 According to a local tradition reported by Horace, a colony of Romans or Latins had been installed in Venusia after the Samnites had been driven out early in the third century.In that case, young Horace could have felt himself to be a Roman though there are also indications that he regarded himself as a Samnite or Sabellus by birth.Italians in modern and ancient times have always been devoted to their home towns, even after success in the wider world, and Horace was no different.