Kings of Rome

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Kings of Rome​

by : Frederick II of the HRE

Statue of Lucretia (left) and Collatinus (right)
​

Non-dynastic​

Romulus​

The reign of Romulus​

Numa Pompilius​

The reign of Numa Pompilius​

Tullus Hostilius​

The reign of Tullus Hostilius​

Ancus Marcius​

The reign of Ancus Marcius​

Tarquinian dynasty​

Lucius Tarquinius Prsicus​

The reign of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus​

Servius Tullius​

The reign of Servius Tullius​

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus​

The reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus​

Collatinus​

The reign of Collatinus​

Junian dynasty​

Lucius Junius Brutus​

The reign of Lucius Junius Brutus​

Titus Junius Brutus​

The reign of Titus Junius Brutus​

Tiberius Junius Brutus​

The reign of Tiberius Junius Brutus​

Gaius Junius Brutus​

The reign of Gaius Junius Brutus​

Tiberius Junius Hostilus​

The reign of Tiberius Junius Hostilus​

Tiberius Junius Quintus​

The reign of Tiberius Junius Quintus​

Furian dynasty​

Marcus Furius Camillus​

The reign of Marcus Furius Camillus​

Lucius Furius Camillus​

The reign of Lucius Furius Camillus​

Gaius Furius Camillus​

The reign of Gaius Furius Camillus​

​

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

​

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus​

The reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
​

It was the year 245, and the Rome was at war with the Rutuli, a very wealthy nation, whose wealth the Roman King, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, desired. However, Tarquinius failed to take the Rutuli capital of Ardea by storming it, and so the king was forced to take the city by siege. Soon, the young noblemen in the king's army fell to drinking and boasting. Then the subject of the conversation turned towards the virtue of their wives. A Nobleman named Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus rose, and claimed to have the most dedicated of spouses. With his companions, they started secretly visiting each other's homes. They discovered all of the wives enjoying themselves, except for Collatinus' wife, Lucretia, who was tending to the house. Lucretia received the princes graciously, though her beauty and virtue kindled the flame of desire of Sextus Tarquinius, the king's son and Collatinus' cousin. Soon Sextus returned to Lucretia's quarter, and after being refused to give herself to him. He threatened to kill her, and claimed that he had discovered her in the act of adultery with a slave, if she did not yield to him.

And so, Lucretia, to spare her husband the shame, submitted to him. But when Sextus had departed, she sent for her husband and father, revealing the whole affair, and accusing Sextus. Despite the pleas of her family, Lucretia took her own life out of shame. Collatinus, together with his father-in-law, Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus, and his companions, Lucius Junius Brutus and Publius Valerius Poplicola, swore an oath to expel the king and his family from Rome.

Brutus, Tribune of the Celeres, was the head of the king's personal bodyguard, and entitled to summon the Roman comitia, which he soon did. When he summoned the comitia, he recounted the various grievances of the people and by inflaming public sentiment with the tale of the rape of Lucretia, Brutus persuaded the comitia to revoke the king's imperium and send him into exile. Both Tullia and Sextus Tarquinius soon fled the city, in fear of the mob. They both ended up at the city of Gabii, where they both were soon assassinated. In place of Superbus, the comitia centuriata resolved to elect Collatinus as the new king. With a new office being legislated, the praetor, whose role was to prevent future tyranny and abuses of power of the King, with Brutus being elected as the first praetor.

When word of this reached the king, Tarquinius abandoned Ardea, and sought support from his allies in Etruria. The cities of Veii and Tarquinii sent contingents to join the king's army, though the King of Clusium refused to give aid to Tarquinius, as he failed to see any difference between Tarquinius and Collatinus. Despite this, Tarquinius, prepared to march upon Rome. Their forces met at the Battle of Silva Arsia, with the forces of Veii and Tarquinii against the Roman army. After fierce fighting, during which Puplicola died in battle, the Etruscan forces eventually fled the field, resulting in a Roman Victory, establishing Collatinus as the legitimate King of Rome.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Collatinus​

The reign of Collatinus

Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus
​

After this great victory, Brutus, after celebrating a triumph for the victory, held a funeral for Valerius with much magnificence. While Collatinus began to busy himself with the affairs of state, with his throne secure. However, we know very little of his reign aside from some doubtful sources, most of which were written centuries after Collatinus' reign, making their validity questionable, as most contemporary sources have been destroyed during the Gallic sack. We do know that he remained childless throughout the rest of his life, for he remained ever faithful to his dead wife.

