing several times in the following centuries. However, the edification of a true Roman town occurred only after the conquest by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 89 BC, the town was Christianized around 500 AD, becoming an episcopal seat. There followed the invasions of the Goths and Vandals, after the Lombard conquest of southern Italy, the ancient city was abandoned, and a new settlement grew on the Terra hill, corresponding to the modern Avellino. Defended by a castle, it part of the Duchy of Benevento and, after the latters fall.
In 1100, during the Norman rule of southern Italy, it was acquired by Riccardo dellAquila, King Charles I of Anjou assigned it to the Montfort family, who were succeeded by the Del Balzo and the Filangieri. The feudal rights to Avellino were purchased in 1581 by Don Marino I Caracciolo, duke of Atripalda, of a family of Naples. Avellino became the seat of the Caracciolo. Don Marino’s son and grandson were consecutively Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Naples, the grandson, Don Marino II, was the patron of Giambattista Basile, author of the Pentamerone. In 1820 Avellino was seat of revolutionary riots, the Unification of Italy some fifty years did not bring any benefit to the city, being cut off from the main railway line Naples-Benevento-Foggia, and far from the sea as well. In 1943 the city was bombed by Allied planes in an attempt to cut off the retreat of German panzer units over the important Bridge of Ferriera. Avellino has suffered from seismic activity throughout its history and was hard by the earthquakes of 23 November 1980 and 14 February 1981.
The 1980 Irpinia earthquake represented a turning point for the town, large amounts of money flowed in for infrastructure investment, and the extra money generated innovation and economic expansion more generally. By 2008 a per capita income level of €20,180 placed Avellino well above the regional average in terms of individual prosperity. Nevertheless, viticulture and, especially the production of hazelnuts remain important to the economy and, with increased investment in recent years. Many small and medium-sized businesses are located in the zones, including notably FMA who produce engines for Fiat, Opel and Alfa Romeo
Roman Republic
It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military.
Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers.
The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, referred to as The Hannibalic War and the War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic and its allied Italic socii, with the crucial participation of Numidian-Berber armies and tribes on both sides. The two states three major wars with each other over the course of their existence. They are called the Punic Wars because Romes name for Carthaginians was Poeni, derived from Poenici, in the following year, Hannibals army defeated the Romans again, this time in southern Italy at Cannae. In consequence of these defeats, many Roman allies went over to Carthage, against Hannibals skill on the battlefield, the Romans deployed the Fabian strategy. A sideshow of this war was the indecisive First Macedonian War in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Second Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome and was ignited by the dispute over the hegemony of Saguntum, a Hellenized Iberian coastal city with diplomatic contacts with Rome.
After great tension within the city government, culminating in the assassination of the supporters of Carthage, the city called for Roman aid, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. Following a prolonged siege and a struggle, in which Hannibal himself was wounded and the army practically destroyed. Many of the Saguntians chose to commit suicide rather than face subjugation by the Carthaginians, before the war and Hasdrubal the Fair had made a treaty. Livy reports that it was agreed that the Iber should be the boundary between the two empires and that the liberty of the Saguntines should be preserved, Hannibal departed with this army from New Carthage northwards along the coast in late spring of 218 BC. At the Ebro, he split the army into three columns and subdued the tribes there to the Pyrenees within weeks, but with severe losses. At the Pyrenees, he left a detachment of 11,000 Iberian troops, Hannibal reportedly entered Gaul with 50,000 infantry and 9,000 cavalry. He took his army by a route, avoiding the Roman allies along the coast.
In the meantime, a Roman fleet with a force was underway to northern Iberia. A scouting party of 300 cavalry was sent to discover the whereabouts of the enemy and these eventually defeated a Carthaginian scouting troop of 500 mounted Numidians and chased them back to their main camp. Thus, with knowledge of the location of the enemy, the Romans marched upstream, Hannibal evaded this force and by an unknown route reached the Isère or the Durance at the foot of the Alps in autumn. He received messengers from his Gallic allies in Italy that urged him to come to their aid, before setting out to cross the Alps, he was re-supplied by a native tribe, some of whose hereditary disputes he had helped solve. Their other commander, Publius Cornelius Scipio, returned to Rome, realizing the danger of an invasion of Italy where the tribes of the Boii, after 217 BC, he moved to Iberia
Campania
Campania is a region in Southern Italy. Located on the Italian Peninsula, with the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it includes the small Phlegraean Islands, Campania was colonised by Ancient Greeks and was part of Magna Græcia. During the Roman era, the area maintained a Greco-Roman culture, the capital city of Campania is Naples. Campania is rich in culture, especially in regard to gastronomy, architecture and ancient sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum and Velia. The name of Campania itself is derived from Latin, as the Romans knew the region as Campania felix, the rich natural sights of Campania make it highly important in the tourism industry, especially along the Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius and the island of Capri. During the 8th century BC, people from Euboea in Greece, known as Cumaeans, another Oscan tribe, the Samnites, moved down from central Italy into Campania. The Roman consul Quintus Publilius Filo recaptured Neapolis by 326 BC, the Second Samnite War ended with the Romans controlling southern Campania and additional regions further to the south.
