The Samnites were an ancient Italic people who lived in modern south-central Italy, placing them between the Latins to the north and the Greek settlements to the south. Consequently, the Samnites had anthropomorphic deities shared with both Rome and Greece, especially after their conquest of Campania at the end of the fourth century BCE.[1] There is additional evidence that suggests the Samnites also believed in spirits called numina. Numina are believed to have been kinless, animistic spirits that could take human form to walk amongst the living. To the Samnites, having good relations with these spirits was of the utmost importance. To honor these deities, the Samnites would sacrifice either living things or make votive offerings.
The Samnites practiced a type of sacrifice called the ver sacrum. In this kind of sacrifice, infants were offered to the god Mamers in hopes of more cattle and offspring. Once they reached adulthood they would be exiled from their community. Superstition was very important in Samnite religion, and they believed that magic and talismans could influence reality. Warriors are said to have been vowed to the gods that they would not retreat in battle under any circumstance, and betraying these vows were forbidden. Sanctuaries were a pillar of Samnite religion and they served many functions, such as marking transhumance routes and establishing borders. From the third century onwards, Samnite sanctuaries slowly became abandoned due to increasing Roman influence in the area that would ultimately result in the extinction of Samnite civilization and language.
^"RELIGION OF SAMNITES First Part". www.sanniti.info. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
be exiled from their community. Superstition was very important in Samnitereligion, and they believed that magic and talismans could influence reality...
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...
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those...
of their campaign against the Samnites by considerations of religion and honor. According to Livy's account, the Samnite commander, Gaius Pontius, hearing...
language, also spoken by the Samnites of Southern Italy. Although the language of the Samnites was called Oscan, the Samnites were never referred to as Osci...
Religion in Italy has been historically characterised by the dominance of the Catholic Church since the East–West Schism, but, over the years, due to immigration...
deities were shared with the Etruscan religion, and were also adopted into the derivative Samnite and ancient Roman religion. Roman author Varro, who was himself...
Italic peoples, especially the Sabelli (or Sabini) and their offshoot Samnites, concerning the deduction of colonies. It was of special interest to Georges...
of the earliest types of gladiators were experienced fighters; Gauls, Samnites, and Thraeces (Thracians) used their native weapons and armor. Different...
fostered profitable trading. Greek culture significantly included Greek religion, and the settlers built many temples throughout Sicily, including several...
VIII of the town (the old town) as identified from stratigraphy below the Samnite and Roman buildings, as well as from the different and irregular street...
invaders, mostly Oscan-speakers of southern Italy, most prominently the Samnite tribes, who were Rome's most implacable enemy. At the same time, however...
was inhabited from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC by the Osci, Samnites and Etruscans, while between the 8th and 7th centuries BC its coastal areas...
against the Samnites by Rome and its Campanian allies; the earliest, most frequently mentioned and probably most popular type was the Samnite. The war in...
507–508. The Second Samnite War was a crucial period in the formation of this new elite; see E.T. Salmon, Samnium and the Samnites (Cambridge University...
the second half of the 4th century BC Rome clashed repeatedly with the Samnites, a powerful tribal coalition of the Apennine region. By the end of these...
historian Livy. The prayer is uttered by Decius Mus (consul 340 BC) during the Samnite Wars as part of his vow (devotio) to offer himself as a sacrifice to the...
Greek Religion, by Daniel Ogden, p113-4 G. Schneider-Herrmann, Gisela Schneider-Herrmann, Edward Herring, Accordia Research Centre, The Samnites of the...
Second Samnite War began in 327 BC. The war ended with Samnite defeat at the Battle of Bovianum in 305 BC. By 304 BC, Rome had annexed most Samnite territory...
mostly Indo-European speakers (Italic peoples such as Latins, Umbrians, Samnites, Oscans, Sicels and Adriatic Veneti, as well as Celts, Iapygians and Greeks)...
brought about by a series of conflicts of the 4th and 3rd centuries, the Samnite Wars, Latin War, and Pyrrhic War. Roman victory in the Punic Wars and Macedonian...
and crushed. The defeat of the combined Samnite, Celtic and Etruscan alliance by the Romans in the Third Samnite War sounded the beginning of the end of...
sack Rome. First Samnite War (343–341 BC) 342 BC – Battle of Mount Gaurus – Roman general Marcus Valerius Corvus defeats the Samnites. 342 BC – Battle...
institutions and culture had a lasting influence on the development of language, religion, art, architecture, literature, philosophy, law, and forms of government...
flexibility. This structure was probably introduced in c. 300 BC during the Samnite Wars. Also probably dating from this period was the regular accompaniment...
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