Battle of Aquilonia
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Aquilonia was fought in 293 BC
293 BC
Year 293 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cursor and Maximus...

 between the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 and the Samnites, near the current city of Aquilonia
Aquilonia
Aquilonia is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, part of the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in mountainous terrain in the eastern part of Avellino, at an elevation of 750 m...

 in Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

 (southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

). The Romans, led by the Consuls Lucius Papirius Cursor
Lucius Papirius Cursor
Lucius Papirius Cursor was a Roman general who was five times consul and twice dictator.In 325 BC he was appointed dictator to carry on the second Samnite War. His quarrel with Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, his magister equitum, is well known...

 and Spurius Carvilius Maximus
Spurius Carvilius Maximus
Spurius Carvilius C. f. C. n., later surnamed Maximus, was the first member of the plebeian gens Carvilia to obtain the consulship, which he held in 293 BC, and again in 272 BC.-Early career:...

, were victorious.

According to Titus Livius, the Samnites were desperately short of men, and thus called a general muster to Aquilonia, which all men of Samnium were required to answer. There, they took strict religious oaths to their country, and were then forced to join the army upon an altar to the gods. If they refused, they were slain on the spot and their bodies left in a pile as a reminder to all others what would happen if they refused.

The more experienced men, or those chosen by friends, made up what was called the "Linen Legion", due to their linen tunics which were brightly decorated.

According to Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...

 a feeder of the sacred chicken (pullarius) in the Roman army falsely reported favorable auspices to the consul, and that this falsification was discovered prior to battle. Papirius responded that the ill omen applied only to the pullarius, and placed him in the front line. When he was struck dead by a javelin before battle began, the interpretation of Papirius was seen to be fulfilled.

During the battle, the Samnite line held its own for a long while, until a cloud of dust made by Papirius's auxilia cavalry frightened the Samnites, and convinced the Romans that Carvilius's army (at the time, besieging another city) had come to finish them off. A cavalry charge on the Samnite center eventually broke the army and they routed.

After the battle, the Samnites fled into the city of Aquilonia itself, and their camp. The camp was captured and looted by the Romans, while taking the city itself proved more difficult. The city was eventually taken, with much of the Samnite survivors being slaughtered in the fighting. The loot taken from the Samnites this day was so extravagant, according to Livy, that there was enough gold and silver to decorate all the public buildings of Rome, with some left over to decorate the public buildings of other Roman cities as well.

Consul Papirius Cursor
Lucius Papirius Cursor
Lucius Papirius Cursor was a Roman general who was five times consul and twice dictator.In 325 BC he was appointed dictator to carry on the second Samnite War. His quarrel with Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, his magister equitum, is well known...

was unanimously decreed a triumph, and a period of seven days thanksgiving was declared in his honor.
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