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

major claims that his Tarentine host, Nearchus, told him a story of a meeting
between the Pythagorean Archytas of Tarentum and Herennius Pontius in the
presence of Plato. 317 It is probable that Cicero has picked up a story invented as
Tarentine propaganda of the 320s BC, presenting the Samnites in a favourable light
to secure their support. 318
In Eutropius and Ampelius, Gaius Pontius is called Pontius
Telesinus. 319 His identity probably had been assimilated to the Pontius Telesinus who
was a general of the Italian allies in the Social War. The name of the gens is often
attested in Oscan-speaking territories such as Pompeii, Saticula, Sulmo of the
Paeligni and Messina in Sicily. 20 One famous distant relative is Pontius Pilatus.
Names of other Samnite leaders during the Samnite Wars include Brutulus Papius, 321
Gellius Egnatius, 322 Statius Gellius323 and Staius Minatius. 324 Caution is called for
when using the names of Samnite military leaders during the fourth and third
centuries BC as evidence for the Fasti of Samnium. Some of them might
be fictious,
retrojecting the names of families which played important roles in the period of the
Social War, especially the Papii. 325 The idea that these commanders were the
generals of one Samnite touta, the Samnite tribal state in the fourth century BC, fits
well in the model of La Regina. 326 However, we know very little about the political
institutions of the Samnites during the Samnite wars. Some of them may have been
local leaders. I think therefore that it is inappropriate to treat them as evidence for the
political offices of Samnium in the fourth and third centuries BC here.
App. Samn. 4.4, vir. ill. 30.1; Oros. 3.15.3;
3' Cic. Cat. mai. 41
318 For more about the Tarentine propaganda see Dench (1995) 53-66.
3'9 Eutrop. 10.17.2; Ampelius 20.10. and 28.2.
320
ST Po 1, ST Me 1,2,3, ST Cm 28, ST Pg 5. The name might be appearing also in Samnium as
limp in ST tSa 9 and 11.
21 Livy 8.39.12-14. Also found in tile stamps, see table lb.
322
Livy 10.18,1; 10.19.14; 10.21.2. Livy 10.29.16. Also found in tile stamps, see table lb.
323
Livy 9.44.13.
324 Livy 10.20.13.
325
Beloch (1926) 128.
92