ch. 297.29 [Note] [Note]—The
history will now be occupied with wars greater than any previously recorded; greater whether we consider the forces en
gaged in them or the length of time they lasted, or the extent
of country over which they were waged. For it was in this
year (343 B.C.) that hostilities commenced with the SAMNITES,
a people strong in material resources and military power. Our
war with the Samnites, with its varying fortunes, was followed
by the war with Pyrrhus, and that again by the war with Carthage. What a chapter of great events! How often had we
to pass through the very extremity of danger in order that our
dominion might be exalted to its present greatness, a greatness
which is with difficulty maintained!
The cause of the war between the Romans and the Samnites,
who had been our friends and allies, came, however, from without; it did not arise between the two peoples themselves. The
Samnites, simply because they were the stronger, made an unprovoked attack upon the Sidicines; the weaker side were compelled to fly for succour to those who were more powerful and
threw in their lot with the Campanians. The Campanians
brought to the help of their allies the prestige of their name
rather than actual strength; enervated by luxury they were
worsted by a people inured to the use of arms, and after being
defeated on Sidicine territory diverted the whole weight of the
war against themselves. The Samnites, dropping operations
against the Sidicines, attacked the Campanians as being the
mainstay and stronghold of their neighbours; they saw, too,
that whilst victory would be just as easily won here, it would
bring more glory and spoils. They seized the Tifata hills which
overlook Capua and left a strong force to hold them, then they
descended in close order into the plain which lies between the
Tifata hills and Capua. Here a second battle took place, in
which the Campanians were defeated and driven within their
walls. They had lost the flower of their army, and as there
was no hope of any assistance near, they found themselves compelled to ask for help from Rome.
