Samnites

The Samnites are a medium-sized Sabellic faction located in an elongated territory within the central Apennine Mountains, in the eponymous region of Samnium.

Their starting neighbours are the Marsi, Frentani, Dauni, Lucani, Campania and Volsci.

In-game Description
"Consisting of the Pentri, Carrici, Caudini and the Hirpini, the Samnites are a tribal people thought to be descended from the Sabines who live in the hilly region of Samnium. Famous as shepherds and warriors both, and later as gladiators, the Samnites were initially friendly with Rome, but when the Samnites began to expand into Campanian land, Rome stood in opposition. After this first Samnite War, the two peoples fought at every opportunity afterwards, first in wars and then in rebellions, until the Roman dictator Sulla engaged in mass executions and population dispersals to destroy the Samnites in 82 BCE."

Starting Cities

 * Maleventum:
 * Abellinum:
 * Telesia:
 * Aesernia:
 * Aufidena:

Historic Starting General
When playing this faction in a sandbox setting, the player may choose to start with the following pre-defined historic general instead of a generic one. These characters usually have far better bonuses than can be obtained with the generic starting generals.

Strategy
The Samnites have arguably one of the more difficult starts in the game with an inconveniently elongated territory and lots of neighbours. It will almost certainly be necessary to use diplomacy to secure truces with one or several of your neighbours.

Campania is probably the most threatening faction at the start of the game, as they are located the closest to your starting city. They are also a viable target for your first military expansion, as they have a smallish start and conquering them does not in theory expose you to any new neighbouring factions since you would be expanding towards the coast between your existing Lucani and Volsci neighbours. However, the ideal target for initial expansion may vary depending on randomized factors, such as diplomatic events and AI vs AI conquest.

Though you are direct neighbours, there is some distance between the nearest cities of the Lucani and Dauni to your own cities, and you only have a small and easily defensible starting border with the Marsi. The Volsci, Frentani and Campania are probably the more threatening neighbours in the early game, until your own expansion and random AI vs AI conquest will eventually alter this dynamic.

It might in some cases be worthwhile to not immediately claim Aufidena and maybe Aesernia to avoid elongating your territory too much in the early game, creating a poorly defensible territory and entering contact with new factions while you are still weak.

Beware that most of your neighbours have some form of a bonus to combat, whereas you don't.

Trivia & History

 * As referenced in the in-game description, the Samnites allied with Rome against Gallic incursions in the 4th Century BC, but later came into conflict with the Romans when Campania appealed for Roman intervention against Samnite expansionism. The ensuing Samnite Wars of the 340s to the 290s BC saw the Romans conquer most of Central Italy as the Samnites allied with various other Sabellic, Etruscan and even Gallic tribes in an attempt to defeat Rome.
 * The Samnites continued to occasionally attempt a resistance to Rome, allying with Pyrrhus of Epirus in the Pyrrhic War. Some of them also allied with Hannibal of Carthage during the Second Punic War. Along with the Marsi, they were one of the main opponents of Rome in the Social War of 91-87 BC. The Samnites were largely destroyed by the Roman dictator Sulla during his civil wars in the later 80s BC.
 * The faction's icon depicts a lion, with the exact design being taken from ancient coins of the city Phistelia in Campania.