From what few sources we have, we do now that as King, Collatinus reformed many aspects of Roman governance. This included several reforms that related to the plebeians. Making him one of the most popular and beloved kings by the plebs. He also made war with other Latin states, which lead to the decisive Roman victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus in either 264. The war ended in a treaty, the Foedus Cassianum, which established a mutual military alliance between the Latin cities with Rome as the leading partner. However, In 269, Collatinus made a mistake that would cost him his reign, for he readmitted the brother of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, Arruns Tarquinius. Among the upper class and the Senate this caused massive uproar among them. Sensing this opportunity, Brutus, who had been praetor for the entire duration of Collatinus' reign seized this opportunity and dethroned Collatinus.

He then retired to a villa in the countryside, where he would live out the remainder of his life in exile, only disturbed when the during the secession of the plebs that occurred in 274 he was offered the kingship by the plebs, he refused and negotiated a compromise. He would die in 283, having no children or grandchildren.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Lucius Junius Brutus​

The reign of Lucius Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus
​

With the dethronement and exile of Collatinus, Brutus ascended to the throne, after previously holding the office of Praetor for the entire duration of Collatinus' reign. He began his reign by appeasing the Senate and the patrician class, at the expense of the plebeians. Undoing several popular reforms that were made under Collatinus. Soon, the plebeian class of Rome grew increasingly unhappy with the political rulership of the patrician class. Especially, the abolishment of several reforms about debt, reintroducing beatings and imprisonment of debtors by money-lenders.

Then, the fuse of rebellion was lit, when a former military official threw himself into the forum in an extremely disheveled state, for his estate was torched by the enemy and his possessions stolen. Upon returning home, he was forced to take a loan to afford paying a tax that had been imposed on him, driving him deeply into debt due to usury. This resulted in him being forced to give up family properties including his grandfather and father's farms. When this was still insufficient, he was taken by his creditors to a prison, whipped, and threatened with death. The people at the forum were angered and the story quickly spread, drawing a large crowd into an uproar.

After much anticipation about Brutus' action to address popular debt concerns, he instead worsened the situation by passing unpopular decrees reinforcing the imprisonment of debtors by creditors. This outrage further compounded by continued senate inaction resulted in the plebeians seceding to the Mons Sacer (the Sacred Mountain), over three miles from the city. The plebeians then established basic defenses in the area, and declared Collatinus as their king. Despite Collatinus refusing the title, they awaited for Brutus' reaction. After the secession, Brutus finally took action to address the issue. Negotiating with three envoys from the plebeians and Collatinus acting as a mediator, Brutus came to a resolution. The patricians freed some of the plebs from their debts and conceded some of their power by creating the office of the Tribune of the Plebs. Plebeian Tribunes were made personally sacrosanct during their period in office, meaning that any person who harmed them was subject to punishment by death.

With the end of the secession, Brutus returned to managing other matters of state. He died of natural causes in 284, being succeeded by his two sons, Titus Junius Brutus and Tiberius Junius Brutus.

 

[not livius]

Interesting! I think there is some text missing from the entry on Collatinus, between the next-to-last paragraph and the final sentence.

Was Brutus "elected" by the people in the same way Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius were? I'm wondering whether you see Rome reverting to an elective monarchy after the experiment of hereditary succession for the Tarquins went wrong.

 

[Duke of Reichstadt]

Interesting TL choice!

It's almost like having the Empire while skipping the Republic, no?

 

[Lalli]

Intresting altough that era is pretty much covered by myths and lengends and only few of historical facts.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Interesting! I think there is some text missing from the entry on Collatinus, between the next-to-last paragraph and the final sentence.

