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{{Short description|Historical region of southern Italy; part of the Roman Republic/Empire}}
{{Other uses|Samnite (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Ancient Samnium (cropped).jpeg|thumb|Map of ancient Samnium]]
{{Campaignbox Samnite Wars}}{{Campaignbox Ancient Unification of Italy}}
{{Campaignbox Latin War}}

'''Samnium''' ({{langx|it|Sannio}}) is a [[Latin language|Latin]] [[exonym]] for a region of [[Southern Italy]] anciently inhabited by the [[Samnites]]. Their own [[endonym]]s were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the {{nowrap|people.<ref>{{harvnb|Salmon|1967|p=28}}.</ref>}} The language of these endonyms and of the population was the [[Oscan language]]. However, not all the Samnites spoke Oscan, and not all the Oscan-speakers lived in Samnium.

Ancient geographers were unable to relay a precise definition of Samnium's borders. Moreover, the areas it included vary depending on the time period considered.<ref>{{harvnb|Salmon|1967|p=23}}. "The boundaries of Samnium, as of any other country, varied at different times in its history. No ancient writer has left a precise and accurate description of them."</ref> The main configurations are the borders it had during the ''floruit'' of the Oscan speakers, from about 600 BC to about 290 BC, when it was finally absorbed by the [[Roman Republic]].

The original territory of Samnium should not be confused with the later territory of the same name. Rome's first [[Emperor of Rome|Emperor]], [[Augustus]], divided [[Roman Italy|Italy]] into 11 regions.<ref>Listed in the ''Descriptio Italiae'', lost to moderns, but serving as the basis of [[Pliny the Elder]]'s description of Italy.</ref> Although these entities only served administrative purposes, and were identified with the sole numeral, by scholarly convention the ''Regio IV'' has been dubbed "''Samnium''". Ancient Samnium had actually been divided into three of the Augustan regions.<ref>IV, II ("''Apulia et Calabria''"), and I ("''Latium et Campania''").</ref>

==Etymology==
Etymologically the name Samnium is generally recognized to be a form of the name of the [[Sabines]], who were [[Umbria]]ns.<ref>{{harvnb|Salmon|1967|p=29}}.</ref> From Safinim, Sabinus, Sabellus and Samnis an [[Indo-European language|Indo-European]] root can be extracted, *{{lang|ine|sabh}}-, which becomes Sab- in [[Latino-Faliscan]] and Saf- in [[Osco-Umbrian]]: Sabini and *Safineis. The eponymous god of the Sabines, Sabus, seems to support this view. The Greek terms, Saunitai and Saunitis, remain outside the group. Nothing is known of their origin.

At some point in prehistory, a population speaking a common language extended over both Samnium and [[Umbria]]. Salmon conjectures that it was common Italic and puts forward a date of 600 BC, after which the common language began to separate into dialects. This date does not necessarily correspond to any historical or archaeological evidence; developing a synthetic view of the ethnology of proto-historic Italy is an incomplete and ongoing task.

The linguist [[Julius Pokorny]] carries the etymology somewhat further back. Conjecturing that the -a- was altered from an -o- during some prehistoric residence in [[Illyria]] he derives the names from an o-grade extension *swo-bho- of an extended e-grade *swe-bho- of the possessive adjective, *s(e)we-, of the reflexive pronoun, *se-, "oneself" (the source of English self). The result is a set of Indo-European tribal names (if not the endonym of the Indo-Europeans): Germanic [[Suebi]] and [[Semnones]], Suiones; Celtic [[Senones]]; Slavic [[Serbs]] and [[Sorbs]]; Italic [[Sabelli]], [[Sabini]], etc., as well as a large number of kinship terms. The general concept is "our own kith and kin", Pokorny's {{lang|de|von eigener Art}} ("of our own kind"), {{lang|de|Gesamtheit der eigenen Leute}} ("the totality of our own people"), {{lang|de|Liebe}} ("love"), {{lang|de|Sippegenossen}} ("clan comrades"), {{lang|de|Sippenangehörigen}} ("clan members"), and the like.<ref>{{harvnb|Pokorny|1959|pp=882–884}} under se.</ref>

