The Battle of Mount Gaurus, 343 BC,Livy, as was customary in Rome, dated the battle by noting which consuls held office that year, it was the year in which M. Valerius Corvus, for the third time, and A. Cornelius Cossus were consuls. When converted to the western calendar using the traditional Varronian chronology, which Livy did not use, this becomes 343 BC. However modern historians have shown that the Varronian chronology dates the First Samnite War four years too early due to inclusion of unhistorical "dictator years". Despite this known inaccuracy, the Varronian chronology remains in use by convention also in academic literature. Forsythe(2005), pp. 369–370 was the first battle of the

First Samnite War The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

and also the first battle fought between the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingd ...

and the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they ...

. The battle is described by the Roman historian

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

(59 BC – AD 17) as part of Book Seven of his history of Rome, ''

Ab Urbe Condita Libri The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The work ...

'', where he narrates how the

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the '' cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which polit ...

Marcus Valerius Corvus Marcus Valerius Corvus (c. 370–270 BC) was a military commander and politician from the early-to-middle period of the Roman Republic. During his career he was elected consul six times, first at the age of twenty-three. He was appointed dictator ...

won a hard-fought battle against the Samnites at Mount Gaurus, near

Cumae Cumae ( grc, Κύμη, (Kumē) or or ; it, Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies. It later became a rich Ro ...

, in

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

. Modern historians however believe that most, if not all, of the detail in Livy's description has been invented by him or his sources.

Background

According to Livy the First Samnite War started because the Samnites attacked the

Sidicini The Sidicini (Ancient Greek Σιδικῖνοι) were one of the Italic peoples of ancient Italy. Their territory extended northward from their capital, Teanum Sidicinum (modern day Teano), along the valley of the Liri river up to Fregellae, co ...

, a tribe living north of

. The Campani, led by the city-state of

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

, sent an army to help the Sidicini, but were beaten in battle by the Samnites. The Samnites then invaded Campania and won a second battle on the plain near Capua. Facing defeat, the Campani appealed to Rome for aid. The Romans, despite having a treaty with the Samnites, agreed to help and declared war against the Samnites. The two Roman consuls for 343,

and

Aulus Cornelius Cossus __NOTOC__ Aulus Cornelius Cossus was a Roman general from the early Republic. He is most famous for being the second Roman, after Romulus, to be awarded the ''spolia opima,'' Rome's highest military honor, for killing the commander of an enemy ar ...

, marched each their armies against the Samnites. Valerius led his into Campania and Cornelius his into

Samnium Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The lan ...

The battle

Valerius camped his army at Mount Gaurus. The Samnites had moved into Campania in force, believing this would be the main theatre of war, and were eager to fight. After testing his enemy's strength for a few days with

skirmisher Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an ...

s, Valerius prepared the Roman army for battle. The Romans marched out of camp and a battle ensued. The battle went on for some time, with the two sides evenly matched neither could gain the upper hand. Valerius therefore ordered a

cavalry charge A charge is an offensive maneuver in battle in which combatants advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in a decisive close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decis ...

in an attempt to break the Samnite lines. The charge failed and the Roman cavalry had to pull back. With the Roman cavalry retreated, a dismounted Valerius decided to lead an infantry assault in person, but once again the Samnite lines did not break despite taking dreadful losses. The battle had now lasted a long time and daylight was fading. The Romans, weary but fuelled by rage and disappointment, made one last mad attack. At last the Samnites fled, and not many would have survived if nightfall had not put an end to the pursuit. When asked why in the end they had fled, the Samnites answered it was "the eyes of the Romans, which seemed to them to blaze, along with their furious expression and frenzied glare". During the night the Samnites departed and left the Romans to take possession of their camp on the next day. All the Campani came out to congratulate the Romans with their victory.

Aftermath

Livy records two more Roman victories against the Samnites in 343, a victory by the other consul, Cornelius Cossus, at the

Battle of Saticula The Battle of Saticula, 343 BC,Livy, as was customary in Rome, dated the battle by noting which consuls held office that year, it was the year in which M. Valerius Corvus, for the third time, and A. Cornelius Cossus were consuls. When converted ...

, and a second victory by Valerius Corvus at the Battle of Suessula. At the end of the campaign season both consuls were rewarded at Rome with a

triumph The Roman triumph ( Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirec ...

. The

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, with whom the Romans had concluded a treaty of friendship in 348, congratulated Rome for her victories by sending a golden crown weighing twenty-five pounds for the

Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, also known as the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus ( la, Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini; it, Tempio di Giove Ottimo Massimo; ) was the most important temple in Ancient Rome, located on the Capitolin ...

. According to the ''

Fasti Triumphales The ''Acta Triumphorum'' or ''Triumphalia'', better known as the ''Fasti Triumphales'', or Triumphal Fasti, is a calendar of Roman magistrates honoured with a celebratory procession known as a ''triumphus'', or triumph, in recognition of an imp ...

'', Valerius and Cornelius celebrated their triumphs over the Samnites on 21 September and 22 September respectively. For the two next years little fighting is recorded and the First Samnite War ended in 341 with Rome and the Samnites renewing their treaty and the Samnites accepting the Roman alliance with the Campani.

Modern views

Modern historians believe little, if any, of the detail provided by Livy for this battle derive from authentic records. Livy's battle-scenes for this time period are mostly free reconstructions by him and his sources, and as the historic first battle between Romans and Samnites the Battle of Mount Gaurus would be particularly susceptible to such inventions. Samnite losses have clearly been exaggerated. The role of Valerius Corvus in the events of the First Samnite War might have been exaggerated as well, especially, if as Salmon(1967) held,

Valerius Antias Valerius Antias ( century BC) was an ancient Roman annalist whom Livy mentions as a source. No complete works of his survive but from the sixty-five fragments said to be his in the works of other authors it has been deduced that he wrote a chron ...

was Livy's chief source for this part of his work, but other historians than Antias were capable of exaggerating the Valerii as well. Salmon(1967) suspected Valerius' victories in 343 could be doublets of Roman operations against

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...

in the same area in 215, he also doubted the location of the battle at Mount Gaurus, close to Cumae, but far from Capua. Since the testimony of the ''Fasti Triumphales'' require some degree of Roman success in 343 and arguing that in this time period the Romans were more likely to defeat the Samnites on level than mountainous ground, Salmon(1967) therefore proposed that there was only one battle in 343 which was fought on the outskirts of Capua near the shrine of Juno Gaura, which Livy or his source has then confused with Mount Gaurus. This would explain Livy's description of the Capuans coming out to congratulate the Romans. The battle might not have been such a total rout of the Samnites as Livy describes. Fighting interrupted by nightfall was often used by Roman historians to hide Roman failures. This reconstruction is rejected by Oakley(1998) who does not believe there are any doublets in Livy's account for 343. The Samnites would have gained significant ground in Campania by the time the Romans arrived and Valerius' two victories could be the outcome of twin Samnite attacks on Capua and Cumae.Oakley(1998), pp. 310–311

Note on date

References

External links

* Livy, ''History of Rome'', English Translation by. Rev. Canon Roberts, New York, E. P. Dutton and Co, 1912, Book VII, Chapter 32
''The Story of Rome from the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic'', Chapter X

Bibliography

* * * {{cite book, first=E. T., last= Salmon, title= Samnium and the Samnites , year=1967 , publisher= Cambridge University Press, isbn=978-0-521-13572-6 Mount Gaurus Mount Gaurus Mount Gaurus 343 BC 4th century BC in the Roman Republic