015b- The Second Samnite War

Rome battled a combined army of Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians and Gauls for control of Italy. At Sentinum, the two sides fought the largest battle in Italian history up to that point. 

The Greek cities of southern Italy called on King Pyrrhus of Epirus to protect them from Roman encroachment. Though Pyrrhus was undefeated in battle, his victories were so costly that he was forced to withdraw from Italy in 275 BC, leaving Rome in control of Magna Graecia. 

With Caesar’s conquest of Gaul complete, focus now turns to his much anticipated return to Rome. Caesar envisions the triumphant return of a conquering hero. The Optimates envision a criminal being dragged before a court controlled and guarded by the armed soldiers of Pompey. ...

We continue with the story of Rome's rise to power in the third and second centuries BC, and ask two vital questions: first, did the Romans simply get lucky? Second, how did the Roman legions become the most feared fighting machine of the ancient world?Support the showFor a free ...  Show more

In the third century BC, a clash which had been brewing for centuries finally erupted: Rome, the ruthless imperialist upstart dominating Italy, against Carthage, the ancient but sinister apex predator of the Mediterranean. The conflict sparked in Messina in 263 BC, and went on fo ...  Show more

Control of the Mediterranean Sea was not the motive of the young Roman Republic when she first joined the battle with the idol-worshiping empire of Carthage in 265 B.C. More than a century later, however, Carthage was dust and Rome was becoming the undisputed power of the known w ...  Show more