The Third Samnite War

-After the Second Samnite War, central Italy was dominated by Rome.
   -The Samnites and Etruscans were subdued, but still pissed off.
-298 BC- the Samnites began to resist further Roman expansion into Samnium.
   -The Romans tried to offer a peace treaty, but the Samnites declined and instead declared war again!
      -However, obviously the Samnites were pretty weakened at this point, and the Samnite army fled to Etruria where they gathered an allied army to fight against Rome.
         -The Romans decided to engage, and won a pretty sloppy battle.
-295 BC- The Samnite and Etruscan armies re-formed, this time joining up with the Umbrians, a hill tribe north of Rome.
   -Also, the Gauls entered the mix as mercenaries for the Etruscans.
-The Etruscans, Umbrians, and Samnites were confident that they could beat Rome, so they planned a 2-pronged attack, but instead they just decided on just one big final blowout.
   -The Battle of Sentinum- 295 BC- the biggest battle in Italy EVER at this point.
      -Rome won!  The war would continue with the Samnites for another 5 years, but basically this battle was the deciding factor.
         -The final battle was actually fought in Aquilonia in 293 BC.
-The only other powerful force on the peninsula after the Third Samnite War was Magna Graecia in southern Italy, which were more like a loose confederacy as opposed to a legit nation.