Immediately preceding the excerpt you chose to copy: > Several of the city states in southern Italy allied themselves with Hannibal, or were captured when pro-

Immediately preceding the excerpt you chose to copy: > Several of the city states in southern Italy allied themselves with Hannibal, or were captured when pro-Carthaginian factions betrayed their defences. These included the large city of Capua and the major port city of Tarentum (modern Taranto). Two of the major Samnite tribes also joined the Carthaginian cause. By 214 BC the bulk of southern Italy had turned against Rome.