Exam number: B231107
1. What event is described here and how accurate is Livy’s account of the conflict which
gave rise to this outcome? What can it tell us about the nature of Roman expansion in
Italy?
The extract comes from Livy’s 9th book in his ‘History of Rome’. He describes the Second
Samnite War’s most decisive event - the Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 B.C. In this text,
he describes of the humiliation of the Romans: after the Roman army commanders chose a
faster route through the Caudine Forks mountain, and ended up being stuck as it was
barricaded, so they were forced to pass under a yoke of Samnite spears, half-naked when
surrendering. Livy highlights consular failure here1, as both the Roman consuls failed to
choose to go through the Forks and for the Samnites, Pontius chooses not to take his father’s
advice by taking a middle ground, angering the Romans who would crush them later on.
Livy’s accuracy is questionable as we cannot explain why his descriptions are so vivid for
someone who was not there - he wrote the book in 29BC nor does note any sources who were
present.2 While it is true that his writing style includes vivid imagery and rhetorical
expressions (such as in the last line), there are certain topographical inconsistencies which
reduce his reliability. Livy describes the event as being in between the Calatia-Caudium
valley instead of Arienzo-Arpaia, which diminishes his accuracy as he is attempting to hide
the shameful truth. Livy certainly did not make up the story as Cicero also mentions the event
in his De Officiis. By the time he got to writing Book 9, the archives became better preserved
such as the Annales Maximi of the Pontifex Maximus which would explain his ability to go
into detail when recounting the events3. Strouder states that ‘Livy was more interested in
1
Lushkov, A.H. (2015), Magistracy and the Historiography of the Roman Republic, Cambridge (Chapter 2:
Authority in crisis: the Caudine Forks, 61–95)
2
Horsfall, Nicholas. “The Caudine Forks: Topography and Illusion.” Papers of the British School at Rome, vol.
50, 1982, pp. 45–52. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40310782. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022.
3
Strouder, G. (2014), ‘From 390 BC to Sentinum: diplomatic and military Livian history’, in B. Mineo (ed.), A
Companion to Livy, Malden, MA, 327–341
1. What event is described here and how accurate is Livy’s account of the conflict which
gave rise to this outcome? What can it tell us about the nature of Roman expansion in
Italy?
The extract comes from Livy’s 9th book in his ‘History of Rome’. He describes the Second
Samnite War’s most decisive event - the Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 B.C. In this text,
he describes of the humiliation of the Romans: after the Roman army commanders chose a
faster route through the Caudine Forks mountain, and ended up being stuck as it was
barricaded, so they were forced to pass under a yoke of Samnite spears, half-naked when
surrendering. Livy highlights consular failure here1, as both the Roman consuls failed to
choose to go through the Forks and for the Samnites, Pontius chooses not to take his father’s
advice by taking a middle ground, angering the Romans who would crush them later on.
Livy’s accuracy is questionable as we cannot explain why his descriptions are so vivid for
someone who was not there - he wrote the book in 29BC nor does note any sources who were
present.2 While it is true that his writing style includes vivid imagery and rhetorical
expressions (such as in the last line), there are certain topographical inconsistencies which
reduce his reliability. Livy describes the event as being in between the Calatia-Caudium
valley instead of Arienzo-Arpaia, which diminishes his accuracy as he is attempting to hide
the shameful truth. Livy certainly did not make up the story as Cicero also mentions the event
in his De Officiis. By the time he got to writing Book 9, the archives became better preserved
such as the Annales Maximi of the Pontifex Maximus which would explain his ability to go
into detail when recounting the events3. Strouder states that ‘Livy was more interested in
1
Lushkov, A.H. (2015), Magistracy and the Historiography of the Roman Republic, Cambridge (Chapter 2:
Authority in crisis: the Caudine Forks, 61–95)
2
Horsfall, Nicholas. “The Caudine Forks: Topography and Illusion.” Papers of the British School at Rome, vol.
50, 1982, pp. 45–52. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40310782. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022.
3
Strouder, G. (2014), ‘From 390 BC to Sentinum: diplomatic and military Livian history’, in B. Mineo (ed.), A
Companion to Livy, Malden, MA, 327–341
