The Sidicini (Ancient Greek Σιδικῖνοι) were one of the

Italic peoples The Italic peoples were an ethnolinguistic group identified by their use of Italic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. The Italic peoples are descended from the Indo-European speaking peoples who inhabited Italy from at lea ...

of ancient Italy. Their territory extended northward from their capital,

Teanum Sidicinum Teano ( Teanese: ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's ...

(modern day

Teano Teano ( Teanese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's c ...

), along the valley of the

Liri The Liri (Latin Liris or Lyris, previously, Clanis; Greek: ) is one of the principal rivers of central Italy, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea a little below Minturno under the name Garigliano. Source and route The Liri's source is in the ...

river up to

Fregellae Fregellae was an ancient town of Latium adiectum, situated on the Via Latina between Aquinum (modern Aquino) and Frusino (now Frosinone, in central Italy), near the left branch of the Liris. History Fregellae was said to have been founded i ...

, covering around in total. They were neighbors of the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they f ...

and

Campanians {{Short description, Ancient Italic tribe The Campanians (also Campani) were an ancient Italic tribe, part of the Osci nation, speaking an Oscan language. Descending from the Apennines, the proto-Osci settled in the areas of present-day Campani ...

, and allies of the

Ausones "Ausones" (; ), the original Greek form for the Latin "Aurunci", was a name applied by Greek writers to describe various Italic peoples inhabiting the southern and central regions of Italy. The term was used, specifically, to denote the partic ...

and

Aurunci The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC. Identity Aurunci is the n ...

. Their language was a part of the Osco-Umbrian linguistic family.

Origins

According to

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

, the Sidicini geography was taken from the

Opici The Opici were an ancient italic people of the Latino-Faliscan group who lived in the region of Campania. They settled in the area in the late Bronze Age but their territory was later conquered during the Iron Age by the Osci, another Italic people ...

History

First Samnite War

The Sidicini were mentioned for the first time in 343 BC, when the

declared war on them. The Samnites sought to take Teano because of its position as a regional crossroad. The Sidicini then sought the help of the

. The Campanians sent an army to assist the Sidicini but were beaten in battle by the Samnites, the Samnites then seized the

Tifata Tifata is a mountain of Campania, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely ...

hills overlooking Capua (the main Campani city) and, having left a strong force to hold them, marched into the plain between the hills and Capua. There they defeated the Campanians in a second battle and drove them within their walls. At this point the Campanians decided to surrender themselves unconditionally into the power of Rome, following which the Romans felt compelled to intervene to protect their new subjects against further Samnite attacks. Modern historians are in some dispute whether this surrender really took place or was invented to absolve Rome of treaty breaking, but generally agree that Rome formed some kind of alliance with Capua. The Romans broke their treaty of friendship with the Samnites to help the Campani. The First Samnite War ended in 341 with a negotiated peace and renewal of the former treaty between them and Rome. Rome retained her Campanian alliance, but accepted that the Sidicini belonged to the Samnite sphere. According to Livy, once peace with Rome had been concluded, the Samnites attacked the Sidicini with the same forces they had deployed against Rome. Facing defeat, the Sidicini tried to surrender themselves to Rome, but their surrender was rejected by the senate as coming far too late. The Sidicini then turned to the Latins who had already taken up arms on their own account. The Campanians joined the war as well, and led by the Latins a large army of these allied peoples invaded

Samnium Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the Th ...

Sidicini-Aurunci War

In 337 BC the Sidicini declared war on the Aurunci, and defeated them and forced them out of their capital city of Aurunca, after which the Aurunci made

Suessa Suessa may refer to: Geography * Sessa Aurunca, town and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy * Suessa Pometia Suessa Pometia ( el, ; also Pometia) was an ancient city of Latium, which had ceased to exist in historical time ...

their capital. In 336 BC the Ausoni joined the Sidicini's side of the war. However the Romans came to the defence of the Aurunci, defeating Sidicini and Ausoni. The capital of the Ausoni,

Cales Cales was an ancient city of Campania, in today's '' comune'' of Calvi Risorta in southern Italy, belonging originally to the Aurunci/Ausoni, on the Via Latina. The Romans captured it in 335 BC and established a colony with Latin rights of 2,5 ...

, was occupied, and in 332 BC the Sidicini territory itself was occupied by both consular armies of Rome, but

, the capital, resisted the Romans. The Sidicini do not appear in that war or ever again in history, but Teanum goes on as Teanum Sidicinum and its territory as Sidicinus Ager. If the Romans had fought a great battle and had obliterated the Sidicini, there would be some mention of it or some evidence of a discontinuity at Teano. Instead, the city prospered. Smith accords with the general conclusion that between 335 and 326, most likely in 334, the Sidicini consented to lay down their arms and become part of the greater Roman municipality. Livy's omission remains unexplained.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * {{Italic languages Osci Ancient Italic peoples Osco-Umbrian languages