Samnium (
Oscan:
Safinim; Italian:
Sannio) is a historical region of the south central
Apennines in
Italy, that was home to the
Samnites, a group of
Sabellic tribes that controlled the area from about 600 BC to about 290 BC. Samnium was delimited by
Latium in the north, by
Lucania in the south, by
Campania in the west and by
Apulia in the east. The principal cities of the region were Bovaiamom, renamed
Bovianum by
Latins (today:
Bojano or
Boiano) and
Malventum (Maloenton in
Oscan), which was later renamed
Beneventum by the
Romans (today:
Benevento).
History
thumb|right|Map of ancient Samnium from
The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1911.
For most of their history the Samnites were landlocked, but during a brief period they controlled parts of both coasts of the Italian peninsula. The Samnites were composed of at least four tribes: the
Pentri (the most important tribe, capital:
Bovianum), the
Caraceni (principal cities: Cluviae, the modern
Casoli, and
Juvanum, the ruins of which are spread between
Torricella Peligna and
Montenerodomo), the
Caudini (capital: Caudium, today
Montesarchio) and the
Hirpini (
Oscan for
wolf; capital
Beneventum), and later may have been joined by the
Frentani (capital Larinum, the modern
Larino). The federal capital of the League they formed was
Bovianum, except for a short period between the
4th and 3rd centuries BC, when it was
Aquilonia, destroyed by Romans in 293 BC, whose probable location today is modern Aquilonia, in Campania, province Avellino.
The earliest written record of the people is a treaty with the Romans from 354 BC, which set their border at the
Liris River. Shortly thereafter the
Samnite Wars broke out; they won an important battle against the Roman army in 321 BC, and their
imperium reached its peak in 316 BC after further gains from the Romans. By 290 BC, the Romans finally broke the Samnites' power, but even so they would join Hannibal during the 2nd Punic War. The Samnites were the last tribal group holding out against Rome in the
Social War (91–88 BC). In 82 BC, the Roman dictator
Lucius Cornelius Sulla slaughtered most of them and forced the rest to disperse. So great was the destruction that it was recorded that "the towns of Samnium have become villages, and many have vanished altogether."
Rulers of the Samnites
Uprising against Sulla
See also
