Editing Samnite Wars (section)

===Outbreak===

In 299 BC, the Etruscans, possibly due to the Roman colony set up at Narnia in next-door Umbria, prepared for war against Rome. However, the Gauls invaded their territory, so, the Etruscans offered them money to form an alliance. The Gauls agreed, but then objected to fighting against Rome, claiming that the agreement was only about them not devastating Etruscan territory. So, instead, the Etruscans paid the Gauls off and dismissed them. This incident led the Romans to ally with the [[Picentes]] (who lived on the Adriatic coast, in the south of modern Marche) who were concerned about their neighbours, the Senone Gauls to the north, and the Pretutii to the south. The latter had allied with the Samnites. The Romans sent an army to Etruria led by the consul [[Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul 299 BC)|Titus Manlius Torquatus]], who died in a riding accident. The Etruscans saw this as an omen for war. However, the Romans elected Marcus Valerius Corvus Calenus as suffect consul (an office which lasted for the remainder of the term of a deceased or removed consul) and he was sent to Etruria. This led the Etruscans to remain in their fortifications, refusing battle even though the Romans ravaged their land. Meanwhile, the Picentes warned the Romans that the Samnites were preparing for war and that they had asked them for help.<ref>Livy, X.10</ref>

Early in 298 BC a Lucanian delegation went to Rome to ask the Romans to take them under their protection as the Samnites, having failed to bring them into an alliance, had invaded their territory. Rome agreed to an alliance. Fetials were sent to Samnium to order the Samnites to leave [[Lucania]]. The Samnites threatened their safety and Rome declared war.<ref name="auto2">Livy, X.11</ref><ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Excerpts from Books, xvii/xviii.1–2</ref> Dionysius of Halicarnassus thought that the cause of the war was not Roman compassion for the wronged, but fear of the strength the Samnites would gain if they subdued the Lucanians.<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Excerpts from Books xvii/xviii.3</ref> Oakley suggests that Rome might well have deliberately sought a new war with Samnium by allying with her enemies.<ref>Oakley, 2008, p. 168</ref>