Submitted for award of PhD September 2006. - King's College London

heartland as being heavily fortified is confirmed by the remains of massive polygonal
walls, a distinctive archaeological feature of the central Apennines.
The study of the hill-forts in their relation to the settlement system of
Samnium, is, however, hindered by several difficulties, posed particularly by the
nature of the hill-forts themselves (see map II). A major problem is that the
polygonal walls themselves cannot be dated. 144 Lugli defined four types of wall
according to their level of elaboration, but the styles cannot be firmly connected to
dates. 145 Associated archaeological finds can help the dating of walls. Serious
concerns have been raised about the precision and reliability of dating based on
pottery. 146 On Oakley's model, the oldest walls are to be dated to the late seventh or
early sixth centuries BC. 147 The main period of fortification-building was the late
fifth and fourth centuries BC, but it is probable that a significant number of building
programmes was carried out in the third century BC. Conta Haller's thesis that the
main reason for building was the Samnite Wars is not universally accepted. 148
In
later centuries some of the walls were restored, and others enlarged and probably re-
used during the Punic and Social Wars; the latest examples date from the first
century BC. Another problem is the diversity of the hill-forts. Often more than one
style of masonry was used at the same site, and the area included within the
fortifications also differs greatly from site to site.
It is generally agreed that the purpose of the walls was primarily to defend
those who lived both inside and outside them. 149 This is confirmed by the fact that
almost all settlements in Samnium that became municipia after the Social War had
144 Oakley (1995) 129.
'a5 Lugli (1957) vol. 1,51-165.
146 Oakley (1995) 135-8.
147 Oakley (1995)138.
148 Conta Haller (1978). Gabba (1979) 171-2.
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