Samnites

The Samnites (Oscan: Safineis) were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, a region located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. The Samnites referred to themselves as Safineis and to their land as Safinim, as attested in inscriptions and coin legends.^[1] An Oscan-speaking people, they originated as an offshoot of the Sabines and formed a confederation consisting of four major tribes: the Hirpini, Caudini, Caraceni, and Pentri. Ancient Greek historians considered the Umbri as the ancestors of the Samnites.^[2][3][4] Their migration southward was explained in antiquity as following the rite of ver sacrum.^[5]

Although allied with the Romans against the Gauls in 354 BC, the Samnites later became Rome's adversaries in a series of three Samnite Wars. Despite a decisive victory at the Battle of the Caudine Forks (321 BC), they were ultimately subdued in 290 BC. The Samnites continued to resist Roman domination by siding with Pyrrhus of Epirus during the Pyrrhic War, and later with Hannibal during the Second Punic War. They also played a major role in the Social War and supported the Populares during Sulla's civil war, where their leader Pontius Telesinus was defeated at the Battle of the Colline Gate (82 BC). Following these conflicts, the Samnites were absorbed into the Roman state and ceased to exist as a distinct people.

The Samnite economy centered on livestock and agriculture, and they practiced transhumance. They traded widely across Campania, Latium, Apulia, and Magna Graecia, exporting goods such as ceramics, bronze, iron, olives, wool, and terracottas. Samnite society was organized into cantons (touto), which were composed of districts (pagi) and villages (vici). While most cities functioned independently, some adopted senatorial governance. Their religion included both deities and spirits (numina), and they performed animal sacrifices and made votive offerings. Sanctuaries played a major religious, political, and possibly economic role in Samnite society.