Samnites

Samnites were an Oscan-speaking district in the central southern Apennines. A warlike people, the Samnites were divided into four tribal states (Caraceni, Caudini, Hirpini, Pentri) and formed a loose conferation. They are a treaty with Rome (354BC) and later sought protection from the Romans. However three Samnites wars were fought over their territory later and gradually their land shrank, including being ejected from Pompeii. Romanisation but under Augustus municipalization accelerated but many parts remained very rural.