The
Roman conquest of Italy was the result of a series of conflicts in which the city-state of
Rome grew from being the dominant state in
Latium to become the ruler of all of
Italy. The first major Roman conquest in historical times came with the final defeat of her neighbour
Veii in 396 BC. In the second half of the 4th century BC Rome clashed repeatedly with the
Samnites, a powerful tribal coalition. By the end of these wars Rome had become the most powerful state in Italy. The last threat to Roman hegemony came when
Tarentum enlisted the aid of
Pyrrhus of Epirus during the
Pyrrhic War (282 - 272 BC). By 218 BC Roman conquest of Italy had been completed. Conquered territories were incorporated into the growing Roman state in a number of ways: land confiscations, establishment of
coloniae, granting of full or partial
Roman citizenship and military alliances with nominally independent states. The successful conquest of Italy gave Rome access to a manpower pool unrivalled by any contemporary state and led the way to the eventual Roman domination of the entire
Mediterranean world.