Ofilius Calavius Ovi f. was a

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

n nobleman during the

Second 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 Lucanians, Lucania ...

. Following the disaster of the

Caudine Forks Valle Caudina (Caudine Valley) is a densely settled Italian valley with about 69,000 inhabitants. It is located in Campania, between the Province of Benevento and the Province of Avellino. Comunes In the Valle Caudina there are 14 Italian ''comune ...

, where both

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

s were obliged to surrender their army and pass under the yoke, opinions in Campania were divided as to whether the defeat would forever halt the progress of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

arms down the Italian peninsula. The

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

were of the opinion that their victory would ensure a permanent peace with the Romans; and indeed, peace did hold from the time of the surrender in 321 until 316 BC. Calavius, one of the most distinguished men of

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

, the greatest city of Campania, witnessed the grim procession of the defeated Romans, who were escorted to the borders of the country and allowed to return home with their lives. Calavius' attitude was less sanguine; he realized that the humiliation of their defeat foreshadowed the eventual return of Roman arms, and grim days ahead for the people of Campania. Calavius' suspicions proved to be correct; hostilities resumed in 316 BC, and despite some early setbacks, and the intervention of the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

in 311, the Romans persevered, and the Samnites sued for peace in 304, bringing the war to an end. The city of Capua retained its independence, but became a Roman ally.

Family

The Calavii were a leading family in Campania for generations. Calavius (whom some manuscripts call by the Latin ''

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...

'' Aulus, instead of the

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian and South Picene. Oscan was spoken by a number of t ...

praenomen ''Ofilius''), was the son of Ovius Calavius, and apparently father of the brothers Ovius and Novius Calavius, who in 314 BC headed a conspiracy to mount an insurgency against the Romans. A century later, during the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

Pacuvius Calavius Pacuvius Calavius was the chief magistrate of Capua during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC). In the aftermath of the Battle of Lake Trasimene, he prevented the people of Capua from surrendering the city to Hannibal. When the Capuans finally c ...

held the chief magistracy at Capua, and by a clever stratagem, prevented the Capuan senate from surrendering the city to

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

. Although the city eventually capitulated to the

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( ) usually refers to the civilisation of ancient Carthage. It may also refer to: * Punic people, the Semitic-speaking people of Carthage * Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, i ...

general, Calavius became his honored guest. When his son disclosed a plan to assassinate Hannibal, Calavius was able to dissuade him from this rash deed. Some of the Calavii were subsequently held responsible for a series of fires set at Rome in 211 BC, supposedly set in revenge for the treatment of Campania by the Romans.

Titus Livius 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 i ...

, ''

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'', xxvi. 27.

Footnotes

{{reflist 4th-century BC Romans History of Campania Samnite Wars Samnite people Calavii Ofilii

Family

See also

Footnotes