Was Brutus "elected" by the people in the same way Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius were? I'm wondering whether you see Rome reverting to an elective monarchy after the experiment of hereditary succession for the Tarquins went wrong.

Yup, Collatinus isn't finished yet.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Intresting altough that era is pretty much covered by myths and lengends and only few of historical facts.

Yup, that's the hard part of covering the very early history of Rome.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Interesting TL choice!

It's almost like having the Empire while skipping the Republic, no?

Thanks, this is an adaptation of my first Alternate History timeline, which you can see here.

I'm reworking some parts of it, and decided to add it on here.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Titus Junius Brutus​

The reign of Titus Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus
​

With Brutus' death, his two sons, succeeded him as King. Titus had previously served as a military commander, and he had campaigned against the several other Italic tribes. He eventually became Praetor after the death of Marcus Fabius Vibulanus in 275. While Tiberius primarily enjoyed a civic career in government. However, Titus' short reign in shrouded in mystery. He began his reign as co-kings with his younger and more peaceful brother, Tiberius in 269.

We do know that he mainly focused his attention of foreign policy and campaigned against other Italic tribes and expanded the sphere of the Roman state. Under his rule, Rome stretched from the Tiber river to the city of Neapolis, with the exception of Samnium and several regions that remained under the control of the Etruscans. Under him, Veii finally made a peace agreement with Rome, beginning a period of peace, despite his warlike nature.

However, Titus would die due to mysterious circumstances in 288, but his cause of death would remain a mystery. Some historians say his death was due to natural causes. While later historians suspect foul play, among the Senate, or even by his co-king. He was succeeded by his brother, Tiberius, as the sole King of Rome.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Tiberius Junius Brutus​

The reign of Tiberius Junius Brutus

Tiberius Junius Brutus
​

With Brutus' death, his two sons, succeeded him as King. Tiberius primarily enjoyed a civic career in government. While Titus had previously served as a military commander, and he had campaigned against the several other Italic tribes. Titus eventually became Praetor after the death of Marcus Fabius Vibulanus in 275. He began his reign as co-kings with his older and more warlike brother, Titus in 269.

During his early reign as king, he mainly focused his attention and resources on the city of Rome itself. With him constructing several large temples and pieces of infrastructure, many of which survived to the present day. This was while Titus campaigned against other Italic tribes, expanded the sphere of the Roman state, and finally made a peace agreement with Veii, beginning a period of peace. In 288, Titus died of mysterious circumstances, but his cause of death would remain a mystery. Some have even speculated that Tiberius orchestrated Titus' death to increase his own power. What ever happened, Tiberius became the sole ruler of Rome, whether he wanted to or not.

The next years of his reign saw Tiberius increasingly become authoritarian, even dismissing the praetorship of Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus in 293. This led to a constitutional crisis, as the Senate backed Titus and refused to consider any laws, appointments, or decrees made by the king until Titus was restored, and so the government stalled in Rome. This government shutdown would last for 3 years, during which little progress were made by both the Senate and the king, with the shutdown only ending when Tiberius died in 296. He was succeeded by his nephew (Titus' son) Gaius Junius Brutus.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Gaius Junius Brutus​

The reign of Gaius Junius Brutus

Gaius Junius Brutus
​

With Tiberius' death, he was succeeded by his nephew (Titus' son), Gaius Junius Brutus in 296. Gaius' rule began with the end of the Government shutdown in 296, when he restored Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus to the praetorship. This newfound internal stability allowed Gaius to look outwards, and Rome continued it's dominance over the Latin league. In 305, the Roman colonia of Fidenae revolted against Rome in 304, and allied itself with Veii, despte the peace treaty. When roman envoys were sent by Gaius, the Etruscan king of Veii, Tolumnius, murdered them instead. When Gaius heard of this, he immediately declared war on Veii, beginning yet another war on Veii.

