Safineim (Vae victis!)

Safineim was a nation in southern Italy between the years 485 BC and 13 AD. During the time it existed, it was often in conflict with Etrusca and on one occasion a deadly conflict with Carthage over trade routes. While it lost all of the wars it fought, Safineim was able to cut the losses to a minimum in almost all their conflicts. Despite the many failed wars Safineim fought, its territory only shrunk twice, once at the end of the Fifty Years War, and the second time when it was absorbed by the Second Etruscan Republic.

In addition to war, Safineim was a very influential nation during peace time as well. Before its war with Carthage, Safineim had built up a powerful trading empire, mostly focused on Greek city states, the near east and Spain. in addition to trade, Safinei culture spread, especially to Etrusca, where some elements of the culture survive to the present day. Overall, both military and culturally, Safineim was a major influence on the Italian peninsula and the world around it.

Etymology
The population of Samnium were called Samnites by the Romans. Their own endonyms were Safinim for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and Safineis for the people. Etymologically, the name Samnium is generally recognized to be a form of the name of the Sabines, who were Umbrians. From Safinim, Sabinus, Sabellus and Samnis, an Indo-European root can be extracted, *sabh-, which becomes Sab- in Latino-Faliscan and Saf- in Osco-Umbrian: Sabini and *Safineis. The eponymous god of the Sabines, Sabus, seems to support this view. The Greek terms, Saunitai and Saunitis, remain outside the group. Nothing is known of their origin.

At some point in prehistory, a population speaking a common language extended over both Samnium and Umbria. Salmon conjectures that it was common Italic and puts forward a date of 600 BC, after which the common language began to dialectize. This date does not necessarily correspond to any historical or archaeological evidence; developing a synthetic view of the ethnology of proto-historic Italy is an incomplete and ongoing task.

Flag Design
After the Fifty Years War, Gaius III decided to create a flag for the newly-formed nation. The end design was simple, a green field with a blue three pointed star in the upper right corner. The green represented farming and farmers, who made up most of the population. The blue star represented both the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Seas. The three points of the star, meanwhile, represented courage, honor and prosperity, the morals Gaius III had declared central to the Safinei society. The two additional five pointed stars were added later, and represented the military and government of the nation.

Fifty Years War
Once the Italian Peninsula was split between two nations, conflict was essentially inevitable. After several years of standoff, it finally erupted in the Fifty Years War. The war started as little more than a border conflict, but quickly evolved into a full scale war, with each side raising an army of about 20,000. Quickly, the focus of combat became The former border between the Roman Republic and the Etruscans, with the Etruscans trying to take Veii, and hopefully Rome as well. However, the war soon devolved into a series of raids battles along the border, neither side gaining an advantage.

After the fighting on the border, the war finally switched gears and the fighting intensified. Because of new leadership on both sides, the Etruscans were able to gain the advantage and take land from Safinei. However, The Safinei were quickly able to stop the Etruscan advance, and the war returned to its previous state of stalemate. However, the Stalemate ended when the Etruscans launched their final campaign and took Veii and then Rome from the Safinei, as well as other parts of the former Roman Republic. The Fifty Years War ultimately marked the beginning of a long series of wars between the two nations, which would eventually lead to the collapse of Safineim.

Spreading of Influence
After the fifty years war, the Safinei econamy was in ruins, and the nation needed a way to recoup. Their chosen method was to expand trade across the Mediterranean and