Caudine Forks
- proper noun
- The defeat at the Caudine Forks was a humiliating setback for the Roman Republic.
Examples
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Historians often cite the Caudine Forks as an example of a turning point in the Second Samnite War.
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After the disaster at the Caudine Forks, Roman military tactics underwent significant changes.
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Caudine Forks was a significant battle.
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The Romans were defeated at Caudine Forks!
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After the disaster at the Caudine Forks, Roman military tactics underwent significant changes.
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Historians often cite the Caudine Forks as an example of a turning point in the Second Samnite War.
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The defeat at the Caudine Forks was a humiliating setback for the Roman Republic.
Synonyms
A battle in the Apennine Mountains in 321 BC where the Samnites defeat the Roman army
Surface Forms
Morphology
Caudine + fork
This is a proper-name toponym referring to a specific historical site and battle, so its meaning (the location and the historical event) cannot be compositionally derived from the parts. The element 'Caudine' is not a transparent lexical item and 'forks' only suggests a geographic split; a B1 learner knowing the constituents would not infer the historical-battle sense.
Etymology
Caudine Forks comes from a narrow mountain pass where roads split, like a fork in the road. One famous story says the Roman army was trapped there and forced to pass under a wooden 'yoke' made from bent spears as a public sign of surrender, so today Caudine Forks suggests a sudden, humiliating 'defeat' or 'humiliation'.
