Your challenge is to have the Samnites survive as a distinct people until at least the 1st century CE.
AHC: Surviving Samnites
- Thread starter Night Gaul
- Start date
Not too much of a stretch since they were definitely a distinct people at the time of the Social War. A different result of that war could easily see a surviving Samnite state, or perhaps a differently structured Italian confederacy with more value placed on the autonomy of ethnic groups.
Basically as long as no one power controls all of Italy, the Samnites are going to be almost impossible to get rid of; they're pretty tough in their own right, and sustained campaigning in their mountainous homeland is very difficult if their enemies have other major strategic commitments.