The Roots Of Roman Stamina: The Struggle With The Samnites

 

Painted Frieze Of Samnite warriors, 4th Cent. BC

Rome's rise to power and empire is a story that spans several centuries. She was imperialism par excellence, eventually expanding her dominion over at first the Mediterranean and then western and eastern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. While the well organized Roman armies were at times virtually invincible, they also faced some defeats. What is remarkable about the Roman military is how they would suffer a reversal then learn from it, adapt and adopt accordingly, and go on to achieve victory and establish a stability few empires have attained in history. When Rome was in danger of foreign invasion on Italian soil by the capable military commander Pyrhus, the king of Epirus, they suffered several defeats at the hands of this military strategist but were able to hold their own, inflicting so many losses on their adversary at the battle of Beneventum in 275 BC that the great king reputedly exclaimed "one more such victory and I am lost", giving rise to the expression 'Pyrrhic Victory'. When Hannibal of Carthage invaded the Italian peninsula by way of the Alps, bringing his army with him in a daring move that caught the Romans by surprise, he defeated them in several battles, most notably the battle of Cannae in 216 BC in which he devastated the Roman army opposing him. Livy claims that Roman losses were more than half their force, some 67,000 men. This battle held the reputation of being Rome's darkest hour. Hannibal used an encircling tactic still studied to this day in military schools around the world in which he trapped the legions who were crammed so close together they could not use their swords effectively and were indiscriminately slaughtered. Members of Rome's highest and most noble families died in the conflict, and it is said there was not a Roman family who did not mourn the loss of a son, father or brother. Hannibal drove fear into the hearts of the peoples of the Italian countryside. Though he defeated the legions on the battlefield, Hannibal had no siege engines and could not breach the walls of Rome, thus depriving the great general of his prize. Concerned about his narrow supply lines which the Romans constantly harassed he was forced to retreat back to North Africa where he would await Roman vengeance, which would arrive in the form of a general named Scipio, who studied Hannibal's tactics and turned these on the Carthaginian, decisively defeating the seemingly invincible one at the battle of Zama in 202 BC. For this victory Scipio was awarded the title 'Conqueror of Africa', thus he would be known to history as Scipio Africanus. 

Battle Of Zama  Cornelius Cort, 16th Cent. 

Two powerful foreign entities commanded by two of ancient history's most brilliant generals invaded Italy and sought to subdue the Romans, but were themselves defeated. Rome went on to conquer and claim Carthage and northern Africa, then continued their move east into the Balkans fully subduing Illyria, Macedonia, Thrace and the Grecian states. The formerly harassed Romans were now the harassing entity in the Mediterranean, adding kingdom after kingdom to their now growing imperial realm. 

The orderly Roman legions, though successful time and again, would face danger and defeat in the course of their empirical endeavors. The slave revolt of Spartacus in the 1st century BC caused Rome as much worry as did Hannibal's invasion, with whole bands of escaped, wild gladiators terrorizing the countryside. This slave army defeated several Roman legions but met their match in a battle with the general Crassus who, like his predecessors, studied the defeats and turned these tactics on his foes, finally defeating the slave army of Spartacus in 71 AD in the region of present day Calabria in Italy's south. After the battle, some 6,000 of the captured slaves and gladiators were crucified as a reminder to those who would dare to challenge the power of Rome. This revolt was a cause for worry, but also was a cause for the Romans to demonstrate to history their uncanny ability to persevere. We might wish to add to the list of Roman woes the invasion of Germany in 9 AD where the legions were defeated and virtually annihilated in the Teutoburg Forest. The Romans were masters of battle on an open field but were unaccustomed to fighting in the woods, where their commanders could not effectively command their troops. However, in time the conquerors would learn the weaknesses of their enemies and could eventually defeat them. One interesting mention in the annals is the use of long and heavy swords by the Germanic tribes which could split a man in two. The Germanic weapons were quite the opposite of the Roman weapon of choice, the short hispanic gladius, which was used for close in fighting. The Romans learned to deal with the vicious blows of the heavy swords and axes of their barbarian foes- the legionnaire would block the heavy weapon with his 'scutum' shield and would stab at the exposed underbelly of the enemy warrior as he raised his heavy weapon, which sometimes required the use of two hands, to deliver the death blow. Moving as a unit, the Roman lines would cut their way through the enemy, slicing torsos along the way and effectively disarming the wielders of those terrible, heavy weapons. In the wars against the Persian empire, Rome would face defeat again in confronting the horse mounted cavalry of the Parthians and Sassanians who were covered in weighty chain mail literally from 'head to hoof' yet they too could achieve victory after eventually studying Persian tactics and turning them around.