Campania was a part of the Roman Republic by the end of the 4th century BC, valued for its pastures. Its Greek language and customs made it a centre of Hellenistic civilization, during the Pyrrhic War the battle took place in Campania at Maleventum in which the Romans, led by consul Curius Dentatus, were victorious. They renamed the city Beneventum, which grew in stature until it was only to Capua in southern Italy. During the Second Punic War in 216 BC, Capua, in a bid for equality with Rome, the rebellious Capuans were isolated from the rest of Campania, which remained allies of Rome. Naples resisted Hannibal due to the imposing walls, Capua was eventually starved into submission in the Roman retaking of 211 BC, and the Romans were victorious. The rest of Campania, with the exception of Naples, adopted the Latin language as official and was Romanised. As part of the Roman Empire, with Latium, Roman Emperors chose Campania as a holiday destination, among them Claudius and Tiberius, the latter of whom is infamously linked to the island of Capri.
It was during this period that Christianity came to Campania, Two of the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, are said to have preached in the city of Naples, and there were several martyrs during this time. Unfortunately, the period of calm was violently interrupted by the epic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 which buried the cities of Pompeii. The area had many duchies and principalities during the Middle Ages, in the hands of the Byzantine Empire, under the Normans, the smaller independent states were brought together as part of the Kingdom of Sicily, before the mainland broke away to form the Kingdom of Naples. It was during this period elements of Spanish, French
Roman Catholic Diocese of Nola
The Diocese of Nola is a Roman Catholic diocese in Italy, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples. Its seat is the Campanian city of Nola, now a suburb of Naples and its cathedral is dedicated to Mary of the Assumption. It is traditionally credited with the introduction of the use of bells into Christian worship, the diocese was founded in the late 2nd or early 3rd century by St Felix. He was martyred, as were St Januariuss companions Reparatus, the early center of worship was at Cimitile, outside Nola proper and now named for its cemetery. The basilica of St Felix Martyr was built by Bishop Paulinus in the late 4th or early 5th century, Paulinus is traditionally credited with the introduction of bells into Christian ritual, whence two major medieval forms became known as nolas and campanas. Felixs relics, and Paulinuss own, made the site a major focus of Christian pilgrimage, St Adeodatus was a 5th-century archpresbyter within the diocese, his metrical epitaph has been preserved. John, the pope of Alexandria, became bishop of Nola in 484.
Around 505, Bishop Paulinus III supposedly enslaved himself to free a widows son, several buildings were restored under Bishop Lupicinus around 786. In 1370, Francis Scacciani began construction of the present Gothic cathedral, the seminary was founded by Antonio Scarampi in 1549, introducing the reforms of the Council of Trent. In 1585, Fabrizio Gallo founded several charitable institutions, who served as bishop for much of the first half of the 17th century, served as papal nuncio to Poland from 1622 to 1627. Francis M. Carafa devoted great attention to the education of the local clergy, john Talaia, formerly pope of Alexandria. Butler, The Lives of the Fathers and Other Principal Saints, Duffy
Avellino eruption
The Avellino eruption of Mount Vesuvius refers to a Plinian-type eruption that occurred in the 2nd millennium BC and is estimated to have had a VEI of 6. It is the source of the Avellino Pumice deposits named from the comune of Avellino in Campania where they have been found extensively and these pumices appearing in Apulian pottery can be used to establish relative chronology of pottery phases. A2008 study of the lithofacies distinguishes three phases, pyroclastic flows of Phases 1 and 2 were generated by magmatic fragmentation and had small dispersal areas mainly on the slopes of Vesuvius. Phase 3 was created by phreatomagmatic fragmentation, in which fragments are driven by superheated steam from ground water mixed with the other gases released from the magma. The authors characterize Phase 3 as the most voluminous and widespread in the whole of Somma-Vesuvius eruptive history, some facies a few cm thick were found 25 km from the source. The vent was 2 km west of todays center, the overall results of the Avellino Eruption were catastrophic and widespread.
