 It is first mentioned during the Second Samnite War, 321 BCE, when the Samnite army under Gaius Pontius encamped there, previous to the great disaster of the Romans in the neighbouring pass known as the Caudine Forks; and again, a few years later, as the headquarters occupied by the Samnites, with a view of being at hand to watch the movements of the Campanians.The town of Caudium is not mentioned during the Second Punic War, though the tribe of the Caudini is repeatedly alluded to.Niebuhr supposes the city to have been destroyed by the Romans, in revenge for their great defeat in its neighbourhood; but there is no evidence for this.