Roman conquest of the Hernici The Roman conquest of the Hernici , an ancient Italic people , took place during the 4th century BC . For most of the 5th century BC the Roman Republic had been allied with the other Latin states and the Hernici to successfully fend off the Aequi and the Volsci . In the early 4th century BC this alliance fell apart . A war fought between Rome and the Hernici in the years 366 - 358 BC ended in Roman victory and the submission of the Hernici . Rome also defeated a rebellion by some Hernician cities in 307 - 306 BC . The rebellious Hernici were incorporated directly into the Roman Republic while those who had stayed loyal retained their autonomy and nominal independence . In the course of the following century the Hernici became indistinguishable from their Latin and Roman neighbours and disappeared as a separate people . The " foedus Cassianum " - 5th century BC . The ancient sources tell that in 486 BC the Hernici joined the " foedus Cassianum " , a mutual military alliance between the Latin cities with Rome as the leading partner . While the precise workings of the Latin League remains uncertain , its overall purpose seems clear . During the 5th century the Latins were threatened by invasion from the Aequi and the Volsci , as part of a larger pattern of Sabellian - speaking peoples migrating out of the Apennines and into the plains . Fighting is recorded against either the Aequi , the Volsci , or both , almost every year during the first half 5th century . This annual warfare would have been dominated by raids and counter - raids rather than the pitched battles described by the ancient sources . During the second half the 5th century the Latin - Hernician alliance appears to have stemmed the tide . The sources records the founding of several Roman colonies during this era , while mention of wars against the Aequi and Volsci become less frequent . At the same time this would lessen the need to maintain the alliance . This was especially true for Rome which after her conquest of Veii in 396 was clearly the most powerful state in Latium . Defection of the Hernici - 380s BC . Livy writes that in 389 , after a hundred years of loyal friendship , the Latins and Hernici defected from Rome in 389 , after Rome had been sacked by the Gauls . Then in 386 and 385 Latin and Hernician men were found fighting for the Volsci . Rome protested , and refused to hand back their Latin and Hernician prisoners , but did not declare war . Livy viewed the sack of Rome by the Gauls as a grave disaster that encouraged Rome ' s neighbours to rise against her . Modern historians however believe the ancient historical tradition exaggerate the impact of the sack . Likewise they disagree with Livy ' s views that the Hernici defected from Rome ; as Livy notes , no open warfare between Rome and the Hernici is recorded for this time period . Rather the military alliance between Rome and the Latins and Hernici appear to have been allowed to wither . This might have been a willed policy by Rome to free herself from treaty obligations and so gain wider freedom of action . But the Latins and the Hernici , no longer threatened by the Aequi and Volsci , could also have seized the opportunity of the Gallic Sack to abandon their alliance with an increasingly dominating Rome . While it is possible that this led to some Latin and Hernician warriors fighting for the Volsci , these could also be inventions by Livy to provide a literary motif to his narrative . Except for these doubtful notices then , no conflicts are recorded between Romans and Hernici until 366 The Hernician War 362 - 358 . After some mostly peaceful years , the Romans in 362 went to war against the Hernici , starting a period of unprecedented successful warfare for the Romans . Livy provides the only narrative account for this Hernican War . In addition two triumphs and an ovation against the Hernici are recorded in the " Fasti Triumphales " . Outbreak of the war . According to Livy in 366 it was reported in Rome that the Hernici had rebelled , but nothing was done to prevent any action from being taken by the plebeian consul . In 363 to ward off pestilence the Romans nominated L . Manlius Imperiosus dictator to perform the ancient ritual of " driving in the nail " at the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus . Manlius however attempted to use his appointment to secure command in the war against the Hernici , but faced with public resentment and resistance from the tribunes of the plebs he was forced to lay down his office . After fetials had been sent to the Hernici to demand satisfaction without result , the Roman Assembly in 362 voted for war against the Hernici . L . Genucius Aventinensis became the first plebeian consul to command in war , but the Hernici caught Genucius in an ambush ; the consul was killed and the Roman legions routed . As usual Livy makes Rome the offended party , but Roman designs on Hernician land might well have been real cause of this war . The failed levy of L . Manlius is probably not historical , but has likely been invented as a motive for the famous prosecution of L . Manlius , traditionally dated to 362 . Dictatorship