COLLATING THE EVIDENCE THE SAMNITE WARRIOR

Reconstructing the Samnite warrior, despite his importance as an enemy of Rome, is not easy, and unfortunately, there is no recent English-language work devoted to them. But by piecing together the textual, archaeological, and iconographic sources, we can at least try to piece together an idea of their equipment and tactics.

By Davide Roberto Piccirillo

Livy describes all the major conflicts in his history of Rome, including the Samnite wars, while illustrating the norms and values of Rome’s adversaries and their military characteristics. The following description is probably the most extensive source about Samnite equipment: The enemy, besides their other warlike preparations, had made their battle-line to glitter with new and splendid arms. There were two corps: the shields of the one were inlaid with gold, of the other with silver. The shape of the shield was this: the upper part, where it protected the breast and shoulders, was rather broad, with a level top; below it was somewhat tapering, to make it easier to handle. They wore a sponge to protect the breast, and the left leg was covered with a greave. Their helmets were…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVII.3

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