Osci
The Osci (also called Oscans, Opici, Opsci, Obsci, Opicans)[1] were an Italic people of Campania and Latium adiectum before and during Roman times.
Traditions of the Opici fall into the legendary period of Italian history, roughly from the beginning of the first millennium BC until the foundation of the Roman Republic.
By far the most important of these in terms of military prowess and wealth was the Samnites, who rivalled Rome for about 50 years in the second half of the 4th century BC, sometimes being allies, and sometimes at war with the city, until they were finally subdued with considerable difficulty and were incorporated into the Roman state.
Their sovereignty was finally lost during the Second Samnite War when, prior to invading Samnium, the Romans found it necessary to secure the border tribes.
In 503 BC, the Latin colonies of Cora and Pometia rebelled against Roman authority, obtaining the assistance of the Aurunci, seat unknown.
Taking the town, they beheaded the Aurunci officers, sold the Pometians into slavery, levelled the buildings and put the land up for sale.
In the last half of the 4th century BC, the remaining Oscan populations (who were not Samnites) lived in three sovereign states: the Sidicini, the Aurunci and the Ausones.
During the final revolt of the Volsci, the Romans had sacked and levelled Satricum about 346 BC and had sold the remaining 4,000 fighting men into slavery.
They appointed Lucius Furius Camillus dictator, halted business, drafted an army on the spot and sent it into the field against the Aurunci, but "the war was finished in the very first battle".
[12] The Senate accepted the offer and granted assistance on the grounds that Campania would be an ally in the rear of the Aequi and Volsci in case of further conflict with them.
For two years the Romans knew only victories until at last the Samnites sued for the restoration of their former alliance with one condition: they would be free to war on the Sidicini if they wished.
Encouraged by Roman refusal to assume leadership, the Latins made plans to turn their army against Rome once the Samnite threat had been neutralized.
Word of the plans leaked to the Romans, who reacted by inviting ten Latin chiefs to Rome to receive orders under the terms of the treaty.
Emotional posturing began around the statue; a Latin envoy, Lucius Annaeus, slipped on the stairs while railing against Jupiter and hit his head, becoming unconscious.
In a number of legendary battles, the Romans defeated the Latin League, taking away the sovereignty of its tribal states, who subsequently assimilated to Rome.
The consul, Lucius Furius Camillus, asked the Senate: "Do you wish to adopt ruthless measures against a people that have surrendered and been defeated?
[16] The Roman Senate decided that the terms of the latter's treaty warranted military intervention, but meanwhile the Aurunci abandoned their towns in Campania in favour of a mountain stronghold, Suessa, which they renamed Aurunca.
Informed by an escaped prisoner (who broke his chains and climbed the wall in plain sight without being observed) that the enemy were all drunk and sleeping, Corvus took the city in a night-time rout and garrisoned it.
