threat. Surfaced in stone and often lined with trees, a
few of the roads are still in use today.
These arrangements proved effective in the next
great crisis. The consolidation of Latium threatened the
Samnites, a warlike people who inhabited the uplands
between Rome and the Greek settlements around the
Bay of Naples. Joined by the Gauls and by the
Etruscans, whose power was greatly reduced, they
launched a series of bitter struggles that ended with the
Roman victory at Sentinium in 295 B.C. Though a few
of Rome’s Latin allies deserted, the coalition as a whole
held firm.
The Roman military system achieved maturity dur-
ing the Samnite wars. Under the monarchy, the Ro-
mans had learned to use hoplites flanked by cavalry
from the Etruscans. Their greater success resulted
largely from a superior discipline rooted ultimately in
cultural values. The Romans prized self-discipline, de-
termination, and a sense of duty to the community
above all else, but they were not indifferent to practical
concerns. After about 400 B.C. they paid their troops
while on duty. The Samnites, who were as tough as the
Romans and who enjoyed the defensive advantage of a
rugged, mountainous terrain, forced them to change
tactics. To achieve greater maneuverability, the Romans
abandoned the phalanx in favor of smaller units known
as maniples. A maniple contained 100 to 120 foot sol-
diers and was commanded by an officer known in later
days as a centurion. Thirty maniples, plus five in re-
serve, made up a legion. In battle, the maniples were
arranged in three lines, with a space between each unit
large enough to permit the forward ranks to move back
or the rear ranks to move forward as needed. Such a
formation required discipline and control, while per-
mitting an almost infinite number of tactical combina-
tions regardless of the terrain. The new system, which
in its basic outlines lasted until the end of the fourth
century A.D., was badly needed in the years after it
brought success in the battle of Sentinium. The Ro-
mans had to defend themselves against a series of pow-
erful neighbors, but each victory made them new
enemies (see document 4.1). The defeat of the Sam-
nites and their allies awakened the Greek cities of the
south. The Romans now controlled all of Italy from the
borders of Campania to the Po, and the Greeks feared
that such a concentration of power would lead to their
downfall. Bickering and complaining to the last, they
nevertheless united enough to hire the greatest merce-
nary of the age to defend their interests.
Pyrrhus of Epirus was ruler of a small state in what
is now Albania. Backed by Greek wealth and supported
by a contingent of war elephants, he twice defeated the
Romans but suffered such heavy casualties that he re-
treated to Sicily in 278 B.C., saying that if he won
another such victory he would be ruined. Nevertheless,
he returned again in 275 B.C. only to be defeated.
These wars gave rise to the term Pyrrhic victory and
marked the end of Greek independence on the Italian
mainland. The Greek cities, too, were incorporated
into the Roman system, and the Roman republic thus
ruled all Italy south of the Po.The Economic and Social
Structures of Early Rome
The city that conquered Italy was similar in its social
arrangements to the classical Greek polis. A majority of
early Romans were small farmers. Though their plots64Chapter 4
Illustration 4.2
A Section of the Appian Way. Begun about 312 B.C., the
Appian Way was the first of the great paved highways built to
link Rome with its allies and eventually with the farthest reaches
of its empire. As this modern photo demonstrates, Roman engi-
neering was built to last.