6 – Battle of Aquilonia (293 BC)
The Samnites were one of early Rome’s biggest enemies, and the two sides fought a total of three wars beginning in 343 BC. Rome managed to force peace terms at the end of the First Samnite War in 341 BC. The second conflict, also known as the Great Samnite War, lasted over 20 years (326-304 BC) but once again, Rome was successful. The Third and final, Samnite War began in 298 BC after Rome interfered when the Samnites invaded Lucania.
After an early victory for the Samnites at Camerium in 298 BC, the Romans soon took control and managed to defeat the Samnites at Tifernum in 297 BC. Over the next few years, the Romans whittled down the enemy ranks, and by 293 BC, the Samnites were desperately short of numbers. They ordered all Samnites in Aquilonia to join the fight. These men swore an oath their country; refusal to join meant immediate execution.
Details of the Battle of Aquilonia are scant although the Samnites apparently held their line for a considerable period. Eventually the Romans, led by Papirius, supposedly frightened the enemy by creating a large cloud of dust with his cavalry. The Romans believed they were about to be joined by comrades led by Carvilius even though he was besieging another city at the time. Nonetheless, the confident Romans charged down the Samnite center and routed them.
The Samnites fled the city of Aquilonia, and while the war continued for another three years, the losses suffered by the Samnites effectively crippled them. With little resistance facing them, the Roman consuls decided to storm the enemy’s towns. Several of Livy’s books chronicling the end of the war have sadly been lost. The remaining information suggests that Roman consuls Dentatus and Rufinus ended the Samnite resistance once and for all. The confidence gained by Rome paved the way for it to become the Mediterranean’s most powerful state.