Historians have noted the similarities between the events leading to the First Samnite War and events which according to Thucydides caused the Peloponnesian War, but there are differences as well.
Pripravljeni so sprejeti, da je njegova poenostavljena pripoved o tem, kako je prišlo do vojne med Sidicini, Kampanjci in Samniti, vsaj v obrisih zgodovinsko točna.