Battle of Lautulae participant Roman Republic
The Battle of Lautulae was a battle fought in 315 BC during the Second Samnite War, opposing the Roman Republic (led by dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus) and the Samnites, who defeated the Romans.Background
In 315 BC, the Romans elected Lucius Papirius Cursor and Quintus Publilius Philo as consuls. These were the same consuls who were elected five years earlier to deal with the crisis that followed Rome's defeat at the Caudine Forks against the Samnites.  This same year, Cursor went to Apulia to attack the Samnites at Luceria, while Philo went to Campania to attack the Samnites at Saticula.  Simultaneously, another Roman force, under Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, continued to press an attack on Satricum and on the Volscian rebels in the Liris valley.  This was a logical progression of the policy of southward expansion; however later it was revealed, this was a dangerous dispersal of Rome's military strength.In Apulia, Cursor laid siege to Samnite-controlled Luceria, and in the Liris valley Fabius Maximus recovered Satricum. Reports from Campagnia told that a Samnite force either defeated or eluded Philo and began to move toward Latium. Fabius Maximus was the only commander close enough who could help defend Latium. He chose to cover the inland route while the Samnites came steadily on. When the Samnites reached the site of Fregellae, they were faced with the choice of either continuing onto Rome along the Trerus valley or travelling left, thereby splitting the Roman territory. They chose the latter course and this brought them against the forces of Quintus Aulius Cerretanus at Lautulae.