# CHAPTER 15 — The Samnites Turned to Religion As a Last Resort in Times of Misfortune

After the Samnites had suffered numerous defeats by the Romans and had finally been destroyed in Etruria, with their armies and leaders killed and their allies, such as the Etruscans, the Gauls, and the Umbrians conquered, ‘they could carry on no longer, either with their own resources or with outside support, yet they would not abstain from war—so far were they from tiring of freedom even though they had not succeeded in defending it, preferring to be defeated rather than not to try for victory’. * They resolved, therefore, to make one last effort, and since they knew that to create the desire to win it was necessary to instil determination into the minds of their soldiers, and that there was no better means of doing so than religion, they thought they would repeat one of their ancient sacrificial rites, with the help of their priest Ovius Paccius. They organized this sacrifice in this way: once they had made the solemn sacrifice, between the dead victims and the lighted altars, they made all the leaders of the army swear never to abandon the battle, and they called forward the soldiers one by one, and between the altars and in the midst of a number of centurions with their drawn swords in hand, they made the soldiers swear first that they would never repeat what they had seen or heard; then, with curses and verses full of fear, they made the men promise the gods they would go swiftly wherever their commanders sent them and would never flee from battle and would kill anyone they saw fleeing: if this oath were not observed, it would come back upon the heads of their families and tribes. When some of the men became terrified and unwilling to swear their oaths, they were immediately put to death by their centurions; as a result all the others that followed, frightened by the ferocity of the spectacle, then swore their oaths. Moreover, in order to make their gathering more magnificent, since they numbered 40,000 men, they dressed half of them in white uniforms with crests and plumes upon their helmets, and organized in this manner, they took their position near Aquilonia. Coming to face them, Papirius, urging on his soldiers, declared: ‘crested helmets dealt no wounds, and Roman javelins could pierce shields which were painted and gilded’. * In order to weaken his soldiers’ opinion of the enemy on account of the oath they had taken, Papirius declared that the oath was based on their fear rather than on their strength, because at the same time they were in fear of their fellow citizens, the gods, and their enemies. Once they joined in the conflict the Samnites were overcome, for Roman ability * and the fear engendered by past defeats overcame whatever determination the Samnites might have been able to derive from the strength of their religion and the oath they had sworn. Nevertheless, it is evident that they did not feel they had any other alternative, nor that they could make any other attempt to regain the hope of recovering their lost valour. This clearly testifies to how much confidence can be acquired through religion when it is properly used. * And although this section may perhaps require that it be placed in the discussion of foreign affairs, * since it nevertheless depends upon one of the most important institutions of the republic of Rome, I felt I should place it in this section in order to avoid dividing this subject-matter and having to return to it several times.