Rfi 



SAM1EL SAMOS. 



pendent, tlu- Samarilans have shared the fate of 

 the country which 'hey inhabit, and have suffered 

 so much from tht oppression of the Turks, that 

 not only the colonies of them in Egypt (which 

 \\v-e iii a flourishing condition in the seventeenth 

 century) are now extinct, but the number of them 

 in Naplousa (the ancient Sichem'), and in Jaffa, the 

 only places which contain Samaritans, was, accord- 

 ing to De Sacy, not more than 200 in 1811. In 

 their religious opinions and usages, they resemble 

 those Jews, particularly the Canutes, who reject 

 the Talmud, and differ from the rabbinical Jews, 

 in receiving only the Pentateuch and book of 

 Joshua, and in rejecting all the other portions of the 

 Bible, as well as the Talmud, and rabbinical tradi- 

 tions. In their manners, rites, and religious cere- 

 monies, they adhere strictly to the Mosaic law. 

 Instead of the temple at Jerusalem, they worship 

 on mount Gerizim, in Samaria, where, in more 

 prosperous times, they celebrated their festivals, 

 and offered sacrifices. The worship of one God, 

 circumcision, the purifications, and feasts (except 

 the Purim and the feast of the dedication'), they 

 have in common with the Jews. They believe in 

 the existence of angels, in a resurrection, and fu- 

 ture retribution, and expect the coming of a Mes- 

 siah, in whom they look only for a prophet. Their 

 priests are of the tribe of Levi, and are treated as 

 superiors. On account of their poverty, their only 

 sacrifice is a lamb, on the feast of Pentecost. In 

 the synagogue, the Aramaic Samaritan dialect is 

 used, but they generally speak Arabic, and they 

 are distinguished by a white turban. They sup- 

 port themselves by mechanical labour and by money 

 dealings. They avoid any connexions with other 

 sects, and marry only among their own nation. 

 Each man is allowed two wives on his first mar- 

 riage; but on the death of one of them, he cannot 

 marry again. In case both of them die, he is suf- 

 fered to have one wife. This remnant of a declin- 

 ing race possesses one of the oldest, if not the 

 oldest manuscript of the Pentateuch known to be 

 extant. See Bible. 



SAMIEL. See- Simoom. 



SAMNITES; the inhabitants of the ancient 

 province of Samnium, in Lower Italy, bordering 

 on the country of the Peligni, Marsi, Campanians, 

 Lucanians, and Apulians. In early times, they oc- 

 cupied the largest part of that country. They are 

 described in Roman history as a people fond of war 

 and of liberty, who were brought completely under 

 the Roman yoke, after long and bloody wars, 

 which continued, with a few interruptions, nearly 

 seventy years. The first hostilities between the 

 two states commenced in the year of Rome 411, 

 when the Campanians, oppressed by the powerful 

 Samnites, sought the aid of Rome. Valerius Cor- 

 vus r the Roman consul, marched against the Sam- 

 nites, and forced them to retreat, after a bloody 

 engagement, to their own borders. At the same 

 time, another Roman army had invaded the country 

 of the Samnites, and, after a doubtful contest, 

 gained the victory by the heroic decision of the 

 young Publius Decius Mus. The vanquished na- 

 tion was obliged to sue for peace ; but maintained 

 it only till they recovered from their defeat. For 

 in the year 426 a new war broke out, more bloody 

 than the preceding, which was prosecuted the 

 more obstinately, as the other states in Lower Italy 

 came to the aid of the Samnites. Though the 

 Romans were generally victorious, yet in the year 

 433, their army becoming involved in a narrow pass t 



near the city of Caudium, and being surrounded on 

 every side by the forces of the enemy, was obliged 

 to submit to the disgrace of passing under the 

 yoke. The senate, however, rejected the peace 

 concluded with the enemy by the captive consuls, 

 delivered up the authors of it to the Samnites, and 

 sent other commanders to prosecute the war. The 

 valiant Papirius Cursor succeeded in revenging the 

 disgrace which his countrymen had suffered by inflict- 

 ing a similar ignominy upon the enemy. The war was 

 still prosecuted with fury; for the Samnites were 

 vigorously supported by their neighbours, who 

 feared the power of Rome; and even Pyrrhus, the 

 warlike king of Epirus, at the entreaty of the af- 

 flicted city of Tarentum, took up arms against the 

 Romans. But the consuls, Papirius Cursor, Q. 

 Fabius Maximus, Pub. Decius Mus, Curius Denta- 

 tus, Caius Luscinius Fabricius and others, triumphed 

 repeatedly over the enemy, who fought with des- 

 peration ; and, after the most fatal defeats, and the 

 entire devastation of their country, the Samnites, 

 together with the other nations which had assisted 

 them, found themselves obliged to sue for peace. 

 In 482, they obtained it. When the Italian allies 

 of Rome revolted against her, in the time of Sylla, 

 the Samnites once more rose against their oppress- 

 ors, and fought with desperation. But Sylla en- 

 tirely subdued them, and commanded that every 

 Samnite should be put to death. Three days after 

 the battle he ordered 4000 of them, who had been 

 taken prisoners, to be put to death, on the Campus 

 Martius. The few that remained lived from that 

 time scattered in villages. The Samnites cultivated 

 various arts and manufactures; for the proximity 

 of the refined Greeks in Lower Italy had a very 

 beneficial influence upon them. Even their laws 

 and constitution were borrowed in a great degree 

 from the Greeks. Their form of government was 

 democratic. At the commencement of a war they 

 were accustonied to choose a common general. 



SAMOGITIA; a country of Europe, bounded 

 by Courland, Prussia, and Lithuania, formerly a 

 province of Poland, now forming the government 

 of Wilna, in Russia. It was the first of the Polish 

 provinces incorporated with Russia, that raised tb^ 

 standard of insurrection in 1831. See Russia. 

 SAMOIDES. See Samoyedes. 

 SAMOOM. See Simoom. 

 SAMOS, a Grecian island in the Archipelago, 

 opposite to the ruins of Ephesus and the promon- 

 tory of Mycale, the birth-place of Pythagoras, as is 

 generally supposed, was the most important and 

 powerful island of the lonians. From the reign of 

 Polycrates, 566 B. C., this island is celebrated in 

 history for the worship of Juno, who was born here, 

 and was also distinguished for its skilful seamen and 

 enterprising merchants, who even sailed as far as 

 the mouth of the Guadalquiver through the Pillars 

 of Hercules (now the straits of Gibraltar). The 

 fleets of the rich Samians often made the Persians 

 tremble. At Samos were first cast statues in 

 bronze. Samos lost the last shadow of republican 

 freedom under the reign of the emperor Vespasian 

 (70 A. D.). In the middle ages, this island was 

 alternately governed by the Arabs, Venetians, Gen- 

 oese, and Turks: to the latter it finally became 

 tributary, under an aga of the capudan pacha. It is 

 1J5 square miles in extent, very fruitful and moun- 

 tainous, and besides the capital city, Cora, near 

 which the ancient Samos and the temple of Juno 

 (Heraeum) lie in ruins (now called the Columns), it 

 contains three other cities, Vahti, Carlovassi, and 



