Fig. 1. Battle of the Caudine Forks, 321 BC. Lithograph by Ulpiano Checa in 1890. Museum of Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid, Spain. The structure of the volume follows five sections. The first section approaches the devel- opment of the socio-political structure of the Samnites by epigraphic, literary and comparative contributions covering the time period from the late 4" to the 1* centuries BC. The second section zooms in on a more detailed level of everyday life, and asks hard questions about the (in) visibility of enslaved and other marginal groups and individuals. A revision of the evidence from the domestic site of Pesco Morelli, as well as a recently excavated pottery kiln, provide a further context for the organization of local communities.