Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome.

As the 300s gave way to the 200s B.C., Rome found itself the de facto master of Italy.

It was not yet official, but for all intents and purposes, Italy belonged to Rome.

Certainly, the Roman saw themselves as being in charge, and their actions in the immediate

aftermath of the long second Sam night war demonstrated this.

But in the volatile ancient world, a beaten enemy one year was often victorious the next,

so though Rome was surrounded by beaten enemies, next year was just around the corner.

Rome's attitude towards the fiercely independent Sam nights and once regal of trusskins led to

smoldering resentment across Rome's new territory, which I suppose was the source of their resentment.

Rome considering a truria and Samnium to be newly conquered territory right for settlement

and colonization, while the natives saw their treaties with Rome as being between equals.

Unequal terms, yes, but between equals.

When Rome started planning colonies in Samnium and parading the legions through a truria,

a fresh talk of resistance and war began again.

The Samites in particular understood that Rome was now driven by visions of a peninsula-wide

empire and peace meant little more than death by population migration and displacement rather

than by a sword of the head.

They were proud of their culture and language and way of life and saw all too well with

the future held for a passive Samnite nation, a mere footnote in Roman history books.

At least if they thought, they could be the subjects of one more podcast episode.

In 298 BC, the Samites began to resist Roman incursions into their land.

Rome sent envoys to Samnium to demand that the treaty of peace be honored, but the Samnites

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