The deposit thickness of ash and other eruptive material ranges from 15m close to the vent to 50 cm around Avellino, the date of the Avellino Eruption remains to be determined with a precision greater than about 500 years within the framework of the Early/Middle Bronze Age. A range of 2000 BC —1500 BC includes the majority of estimates. Ample opportunity to obtain Carbon-14 dates from charcoal and soil buried under the deposits has existed, sporadic radiocarbon dating continues, with each scientist claiming to have obtained the latest. Consistency with previous and subsequent work remains elusive, according to Giardino the problem of establishing a reliable date results from the differences of calibrating on the one hand organic samples and on the other had soil facies. He prefers the earlier as the more reliable date, the latter were verified by tree-ring series and ice-core layers. The authors had just obtained carbon dates of 3360±40 BP, or 1617-1703 calibrated BC and they were suggesting a coincidence of a number of eruptions, such as the Santorini explosion, that destroyed the Minoan civilization.
The hypothesis remains unverifiable a generation later, due to the imprecision of the dates. The eruption destroyed several Bronze Age settlements, the residents had hastily abandoned the village, leaving it to be buried under pumice and ash in much the same way that Pompeii was preserved. Sevink, J. Bergen, M. J. van, Plicht, J. van der, Feiken, H. Anastasia, robust date for the Bronze Age Avellino eruption,3945 +/-10 calBP. The Island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples between the 5th and the 2nd Millennium BC, in Attema, Nijboer, Zifferero, Andrea. Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo, Pierpaolo Petrone, Lucia Pappalardo and Michael F. Sheridan, catastrophe as a Worst-Case Scenario for a Future Eruption at Vesuvius. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Vol.103, No
Samnite Wars
The First and Third Samnite Wars were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the south of Rome and the north of the Lucanians. The first of these wars was the result of Romes intervening to rescue the Campanian city of Capua from a Samnite attack. The second one was the result of Romes intervention in the politics of the city of Naples and developed into a contest over the control of much of central, the third war involved a struggle over the control of this part of Italy. The Samnites were one of early Romes most formidable rivals, by the time of the first of these wars, the southward expansion of Rome’s territory had reached the River Liris, which was the boundary between Latium and Campania. This river is now called Garigliano and it is the boundary between the regions of Lazio and Campania. In those days the name Campania referred to the plain between the coast and the Apennine Mountains which stretched from the River Liris down to the bays of Naples, the northern part of this area was inhabited by the Sidicini, the Aurunci and the Ausoni.
The central and southern part was inhabited by the Campanians, who were people who had migrated from Samnium and were related to the Samnites. The Samnites were a confederation of four tribes who lived on the mountains to the east of Campania and were the most powerful people in the area, the Samnites and Sidicini spoke Oscan languages. Their languages were part of the Osco-Umbrian linguistic family which included Umbrian, the Lucanians who lived to the south were Oscan speakers. Diodorus Siculus and Livy report that in 354 BC Rome and the Samnites concluded a treaty, modern historians have proposed that the treaty established the river Liris as the boundary between their spheres of influence, with Romes lying to its north and the Samnites to its south. This arrangement broke down when the Romans intervened south of the Liris to rescue the Campanian city of Capua from an attack by the Samnites. Livy is the only preserved source to give an account of the war which has become known in modern historiography as the First Samnite War.
In addition, the Fasti Triumphales records two Roman triumphs dating to this war and some of the described by Livy are mentioned by other ancient writers. According to Livy, the First Samnite War started not because of any enmity between Rome and the Samnites, but due to outside events, the spark came when the Samnites without provocation attacked the Sidicini, a tribe living north of Campania with their chief settlement at Teanum Sidicinum. Unable to stand against the Samnites, the Sidicini sought help from the Campanians, Livy continues, the Samnites defeated the Campanians in a battle in Sidicine territory and turned their attention toward Campania. First they seized the Tifata hills overlooking Capua and, having left a force to hold them. There they defeated the Campanians in a battle and drove them within their walls. This compelled the Campanians to ask Rome for help, at Rome, the Campanian ambassadors were admitted to an audience with the Senate
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.
