![]() ![]() It could also be an adjective used to describe a group of people. Some archaeologists believe Safin refers to all the people of the Italian peninsula, others say just the people of Molise. 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. Etymologically, this name is generally recognized to be a form of the name of the Sabines, who were Umbrians. ![]() The word Safin may have been the first word used to describe the Samnite people and the Samnite Kingdom. The Indo-European root Saβeno or Sabh evolved into the word Safen, which later became Safin. From right to left it reads: "V Popidius, son of V, chief magistrate, was responsible for this work and approved it." ![]() Main article: Oscan language Oscan inscription. ![]() Samnite sanctuaries may have also been used to reinforce group identity. These might have been used to benefit from trade networks, may have marked the border between territories, and may have been intertwined with government. Sanctuaries were a major part of the Samnite religion. Samnite priests would manage religious festivals and they could bind people to oaths. It was believed that magical chants could influence reality, that magical amulets could protect people, and that augurs could see the future. Superstition was prominent in the Samnite religion. The Samnites honored their gods by sacrificing live animals and using votive offerings. Samnite religion worshipped both spirits called numina and gods and goddesses. It was rare, although possible, for the Samnites to unify under a coalition normally the tribes and cities functioned independently from one another. Aside from this system of government, a few Samnite cities had political entities similar to a senate. There were four Samnite touto, one for each of the Samnite tribes. Many vici were grouped into a pagus, and many pagi were grouped into a touto. Samnite society was stratified into cantons. Their trade networks extended across Campania, Latium, Apulia, and Magna Graecia. Aside from relying on agriculture, the Samnites exported goods such as ceramics, bronze, iron, olives, wool, pottery, and terracottas. Samnite agriculture was highly advanced for its time, and they practiced transhumance. The Samnites had an economy focused upon livestock and agriculture. Afterward, they were assimilated by the Romans and ceased to exist as a distinct people. They also fought in the Social War and later in Sulla's civil war as allies of the Roman consuls Papirius Carbo and Gaius Marius against Sulla, who defeated them and their leader Pontius Telesinus at the Battle of the Colline Gate (82 BC). Although severely weakened, the Samnites would still side against the Romans, first in the Pyrrhic War and then with Hannibal in the Second Punic War. Despite an overwhelming victory at the Battle of the Caudine Forks (321 BC), the Samnites were subjugated in 290 BC. Īlthough allied together against the Gauls in 354 BC, they later became enemies of the Romans and fought them in a series of three wars. Their migration was in a southward direction, according to the rite of ver sacrum. Ancient Greek historians considered the Umbri as the ancestors of the Samnites. The Samnites ( Oscan: Safineis) were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy.Īn Oscan-speaking people, who originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they formed a confederation consisting of four tribes: the Hirpini, Caudini, Caraceni, and Pentri. Italic people living in Samnium in south-central Italy Samnite soldiers depicted on a tomb frieze in Nola. ![]()
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