The war began in earnest, and Gaius was leading the Roman army himself with Titus coming along. The Roman army was able to fend off an attack by the Veientines army, and by 305, Rome had retaken Fidenae and besieged Veii itself. After several months of besieging the city, Gaius came up with a plan to defeat Veii. Gaius had some of his men (under the command of Titus) to dig a tunnel beneath Veii in order to infiltrate the city, while the rest distracted the Veientines, by attacking the city on all sides. When the unsuspecting Veientines rushed to defend their walls from the Roman attacks, the other Romans emerged from the entrance of the tunnel inside and out quickly overwhelmed Veii. After the fighting slackened, Gaius offered to spare the unarmed who began to surrender as the soldiers gathered loot.

The result was a roman victory, securing Rome's growing power in central Italy. The city of Veii was captured, and was subsequently repopulated by Romans. Though it's original population were sold into slavery. With this great victory at hand, Titus died soon after returning to Rome. Needing a new praetor, he appointed his son-in law, Tiberius Junius Hostilius, who had married his daughter, Junia Major, several years back. With his rule and succession secure, the rest of Gaius' reign was relatively peaceful and uneventful.

Gaius died in 318, after 20 years of rule, he was succeeded by his son-in law, Tiberius Junius Hostilius.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Tiberius Junius Hostilius​

The reign of Tiberius Junius Hostilius

Tiberius Junius Hostilius
​

With Gaius' death, he was succeeded by his son-in law (Junia Major's husband), Tiberius Junius Hostilius in 318. Hostilius had previously served in the Roman army during the war with Veii, and he gained the name "Hostilius" due to his warlike nature which reminded many of the past king Hostilius. Despite his nickname, his reign was relatively peaceful, as Veii, Rome's most powerful and dangerous rival, had fallen years prior, allowing Hostilius to focus more on the internal affairs of Rome.

His reign saw the increase of the unconstrained personal power of the king and the erosion of the power of the Senate and Praetor. With several reforms being made in the Senate, and he massively expanded the body to include more families and political allies, allowing him to have de-facto control of the body. Despite massive protests and even calls for dethronement by some senators, the Praetor, Gaius Sulpicius Longus, refused to do so, and allowed the reforms to pass through. Causing Rome to fall to a de-facto royal dictatorship. Despite this, he remained popular with the plebeians, due to his charismatic nature. Late in his reign Longus died, and Hostilius appointed his son Tiberius Junius Quintus as praetor. Officially establishing Quintus as Hostilius' heir. He also directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself, and initiated the construction of two aqueducts in Rome.

Hostilius died of an illness in 353, after 35 years of rule. He was succeeded by his son, Quintus.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Tiberius Junius Quintus​

The reign of Tiberius Junius Quintus

Tiberius Junius Quintus​

With Hostilius' death, he was succeeded by his son, Tiberius Junius Quintus, in 353. His reign as king is shrouded in mystery, as there are few surviving sources about his reign. We do know that during his first 9 years of rule he was an insane tyrant, being described as a cruel, sadist, extravagant, and sexual pervert of a king. However, the reliability of these sources is questionable.

In 360, news of a new Gallic tribe that was invading Northern Italy arrived in Rome, they were the Senones, led by their chief Brennus. In 362, the Senones were called to the Etruscan city of Volsinii by Venthi, an influential resident of the city who wanted to take revenge against several members of the city who he said had wronged him. When the Senones appeared, the city felt threatened and decided to ask Rome for assistance. The Romans then sent the three ambassadors. The ambassadors consisted of the sons of several prominent roman families. The ambassadors told the Gauls not to attack the city, and that if they did attack the city, the Roman Kingdom will defend it. This resulted in a quarrel, and the death of one of the ambassadors. When the king heard of the news, Quintus was mad, and soon declared war with the Gaul, beginning the first Roman-Gallic War.

Despite this threat, Quintus took no special measures for war, and the levy he assembled was not larger than had been usual in ordinary campaigns. However, the Gauls marched on Rome so quickly that Rome was thunderstruck by the swiftness at which they moved. After several small skirmishes, which were victories for the Gauls. Both forces met outside of the city of Rome. The Romans presumably were outnumbered, and they did not set up camp or build a defensive rampart and they did not divine the gods, as they were supposed to. They extended the wings to avoid being outflanked, but that made their line so thin and weakened that the centre could hardly be kept together. They placed the reserves on a hill on the right. Brennus, the Senone chieftain, suspected that to be a ruse and that the reservists would attack him from the rear while he was fighting the Roman army in the plain. He therefore attacked the hill. The Romans panicked. The left wing threw their arms down and fled to the bank of the River Tiber. The Gauls killed the soldiers who were blocking one another's path in the disorderly flight. Those who could not swim or were weak were weighed down by their armor and drowned. The right wing, which was further from the river and closer to the hill, instead fled to Rome. The Gauls were surprised at how easy their victory had been.

