The First Samnite War

-Finally plebs got more power after a pleb was elected consul for the first time!
   -Around this time the office of military tribune was also disbanded.
-The Samnites- a semi-nomadic tribe in central Italy, east of Rome.
   -4th century BC, the Samnites and other hill tribes started to expand out of the hills and onto the plains and coastline of central Italy.
      -Began to encroach on Magna Graecia and lands southeast of Rome (Campania).
      -Magna Graecia called upon the Greek state of Epirus, across the Adriatic Sea.
         -Led by Alexander of Epirus (uncle of Pyrrhus of Epirus AND Alexander the Great!), quickly fought off the Samnites.
-Meanwhile, the Samnites also invaded the lands of the powerful city of Capua.
   -Capua tried to appeal to Rome to come and save them.
      -The Romans told them to fuck off because they had a peace treaty with the Samnites, as they had a common enemy (the Gauls).
         -So, the Capuans decided to surrender to Rome and forfeit the city and its lands to Roman rule in order to save themselves.
            -The Romans took the Capuans up on their offer, and then told the Samnites to fuck off, which, of course, pissed off the Samnites, so they became more aggressive in raiding Campania.
               -Rome then declared war on the Samnites!
-The First Samnite War- 343 BC.
   -Rome was led by two consuls, Aulus Cornelius Cossus and Marcus Malerius Corvus.
      -Corvus would be remembered as a true Roman hero.  Before he was elected as consul at 23 (!) he was a war hero (!!).
         -He was sent to fight the Samnites in Campania.
         -Cossus was sent to fight in Samnium (land of the Samnites).
-Corvus fought the Samnites and beat them, but then realized that they were actually a really formidable opponent.
-Cossus got fucked in Samnium, but was still able to achieve victory (but this was considered lucky on his part).
-Soon, however, the Roman soldiers stationed near Capua unexpectedly decided to revolt and march on Rome.
   -Corvus was elected as dictator and went out to quell the rebellion.  He was actually able to get the rebels to stand down, then rode back to Rome with the soldiers of both armies and worked out a solution so that everyone was happy.
      -He also made sure that the rebels weren't punished.
-The Romans then established peace again with the Samnites.
   -However, the Campanian towns weren't happy with this, so they formed an alliance with each other and attacked the Samnites.
      -The Samnites appealed to the Romans to get the Campanians to stop.
         -The Campanians didn't listen, so this pissed off the Samnites, who suspected that the Romans were just fighting a proxy war.
            -The Campanians then got sick of fighting against the Samnites, and began eyeing Rome itself as worthy of invasion.