After forcing the capitulation of all the rebel-held cities in Campania, with the exception of Nola, Sulla launched a dagger thrust into the heartland of the Samnites. He was able to ambush a Samnite army in a mountain pass (in a reversal of the Battle of the Caudine Forks) and then, having routed them, he marched on the rebel capital, storming it in a brutal, three-hour assault. Although Nola remained defiant, along with a few other pockets of resistance, Sulla had effectively finished the rebellion in the south for good.