The Romans involved in the battle of Sentinum were commanded by consuls Publius Decius Mus and Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus.
In 296 BC Quintus Fabius and Publius Decius were made proconsuls and were given a six-month extension of their military command to carry on the war in Samnium.
The Samnite army headed north to Etruria to back up previous calls for an alliance with the Etruscans that had been turned down.
However, the raids alarmed Rome because of news that the Etruscans were arming themselves and had invited the Samnites (under Gellius Egnatius) and the Umbrians to join them in a major revolt against the Romans.
The two best military commanders, Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus and Publius Decius Mus, were elected as consuls again (for 295 BC).
They took on the war in Etruria with four legions and a large body of allied infantry and cavalry (1,000 Campanian soldiers are mentioned), 40,000 men in total.
Two reserve contingents headed by propraetors were stationed in the Faliscan district and near the Vatican Hill to protect Rome.
The consul ordered the legions in Falerii and the Vatican to march to Clusium and ravage its territory as another diversionary strategy.
Livy thought that with their departure the two enemy forces were so evenly matched that if the Etruscans and Umbrians had been present it would have been a disaster for the Romans.
Quintus Fabius fought defensively to make the battle a test of endurance and wait for the enemy to flag.
Publius Decius decided to perform the devotio, offering prayers to the gods and launching himself into the enemy lines, effectively sacrificing himself when his troops were in dire straits, just as his father had done at the Battle of Vesuvius in 340 BC.
On the right, Quintus Fabius directed the cavalry to outflank the Samnite wing and attack it in the flank and ordered his infantry to push forward.
Meanwhile, Quintus Fabius and the rest of the army took the Samnite camp by storm and cut off the line of retreat of the Senones.
Livy said that Lucius Volumnius, instead, was holding the front in Samnium and routed a Samnite force near Mount Tifernus.
Appius Claudius was sent to head Publius Decius’ army as propraetor and Quintus Fabius confronted and defeated the Perusini.