Samnium

But so many distinguished Franks made the pilgrimage to Rome to fulfill their vows, and insisted upon paying their respects to him as their former lord on the way, that the repose which he so much loved was broken by these frequent visits, and he was driven to change his abode.

Accordingly, when he found that his plans were frustrated by his many visitors, he abandoned the mountain and withdrew to the monastery of St. Benedict, on Monte Cassino, in the province of Samnium, in 754, and passed the rest there in the exercise of religion.

Chapter 3 Charlemagne's Accession Pepin, however, was raised by decree of the Roman pontiff, from the rank of mayor of the palace to that of king, and ruled alone over the Franks for fifteen years or more, 752 to 768.

He died of dropsy, September 24, 768, in Paris at the close of the Aquitanian War, which he had waged with William, Duke of Aquitania, for nine successive years, and left his two sons, Charles and Carloman, upon whom, by the grace of God, the succession devolved.

On laying and meeting ambushes while on the march.

When Fulvius Nobilior was leading his army from Samnium against the Lucanians, and had learned from deserters that the enemy intended to attack his rear-guard, he ordered his bravest legion to go in advance, and the baggage train to follow in the rear.

The enemy, regarding the circumstance as a favourable opportunity, began to plunder the baggage.

Fulvius then marshalled five cohorts of the legion I have mentioned above on the right side of the road, and five on the left.

As soon as these came in sight, he proclaimed that his colleague was at hand, crowned with victory, and urged his men to secure for themselves the glory of the present battle before he should arrive.

At this the Romans rushed forward, kindling with confidence, while the enemy, disheartened at the sight of the dust, turned and fled.

Fabius Rullus Maximus, when in Samnium in his fourth consulship, having vainly essayed in every way to break through the line of the enemy, finally withdrew the histadi from the ranks and sent them round with his lieutenant Scipio, under instructions to seize a hill from which they could rush down upon the rear of the enemy.

When this had been done, the courage of the Romans rose, and the Samnites, fleeing in terror, were cut to pieces.

Rome, meanwhile, continued avoiding a major battle, instead directing their attacks on Hannibal's allies.

In July, Marcellus left camp to raid the towns in Samnium.

Hannibal now faced a dilemma.

With only 40,000 troops, he faced up to 100,000 Romans.

Hannibal's thinking was sound.

Nola held an important position, being on the main road that cut through Campania.

Devastating the region around the city would both satisfy his army and force Marcellus away from Samnium.

Moreover, the pro-Carthaginian settlement was still strong in the city, and if it went over to the Carthaginian side, Hannibal's lines of communication in Campania would strengthen and push the Romans towards the sea.

The war fought on for eight more years of back and forth battles, raids, sieges, and conspiracies.

Slowly but surely, the Romans began to gain the upper hand, preparing to overtake Samnia in its entirety.

So the Samnites reached out to the Etruscans to intervene on their side.

Rome split its forces in 311, with one army continuing the war against the Samnites, and the other heading north to block the Etruscan advance.

By 309, the Roman offensive had occupied large swaths of Etruria and the neighboring allied region of Umbria and secured a one-year truce with indemnity payments that actually went on to last for several years following severe raids against the Etruscan farmland.

Samnia fell with the final defeat of the city of Bovianum in 305, and the various defeated cities and tribes were woven into the growing Roman state through a combination of treaties and forced levels of citizenship, both voting and non-voting depending on the circumstances of their defeat.

Amidst this war, Rome itself underwent several noteworthy changes.

The ability to appoint and remove senators had been a privilege of the consuls, a holdover of the executive powers they had taken when abolishing the monarchy.

The priests who read the omens told him afterward that the sacrifices had not been favorable.

In the spring of 275 BC, he marched north into Samnium to meet the Romans.

There were two consular armies in the field, and he meant to destroy one of them before the other could come to help it.

The farmer consul was camped near a town called Beneventum on high ground among the hills.

He left a garrison in the citadel at Tarentum and told the Tarantines he would be back for them.

And they watched his ships go from the same harbour where his army had first come limping in.

Of the men who had first crossed that water with him from Epirus, most were in the ground now, somewhere between the Ceres and the hills of Samnium, or at the bottom of the strait.

In Greece, while he had been away, the kingdoms had changed hands again.

And over the course of previous centuries, they conquered Italy, brought a lot of these people into subjection, you know, people in Tuscany and, you know, Piscina, Umbria.

And to the south in Campania, Lucania, Samnium, all these regions are filled with different Italian cultures.

Some of them are close to the Romans.

The Tuscans speak a different language that's completely unrelated to Latin.

Six, on laying and meeting ambushes while on the march.

When Fulvius Nobilior was leading his army from Samnium against Lucanians and had learned from deserters that the enemy intended to attack his rear guard, he ordered his bravest legion to go in advance and the baggage train to follow in the rear.

The enemy, regarding the circumstance as a favorable opportunity, began to plunder the baggage.

Fulvius then marshaled five cohorts of the legion I have mentioned above on the right side of the road and five on the left.

As soon as these came in sight, he proclaimed that his colleague was at hand, crowned with victory, and urged his men to secure for themselves the glory of the present battle before he should arrive.

At this the Romans rushed forward, kindling with confidence, while the enemy, disheartened at the sight of the dust, turned and fled.

Fabius Rullus Maximus, when in Samnium in his fourth consulship, having vainly essayed in every way to break through the line of the enemy, finally withdrew the histadi from the ranks and sent them round with his lieutenant Scipio, under instructions to seize a hill from which they could rush down upon the rear of the enemy.

When this had been done, the courage of the Romans rose, and the Samnites, fleeing in terror, were cut to pieces.

Here he exchanged his worldly garb for a cowl, and built a monastery on Mount Orest, near the church of St. Sylvester, where he enjoyed for several years the seclusion that he desired.

in company with certain others who had the same object in view but so many distinguished franks made the pilgrimage to rome to fulfil their vows and insisted upon paying their respects to him as their former lord on the way that the repose which he so much loved was broken by these frequent visits and he was driven to change his abode Accordingly, when he found that his plans were frustrated by his many visitors, he abandoned the mountain and withdrew to the monastery of St. Benedict, on Monte Cassino, in the province of Samnium, in 754, and passed the rest there in the exercise of religion.

CHAPTER III.

CHARLEMAIN'S ASSESSION Pepin, however, was raised by decree of the Roman pontiff, from the rank of mayor of the palace to that of king, and ruled alone over the Franks for fifteen years or more, 752 to 768.