With this great defeat, Quintus died in battle, ending the Junian dynasty. Long after his death, Quintus' memory was condemned to oblivion by the Senate and later Kings, while senatorial authors propagated the view of Quintus as a cruel and paranoid tyrant. However, modern historians instead have characterized Quintus as an incompetent ruler, who could have made peace and prosperity if only he was born in better times.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Marcus Furius Camillus​

The reign of Marcus Furius Camillus

Marcus Furius Camillus​

With the death of both the King and the Praetor, the Senator and general Marcus Furius Camillus was elected king by the Senate. Meanwhile, the Gauls were dumbfounded by their sudden and extraordinary victory and did not move from the place of the battle, as if they were puzzled. They feared a surprise and despoiled the dead, as was customary for them. When they did not see any hostile action, they set off and reached Rome before sunset. They saw that the city gates were closed and that the walls were manned. For as it turned out, Camillus had organized the local forces for the defense of the city. So the Gauls prepared a siege.

However, the Gauls conducted the siege with great slackness and concentrated on preventing the Romans from slipping through their lines. The Gauls divided their forces into two. One division besieged the city, and the other went foraging in the territories of the neighboring cities. Meanwhile, The patrician clans of the city held an annual sacrifice on the Quirinal Hill. However, during the siege, Brennus fell ill and died. The remaining Gauls began to bicker about who would lead the Gauls, causing confusion in the camps. This wasn't helped with the drunkenness of the men. When Camillus then found that the Gauls were distracted, he attacked them during the night and defeated the enemy easily with great bloodshed. With their leadership being gutted. The Gauls, were taken aback by this attacked, and after rumors of a roman reinforcements, some of the Gauls fled, while others negotiated a peace treaty.

The war was over, but Rome was severely humiliated. Immediately after the war, the reconstruction of Rome began, while the victorious Camillus celebrated a triumph. The war set in motion a series of wars against nearby peoples. Rome, in conjunction with the Latin League, a coalition of other Latin cities, and the Hernici, had spent much of the 4th century fighting against the Volsci and Aequi, who lived to the south, in response to the latter's attacks on their territory immediately after the battle of Rome. When Rome was able to regain their footing, Rome responded aggressively. This led to another war with the Volsci, the Etruscan city-states, and even several of Rome's former latin allies. Sources of this war are unreliable, though we do know that Rome was victorious once again. To cement Rome's rule over the latins, Camillus welcomed the Latins into the Roman state, granting them citizenship, with several prominent Latin families even serving as Senator. In 364, he appointed his son, Lucius Furius Camillus, as praetor, a position which had been vacant since the Battle of Rome.
Camillus also reformed the Roman military, to never allow something like the Battle of Rome to happen again, creating the modern Roman military system, the Legion.

In 387, after 24 years of rule, Camillus died of a pestilence that ravaged Rome at the time. Camillus' death was deeply mourned by many. He was succeeded by his son, Lucius Furius Camillus. Soon after his death, he was honored with the title of the Second Founder of Rome, and became wildly revered and respected by future kings. However, Camillus was also responsible for the destruction of some of the surviving records of previous kings, replacing them with pieces of propaganda. It is reasonable to believe that several aspects of previous rulers maybe legendary or even possibly mythical or fictional due to this.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Lucius Furius Camillus​

The reign of Lucius Furius Camillus

Lucius Furius Camillus​

With Camillus' death, he was succeeded by his son, Lucius Furius Camillus in 387. Lucius was serving as Praetor at the time of his father's death. He had previously served in the Roman army during the Gallic war and during his father's campaigns. Lucius began his reign by dealing with the pestilence that was ravaging Rome and had killed his father. He did this by preparing a ritual feast to the gods in order to appease them. When this rite failed to achieve its intended result, the consuls tried a more unorthodox tactic, and invited Etruscan musicians and dancers to put on theatrical performances. These performances became popular with the Roman youth who began to emulate them, kickstarting the Roman theatrical tradition.

