BATTLE OF THE CAUDINE FORKS

 Rome then went further into Samnium in 321 BC during the Second Samnite War. The Samnite general Gaius Pontius (Caius Ponius) was a “consummate warrior and commander.” High praise from Livy. He disguised some of his men as shepherds and had them tell the Romans that its ally Apulia was being threatened by a Samnite army. The Romans moved to its relief by taking the shortest, but most dangerous route.  The path took them through the Caudine Forks. This was a pair of defiles that had to be traversed while nervously looking up at the higher ground and praying no enemy was up there. Sure enough, after passing through the first defile to enter a small grassy plain surrounded by hills, the Romans found the entrance to the second defile blocked by felled trees and boulders. When they turned around, they were perturbed to see the first pass also blocked. They had no choice but to build a camp and rue being tricked into a trap. Several attempts to break out were easily defeated by the Samnites. It became a negotiate or die situation and the consuls decided it would be best to live to fight another day. Pontius, who held all the cards, offered harsh terms. The consuls returned to the camp with the shameful news. Rome had to evacuate Samnium and give up colonies it had established on the border. But most embarrassingly, the Romans had to disarm themselves and walk “under a yoke.” It was the greatest humiliation since the Battle of Allia. The legionaries were understandably mortified. They blamed the defeat on the consuls. “[T]hey had been brought into such a situation; and through whose cowardice they were likely to depart with greater disgrace than they came.  [The consuls] had employed no guide through the country, nor scouts; but [they] were sent out blindly, like beasts into a pitfall.” [Livy] Legitimate grievances. And another example of how the Roman cavalry was poor at scouting. The army had to leave 600 hostages to be held until the Senate ratified the treaty. One of the two consuls urged the Senate to refute the treaty. Being a man of honor, he returned to Samnium to tell the Samnites the treaty had been rejected. He and the 600 hostages were executed, but at least Rome was spared the additional humiliation of having to accept losing the war. This story may have been invented to hide the fact that the Romans actually had to abandon enclaves in Samnite territory. In Livy’s version, the hostages were rescued by an army led by consul Lucius Papirius Cursor. He marched into Samnium, defeated a Samnite army, and captured the city where the hostages were held. After this, a truce was agreed to.

• from The Scipios in Spain
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