The Samnites had supported a faction in…

The Samnites had supported a faction in a contest for control of Neopolis, now a center of Greek culture in southern Italy.

Rome, currently besieging the city, finally persuades the Samnite garrison to leave, and Neopolis falls to the Romans in 326 BCE.

The city allies with Rome and continues to prosper, but the Samnites renew their war with Rome.

To help defeat the Samnites, the Romans make alliances with the peoples of Central Italy to the north of Samnium and with the Apulians to the southeast.

The Romans soon confronted the Samnites in the middle of the Liris river valley (modern Liri), sparking the Second, or Great, Samnite War, which is to last twenty years and will not be not a defensive venture for Rome.

During the first half of the war Rome would suffer serious defeats, but the second half will see Rome's recovery, reorganization, and ultimate victory.