When the pestilence passed in 389, he began to administer the day to day affairs of state. During this time, he appointed a senator named Gaius Marcius Rutilus, to the office of praetor, which had been vacant since his ascension to the throne. However, in 390 another crisis came to Rome, for rumors spread of a Gallic invasion. Hearing of this threat, Lucius took the newly reformed Army and set off to fight the Gauls. At first Lucius was reluctant to engage the Gallic force, preferring to wait them out, but this strategy grew to be extremely unpopular with the soldiers, who were longing for combat. The soldiers in response nominated a centurion named Fabilius to convince Lucius to listen to the soldiers, which he eventually came around to do so. Soon, Lucius resolved to take the enemy by surprise, and concocted a scheme in which to do so, involving sending muleteers and cavalrymen on a nearby mountain to lie in wait until he gave them a signal to charge.

In the morning, Lucius then lined his troops on the foot of the mountain, so that the Gauls were required to fight facing the mount, thus setting the stage for a flanking attack. The Gauls started by attacking the Roman right, resulting in the Romans in that flank beginning to waver, which caused Lucius to ridicule the soldiers for their eagerness to go to battle but their cowardice when confronted with combat. This statement gave such shame to the soldiers that they regained their cohesion and viciously charged the Gauls, which combined with a cavalry charge, put the Gauls on that flank to flight. Lucius then turned his attention to the left flank, where the Gauls were attacking in a large mass, and gave the necessary signal to the cavalrymen and muleteers who were lying in wait, causing them to charge into the Gallic flank. The Gauls were terrified by this charge and attempted to flee to their camp, but the majority were intercepted by the cavalrymen and were slain. Thus Lucius won a great victory, and celebrated a triumph upon returning to Rome. Dedicating a large quantity of treasure, to the gods, thanking them for his victory.

The rest of Lucius' reign was uneventful, with the only notable event being the death of his praetor, Gaius Marcius Rutilus, and the appointment of his son, Gaius Furius Camillus, as praetor in 404. He died in 406, being succeeded by his son. Lucius' reign was remarkably well documented and the annals of his reign are well preserved. Allowing historians to uncover the traditions and history of the early Roman kingdom.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Gaius Furius Camillus​

The reign of Gaius Furius Camillus

Gaius Furius Camillus​

With Lucius' death, he was succeeded by his son, Gaius Furius Camillus in 406. Gaius was serving as Praetor at the time of his father's death. He had previously served in the Roman during his father's campaigns possibly having a crucial role during the Gallic invasion of 390. As king, Gaius' reign was dominated by war, as during his reign a series of conflicts between Rome and the Samnites, a powerful coalition of Oscan-speaking peoples, occurred.

The First Samnite War began in 409, when the Samnites without provocation attacked the Sidicini, a tribe living north of Campania with their chief settlement at Teanum Sidicinum. Unable to stand against the Samnites, the Sidicini sought help from the Campanians. However, the Samnites defeated the Campanians in a battle, compelling the Campanians to ask for Roman assistance. In Rome, the Campanian ambassadors were admitted to an audience with Gaius. In a speech, they proposed an alliance between Rome and the Campanians, noting how the Campanians with their famous wealth could be of aid to the Romans. After discussing this proposal, Gaius accepted the proposal, and sent envoys to the Samnites requesting them to spare the newly acquired territory and to warn them to keep their hands off the city of Capua and the territory of Campania. The envoys were met with a defiant response, and the Samnites ordered their armies to march out at once into Campanian territory and ravage it. Beginning the war.

