ABSTRACT
The immediate aftermath of the Pyrrhic War is characterised by an almost total silence in our sources. References are infrequent, to say the least, leaving a gap in the historical record which covers most of the mid-third century BC. Our only detailed information on relations between Rome and Magna Graecia concerns the period 215–207, the years during which many southern cities, both Greek and Oscan, abandoned their alliance with Rome in favour of Hannibal. For this reason, if for no other, the second Punic War is of vital importance for the study of Roman relations with the Italiotes in that it provides a number of relatively detailed case studies of their attitudes to Rome, their reactions to Hannibal, and the sources of any dissatisfaction with Roman behaviour.