What we could surmise from Roman military history is that this brilliant military war machine learned from mistakes and would eventually emerge more powerful than before. It is amazing how the Roman legions could adapt tactics and techniques so rapidly and achieve the success that made the Roman empire the all powerful entity it was, lasting in the west until the 5th century AD and in the east in the form of Byzantium until the mid 15th century. The walls of the eastern Roman capital city of Constantinople were never breached except when Crusaders stormed the walls in 1204 and when the Ottomans under Mehmet The Conqueror took the city in 1453. We might also wish to mention that terrible weapon used to turn ships to cinders, known as 'Greek Fire', which turned back navies intent on conquest. In short, the legacy of the civilization of Rome was one of inventiveness and flexibility which gave them mastery of a portion of the then known world for more than a millennium. 

Silver Embossed Side Of A Chariot, Etruscan 6th Cent BC

We should ask the question then as to why these Romans were so successful time and again against so many obstacles and odds? Every defeat was turned into a vengeance that saw either the complete decimation of their foes as in the destruction of Carthage, or in the very least, their uncanny ability to resist dangerous foes such as the Germanic tribes or the equally flexible and organized Persians. I believe the answer lies in the early history and nature of ancient Italy. The city of Rome was built by the tribe known as the Latini, one of many tribes who lived in the peninsula in classical era. These various tribes were warlike and feuded constantly with one another, all in the shadow of the great Etruscan civilization in the north and the colonizing Greeks who settled in Sicily and southern Italy, founding new cities so as to exploit the volcanic earth for the production of excellent wheat, olives, grapes and the pasturing of cattle and sheep, to feed their city states back in Greece proper. There were other migrants to Italy at the time from the Balkans and people who came down from the Alps. This was a chaotic time that saw disparate tribes and clans fighting with one another for control of fertile valleys and plains amid mountainous terrain. Loins brought forth mouths to feed and land was needed to provide food for these mouths, hence the reason for the clash of tribe and clan so prominent in ancient society and for our purposes, here in crowded Italy. 

  Digital Rendition Of A Typical Samnite Warrior

After the legendary founding of Rome by one Romulus, who killed his brother in a duel and became the first king of the Latium, his city was built upon seven hills in the Alba Longa region and was named for him. Seeking to annex territory, the Latini went to war with their neighbors or with the Greek colonizers and established their presence in central Italy. They conquered the Umbrians and the Sabines, for whom a great story unfolded which was noted in several Renaissance paintings, of how they raped the women, thus incorporating them into the future Roman nation. Long before Rome expanded to become the imperial empire it did on foreign soil, she attacked and conquered her neighbors for a variety of reasons. Add to this alliances made or broken with the Greek colonists, the Etruscans and others and we understand the necessity to be disciplined and organized, and to be stoic enough to accept defeat and loss. It was this time in Italy's early chaotic history that the great epics that became the later literature of classical Rome were based on, such as the migrations and doings of the Trojan Aeneas and the warrior maiden Camilla of the Volsci. 