King Gaius soon marched against the Samnites. After a day of hard fighting, Gaius won the first battles, which took place at Mount Gaurus near Cumae, where Gaius and his men attacked in the morning, defeating the unprepared Samnites. Still determined to seize victory, the Samnites collected their forces and laid siege to Suessula at the eastern edge of Campania. Low on supplies, and underestimating the size of the Roman force, the Samnites scattered their army to forage for food. This gave Gaius the opportunity to win a third Roman victory when he captured the Samnite general. These Roman successes against the Samnites resulted in a peace treaty being signed in 412.

Following the victory over the Samnites, the winter garrisons in Campania mutinied, and formed a rebel army and marched against Rome led by the general Gaius Licinius Mucianus, being subverted by the luxurious lifestyle of the Campanians. What happened next is unclear, most sources say he died of an illness just before he was able to subdue the mutiny, while other sources say he was murdered. Whatever happened, Gaius was dead .

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Sextus Pontilius Vindex​

The reign of Sextus Pontilius Vindex

Sextus Pontilius Vindex​

With sudden death of Gaius in 415, the Senate was forced to quickly choose the next king to face Mucianus. After much deliberation, the Senate chose Sextus Pontilius Vindex, an old, wise, and respected senator from the Pontilia gens, as king. He then began preparing to face the mutiny, gathering new recruits to bolster his ranks. Vindex then left Rome and marched south to meet the challenge, leaving his brother Gaius Pontilius Vindex in charge of Rome.

Vindex then decided to march on Cremona to give a battle, who wished to wait until other reinforcements had arrived. Vindex remained at the camp to await the outcome. The two armies met on the Via Postumia, nearer Cremona than Bedriacum, with both armies already tired after a long march. Some of the heaviest fighting in early Roman history took place. According to several sources, about 40,000 men were killed in the fighting. Vindex's troops fled back to their camp in Bedriacum and the next day surrendered to the Mucianus' forces and took the oath of allegiance to Mucianus.

By then, Vindex had fled the camp, and attempted to take command of reinforcements. However, the reinforements which was sent to defeat Mucianus, instead defected to Mucianus. With few options remaining, the elderly Vindex killed himself, to avoid the shame of capture and execution. The way was thus cleared for Mucianus to ascend the throne.

 

[Frederick II of the HRE]

Gaius Licinius Mucianus​

The reign of Gaius Licinius Mucianus

Gaius Licinius Mucianus​

With Mucianus' victory at Cremona, he then marched on Rome, executed Vindex's brother, and ascended to the throne. Mucianus then began his reign by purging the senate of opposition, replacing them with loyalists, and declaring his eldest son, Lucius Licinius Geta, as his heir. Mucianus' short and turbulent reign would be filled with war.

For shortly after Mucianus became king, the tensions between Rome and the Samnites reached a boiling point, which culminated when the Romans founded a colonia at Fregellae in late 415. Fregellae had been a Volscian town on the eastern branch of the River Liris, at the junction with the River Tresus, in Campania and in an area which was to be under Samnite control. The Samnites then attacked Fregellae, beginning the Second Samnite war. Mucianus then marched to Campania, he sent a legion to garrison Capua, and camped the rest of his forces in Calatia, a Campanian town southeast of Capua. Gaius Pontius, the commander of the Samnites, placed his army at the Caudine Forks and sent some soldiers disguised as shepherds grazing their flock towards Calatia. Their mission was to spread the misinformation that the Samnites were about to attack the city of Lucera in Apulia, which was an ally of Rome. Mucianus decided to march to the aid of this city and to take the quicker, but less safe, route through the Caudine Forks. These were two narrow and wooded defiles on the Apennine Mountains with a plain between them. The passage from the first to the second defile was a narrow and difficult ravine. The Samnites blocked this with felled trees and boulders. When the Romans passed through, they also barraged the rear entry to the defile. The Romans were stuck and surrounded by the enemy and set up a fortified camp. Then the Samnites attacked them on all sides, decisively defeating the Romans.

As for Mucianus, he was killed in the fighting. While the rest of his army was forced to surrender. Luckily for the Romans, the the commander of the Samnites, Gaius Pontius, was merciful, only humiliating the Roman soldiers, passing them under their yoke and mocking them.