SAMNITE

prophet Hosea speaks of tho cruelties exercised bytjie conquerors against the besieged; and Micah says,that this city was reduced to a heap of stones. TheCuthites that were sent by Esar-haddon to inhabit theeountrv of Samaria, did not think it worth their whileto repair the ruins of this city, so they dwelt atShechem, which they made the capital city of theirstate. They were still upon this footing when Alex-ander the Great came into Phoenicia and Judea. TheCuthites had rebuilt some of the houses of Samariaas early as the return from the captivity, since Ezrathen speaks of the inhabitants of Samaria ; and thatthe Samaritans, being jealous of the favours that Alex-ander the Great had conferred on the Jews, revoltedfrom him while this prince was in Egypt, and burntAndromachus alive, whom Alexander had left gover-nor of Syria. Alexander marched against them, tookSamaria, and introduced Macedonians to inhabit it,giving the country round it to the Jews; and toencourage them to cultivate the land, lie granted theman exemption from tribute. The king of Egypt andSyria, who succeeded Alexander, deprived them ofthe property of this country.

But Alexander Belus, king of Syria, restored toJonathan Maecabseus the cities of Lydda and Katna-tha, which he cut off from the country of Samaria.Lastly, the Jews re-entered into the full possession ofthe whole country under John Hircanus the Asmo-jiaian, who took Samaria, and made the river runthrough its ruins. It continued in this condition tothe year of the world 8947, when Aulus Gabinius,the proconsul of Syria, rebuilt it, and gave it thename of Gabiniana. But it was yet but very incon-siderable, till Herod the Great restored it to its anci-entiustre, and gave it the Greek name of Sebaste, orAngusta, in honour of the emperor Augustus, whohad given him the property of this place.

The sacred authors of the New Testament speakbut little of Samaria j and when they do mention it,it is rather in respect of the country about it, than ofthe city itself. It was there our Lord had the con-versation with the woman of Samaria, that is, with aSamaritan woman of the city of Sychar. After thedeath of St. Stephen, when the disciples were dis-persed through the cities of Judea and Samaria, St.Philip the deacon withdrew into the city of Samaria,where he made several converts. When the apostlesheard that this city had received the word of God,they sent Peter and John thither to communicate theHoly Ghost to such as had been baptized. It wasthere they found Simon Magus, who offered .moneyto the apostles, being in hopes to buy this power ofcemmumcating the Holy Ghost. Samaria is nevercalled Sebaste in the hooks of tho New Testament,thoujti strangers hardly knew it but by this name.St Jerome says, that it was thought Obadiah wasburied at Samaria. They also showed there thetembs of Elisha and of St. John the Baptist. Thereare found many ancient medals that were struck atSebaste, or Samaria, and some bishops of this cityhave subscribed to the ancient councils.

Samnites. The name of tho early inhabitants of"^ancient province of Samniutn, in Lower Italy',bordering on the country of the Peligni, Marsi, Cam-panians, Lncanians, and Apulians. In early times,they occupied the largest part of that country. Theyare described in Roman history as a people fond of* a * an H of liberty, who were brought completely“Oder the Roman yoke> after long and bloody wars,

S —SAMOS. 543

which continued, with a few interruptions, nearlyseventy years. The first hostilities between the twostates commenced in the year of Rome 411, whenthe Campanians, oppressed by the powerful Samnites,sought the aid of Rome. Valerius Corvus, the Romanconsul, marched against the Samnites, and forcedthem to retreat, after a bloody engagement, to theirown borders. At the same time, another Romanarmy had invaded the country of the Samnites, and,after a doubtful contest, gained the victory by theheroic decision of the young Publius Decius.—The vanquished nation was obliged to sue for peace;but maintained it only tili they recovered from theirdefeat. For in the year 426 a new war broke out,more bloody than the preceding, which was prosecutedthe more obstinately, as the other states in LowerItaly came to the aid of the Samnites.

Though the Romans were generally victorious,yet in the year 433, their army becoming involved ina. narrow pass near the city of Caudium, and beingsurrounded on every side by the forces of the enemy,was obliged to submit to the disgrace of passing underthe yoke. The senate, however, rejected the peaceconcluded with the enemy by the captive consuls,delivered up the authors of it to the Samnites, andsent other commanders to prosecute the war. Thevaliant Papirius Cursor succeeded in avenging thedisgrace which his countrymen had suffered by inflict-ing a similar ignominy upon the enemy. The warwas still prosecuted with fury; for the Samnites werevigorously supported by their neighbours, who fearedthe power of Rome ; and even Pyrrhus, the warlikeking of Epirus, at the entreaty of the afflicted city ofTarentum, took up arms against the Romans. Butthe consuls, Papirius Cursor, Q. Fabius Maximus,Publius Decius, Curius Dentatus, Caius LuciuiusFabricius, and others, triumphed repeatedly over theenemy, who fought with desperation ; and, after themost fatal defeats, and the entire devastation of theircountry, the Samnites, together with the other nationswhich "had assisted them, found themselves obligedto sue for peace. In 482 they obtained it. When theItalian allies of Rome revolted against her, in thetime of Sylla, the Samnites once more rose againsttheir oppressors, and fought with desperation. ButSylla entirely subdued them, and commanded thatevery Samnite should be put to death. Three daysafter the battle he ordered 4000 of them, who hadbeen taken prisoners, to be put to death on the Cam-pus Martius. The few that remained lived from thattime scattered in villages.

The Samnites cultivated various arts and manufac-tures j for the proximity of the refined Greeks inLower Italy had a very beneficial influence uponthem. Even their laws and constitution were bor-rowed in a great degree from the Greeks. Theirform of government was democratic. At the com-mencement of a war they were accustomed to choosea common general.

S amogitia. A country of Europe, bounded byCourland, Prussia, and Lithuania, formerly a provinceof Poland, now forming the government of Wilna, inRussia. It was the first of the Polish provincesincorporated with Russia, that raised the standard ofinsurrection in 1831.

Samos. A Grecian island in the Archipelago,opposite to the ruins of Ephesus and the promontoryof Myeale, the birth-place of Pythagoras, as is gene-rally supposed, was the most important and powerful