But the Oscans did not remain long in the undisturbed possession of the place; the Sabellians having once established themselves in Samnium, did not stop short there, but pressing onward, compelled the Oscans at Capua to enter into an arrangement with them, and to admit a portion of them as epoeci—a phenomenon not unusual in ancient times. But such an alliance was generally formed with faithless intentions, and either the ancient inhabitants murdered the conquerors, or the latter expelled the former: at Capua the Samnites made themselves masters of the city, but they seem either to have been expelled by the ancient population, or else to have become amalgamated with them. The Oscans had, perhaps, become a commonalty, and afterwards rose again; in the Roman period, at least, the Oscans are the ruling people at Capua. The greatness of the city is well known from Livy: it stood to Rome in the relation of isopolity; it had not submitted _in deditionem_, as is erroneously stated by Livy: its relation to Rome was the same as that of the ancient Latins, and as a compensation for the Roman conquests, it received an extension of its own territory. In these circumstances, Capua could with satisfaction look upon herself as the second city of Italy; but she was ambitious enough to wish to become the first, and with this view, faithlessly entered into an alliance with Hannibal against Rome, which was then in great distress, but had not broken its obligations towards Capua. We may say without hesitation, that Rome was generous towards Capua, and this was no trifling matter for Rome in its weakness: Rome then formed alliances which benefited other people. As Rome had grown and developed immensely, while the others had remained behind, and as Rome, nevertheless, acted towards them as before, we cannot help calling this generous, and the conduct of Capua unjust and ungrateful. A fearful judgment came upon Capua: it was not, indeed, destroyed, but the Campanians, especially the nobles, experienced a terrible fate. The city was afterwards again filled with all manner of people, and became a domain of the Roman republic. Subsequently, several unsuccessful attempts were made to establish a colony there, until J. Caesar founded one of 5000[39] Roman citizens. From this time forward Capua was a regular colony, and remained a respectable town as long as the Roman empire existed. MINTURNAE, near the mouth of the Liris, and SINUESSA, belong to Campania in its wider sense; both are prominent places in the system of fortifications which the Romans carried out during the second Samnite war. The FALERNIAN DISTRICT, between the Vulturnus and the Liris, probably derived its name from a destroyed town, Faleria.