of Appius Claudius Crassus . The surviving patrician consul , Q . Servilius Ahala , then nominated Appius Claudius Crassus as dictator . Pending the arrival of the dictator , C . Sulpicius Peticus assumed command of the Roman army . The Hernici had surrounded the Roman camp , but led by Sulpicius the Romans sortied and forced them to retreat . With the arrival of the dictator with fresh forces from Rome , the strength of the Roman army was doubled . On their side the Hernici called up all their men , and formed a special privileged unit of 3 200 picked men . The Romans and Hernici had camped on each side of a two miles broad plain , and the battle took place in the middle . When the Roman cavalry found they could not break the enemy lines by normal means , they dismounted and charged as infantry . They were countered by the special picked men of the Hernici . After a hard struggle the Roman knight got the best of this contest and the Hernici were routed . The next day the Romans were delayed in attacking the Hernician camp by difficulty in obtaining favourable omens and consequently failed to take the camp before darkness broke off fighting . During the night the Hernici abandoned their camp and withdrew . Seeing the retreating Hernici pass by their walls the people of Signia sallied out and scattered them in flight . Roman casualties had been heavy , a quarter of their whole force , and a considerable number of their cavalry had fallen . Livy ' s extended narrative of this campaign is full of standard annalistic features and very little of the detail provided can have been derived from authentic records . The first military command ever held by a plebeian consul and the subsequent dictatorship of the conservative patrician Appius Claudius ties Livy ' s account into the Struggle of the Orders . Because of this literary character of the episode , and the absence of a triumph for Appius Claudius in the Fasti Triumphales , some historians have rejected Appius Claudius ' dictatorship . Oakley ( 1998 ) does not consider these arguments decisive , but believes the basic notice of a Roman victory against the Hernici in 362 to be historical , and perhaps also the dictatorship of Appius Claudius and the involvement of Signia as well . Rome triumphant . Livy only provide brief narratives for the remaining years of the Hernician war , being more interested in the Gallic wars Rome was fighting at the same time . In 361 the Roman consuls invaded Hernician territory . Finding no enemy in the field , they attacked and took Ferentinum . In 360 consul M . Fabius Ambustus received command of the war against the Hernici . Fabius defeated the Hernici first in some minor battles and then in a major one where the Hernici attacked in full strength . For his victories Fabius entered the City of Rome in Ovation . In 358 the Romans assigned command of the Hernician war to consul C . Plautius Proculus . The consul defeated the Hernici and reduced them to submission . The Pomptina and Publilia tribes were also formed that year . The " Fasti Triumphales " records a triumph by consul C . Sulpicius Peticus against the Hernici in 361 , the ovation of M . Fabius Ambustus in 360 , which according to the Fasti took place on 5 September , and the triumph of consul C . Plautius Proculus in 358 which it dates to 15 May . There are no particular reason to doubt the historicity of these Roman victories though it is unlikely that Livy ' s description of Fabius first winning several minor battles and then a major battle , perhaps a condensation of a longer account found in his sources , is derived from authentic records . In 358 the Latins renewed their alliance with Rome when Latium was threatened by invasion from the Gauls , fear of the Gauls might also have influenced the Hernici to accept a new treaty with Rome , but the Hernici probably obtained less favourably terms than their old alliance . Ferentinum is described as independent in 306 , and so must have been handed back to the Hernici at some point , perhaps as part of the peace terms . Of the two Roman tribes created in 358 , the Pomptina was evidently located in the Pomptine on territory Rome had taken from the Volsci . The location of the Publilia is less certain , modern historians generally locate it on territory taken from the Hernici , but it is possible that the Publilia was also located on former Volscian land . Final rebellion of the Hernici 307 - 306 . Towards the end of the Second Samnite War , in 307 BC , the Romans found a number of Hernician men among prisoners taken in battle against the Samnites . These were placed under guard in various Latin towns while the Romans investigated whether they had fought for the Samnites voluntarily or had been conscripted . In response part of the Hernici , under the leadership of the city of Anagnia , in 306 rose in rebellion , but were easily defeated by the Romans that same year . As punishment Anagnia and the other towns that had rebelled were annexed into the Roman Republic , their people becoming " civitas sine suffragio " . Aletrium , Ferentinum and Verulae were allowed to retain their autonomy and enjoy similar political rights as the Latins .