Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/112

98 IV. The Conquest and Organization of Central and Southern Italy.

Conquest of Central Italy. — Through their admirable persistence and thoroughness in securing conquered territory, the Romans were now ready for the decisive conflict with the Samnites, who were at least the second power in Italy. The second Samnite war lasted with interruptions for more than twenty years. The old treaty between Rome and Samnium was then renewed, but the Romans were in reality victorious. To remedy the evils of annual changes in the chief command of the armies, they made use of extensions of the supreme authority (prorogatio imperii), of dispensations from the rule of a ten years' interval between two terms in the same office (p. 73), and of dictatorships. They displayed their usual sagacity in founding Latin and Roman colonies. Incidentally they subdued the majority of the Hernican towns, which had rebelled, and gave them citizenship without political rights. The old foes of Rome, the Aequi, were also punished. When they rebelled a second time, they were quickly conquered, and two new districts were organized in the territory of the Aequi and Volscians in 299. The third Samnite war had in the meantime begun, and in 290 the Samnites were compelled to conclude peace. They remained theoretically independent, but lost their position as a leading nation. In the same year the Sabines were incorporated with Rome and received citizenship without political rights.

Conquest of Southern Italy. — The Romans were the masters of central Italy, but they had long ago abandoned a defensive policy and now endeavored to become the lords of the whole peninsula. They soon interfered in the affairs of southern Italy. Within a few years they waged the war