Samnite Depiction Of Warriors Engaged In Mutual Combat, 4th Cent. BC

While the brilliant civilization of the mysterious Etruscans reigned in Italy's north, creating excellent art and painting depicting the lives of a highly sophisticated populace enamored with pleasure, other tribal kingdoms stood in stark contrast. Perhaps early Rome's greatest challenge came from a tribe known as the Samnites. These were a powerful tribe who inhabited the inner, mountainous region of south central Italy. They were warlike and formidable and attained a reputation of ferocity. For entertainment they pit warriors against one another in  duels to the death, which the Romans would adopt as their own public entertainment and raise the practice of the gladiator to a spectacle in the coliseum. Even the Greeks thought it wise to not deal with these fierce people, preferring trade and exchange over confrontation. These were people who excelled in the making of swords, armor and shields, their art portraying the life of the warrior and the hero. These were a people enraptured not by beauty and art but were rather in love with martial prowess, like the Spartans, Thracians and Illyrians across the Adriatic in the Balkans. The Romans would challenge this entity but would learn that the price for expansion could be costly against such a determined and fierce foe in a series of wars, three to be exact,  that lasted from 343 BC to 290 BC. 

The Samnites invaded and defeated the settlement of Capua, a rich city on the Campanian plain between Rome and the Greek city of Neapolis. The Capuans were descended from the Samnites. Having established their own nation, they sought an alliance with the Romans and placed themselves under Roman rule so as to attain protection from the Samnites. Thus the first of three wars between Rome and the Samnites evolved. Later Roman historians portrayed the Roman intervention as a noble cause to assist the underdog as it were, but it is obvious that the Latins were seeking power and the annexing of territory. The Romans were at first successful against the Samnites, but in a series of three wars they learned just how formidable their foes could be. At Caudine Forks an entire Roman army became trapped between two hills surrounded by the Samnites who could have easily destroyed them. However, they thought it prudish to let the Latins go so as to attain a treaty. The Samnites would later regret this decision as war resumed in earnest. The clever Samnites then made alliances with the Etruscans, with Epirus across the Adriatic and with various Gallic tribesmen expressing the idea that Rome was dangerous and had to be stopped. The three Samnite wars were bloody and cruel, as the Etruscan and later Roman art work and literature created for and about these series of events viscerally depicts. The Romans attained some notable victories but at times also were defeated by the fierce mountain people. Finally, after this series of wars which saw Rome dominate Italy and subdue those neighbors who sided against her, Pyrrhus the king of Epirus invaded Italy and the Samnites tried once more to resist the Romans by allying themselves with the general. Pyrrhus was however defeated and left Italy, thereby ensuring the fate of the Samnites and all other Italian kingdoms and nations. 

The Ferocity Of Ancient War: Etruscan Urn Depicting Furious Combat Between Two Warriors
Who Simultaneously Slay Each Other

The Romans displayed a genius for incorporating their conquered foes which would become a hallmark of Roman conquest and rule. The subject peoples were given the right to become citizens of the state, joining their conquerors as fellow Romans provided their loyalty would be assured. Even the Sabines, whom the Romans punished with a vengeance- raping their women and taking their children as slaves for siding with the Samnites, were eventually incorporated. Rome emerged from these encounters the victor and soon, all Italy was secured. The Samnites, the Capuans and the Umbrians, the Volsci, the Etruscans were all were absorbed in the new paradigm, and their individual independence ended. Speakers of Greek who lived along the coast eventually became speakers of Latin, though Greek would remain as the language of education. The art of the former nations would inspire and inform Roman culture, who in turn would apply their expertise in the establishment of an empire that dwarfed any before them. Rome would go on to conquer and fight wars, a powerful military entity in her own right, and while she knew great victories also knew how to overcome defeats, learning from the experience of the Samnite wars for which the Roman soul would forever be indebted. She would face the legions of Hannibal or the cavalry of the Sassanian kings with a professionalism and a sense of purpose backed up by the tales and stories of these early, chaotic days of Italy's distant past, a lost era of what once was and became, due to the genius and perseverance of the stoic Romans. The source for Roman strength, relentless determination and will can be traced back to the wars fought for the dominance of the Italian peninsula against fierce tribal neighbors. These early wars and struggles brought about the creation of what would become the Roman empire. 

Sculptured Head Of An Italic king, 5th Cent. BC

Ismail Butera, 2021