Battle of Suessula

The Battle of Suessula was according to the Roman historian Livy (59 BC – AD 17) the third and last battle between the Samnites and the Roman Republic in 343 BC. the first year of the First Samnite War. According to Livy's description of the battle in Book Seven of his history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, the Samnites gathered their army at Suessula, at the eastern edge of Campania. The Roman consul, Marcus Valerius Corvus, took his army by forced marches to Suessula. When the Samnites had to scatter their army to forage for food, Valerius seized the opportunity to capture Samnite camp and then rout the Samnite foragers. Modern historians believe however that Livy's description of this battle is entirely invented by him and his sources, the historicity of the battle itself has also been questioned.