==Historical geography==
[[File:Samnite soldiers from a tomb frieze in Nola 4th century BCE.jpg|thumb|305px|Samnite soldiers, from a tomb frieze in [[Nola]], [[Campania]], 4th century BC.]]
Samnium mostly lay on the [[Apennine Mountains|Apennine]] area; it was delimited by [[Latium]] to the north, by [[Lucania]] to the south, by [[Campania]] to the west, and by [[Apulia]] to the east. The principal cities of the region were ''Bovaiamom'', renamed ''[[Bovianum Undecumanorum|Bovianum]]'' by [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latins]] (today: [[Bojano]] or Boiano) and ''Maleventum'' (''Maloenton'' in [[Oscan]]),{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} which was later renamed ''Beneventum'' by the [[ancient Rome|Romans]] (today: [[Benevento]]). For most of their history the Samnites were landlocked, but during a brief period they controlled parts of both coasts of the [[Italian peninsula]].

The Samnites were composed of at least four tribes: the [[Pentri]] (capital: ''[[Bovianum Undecumanorum|Bovianum]]''), the [[Caraceni (tribe)|Caraceni]] (principal cities: ''Cluviae'', the modern [[Casoli]], and ''[[Juvanum]]'', the ruins of which are spread between [[Torricella Peligna]] and [[Montenerodomo]]), the [[Caudini]] (capital: ''Caudium'', today [[Montesarchio]]) and the [[Hirpini]] (main cities: ''Beneventum'', ''[[Abellinum]]'', ''Aquilonia''). They may have later been joined by the [[Frentani]] (capital ''Larinum'', the modern [[Larino]]).

==History==
The earliest written record of the people is a treaty with the Romans from 354 BC, which set their border at the [[Liris River]]. Shortly thereafter the [[Samnite Wars]] broke out; they won an important battle against the Roman army in 321 BC, and their ''imperium'' reached its peak in 316 BC after further gains from the Romans. By 290 BC, the Romans were able to break the Samnites' power after some hard-fought battles. The Samnites were one of the Italian peoples that allied with King [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]] during the [[Pyrrhic War]]. After Pyrrhus left for [[Sicily]], the Romans invaded Samnium and were crushed at the [[Battle of the Cranita hills]], but after the defeat of Pyrrhus, the Samnites could not resist on their own and surrendered to Rome.  Some of the Samnites joined and aided [[Hannibal]] during the [[Second Punic War]], but most stayed loyal. The Samnites and several other Italic people rebelled against Rome and started the  [[Social War (91–87 BC)]], after Romans refused to grant them Roman Citizenship. The war lasted almost three years, and resulted in a Roman victory. However, Samnites and other Italic tribes were granted Roman citizenship, to avoid another war. The Samnites supported the [[Populares]] in the [[Sulla's civil war|civil war]] against [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]], but unfortunately for them, Sulla ended up winning the war and was declared the dictator of Rome. Sulla ordered all those who went against him to be punished. Thousands of people in Rome and all over Italy were brutally hunted down and killed. Samnites, who were one of the most prominent supporters of the Populares, were punished so severely that it was recorded "some of their cities have now dwindled into villages, some indeed being entirely deserted." Samnites did not play any prominent role in history after this, and they eventually became Latinized and assimilated into the Roman World <ref name=strabo>
[[Strabo]], ''Geography'', Book V, Section 4.11.
</ref><ref name="Salmon1967">{{cite book|author=Edward Togo Salmon|title=Samnium and the Samnites|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boT6HtW5TCQC&pg=PA30|year=1967|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-06185-8|page=30}}</ref>
[[Image:Italy 400bC en.svg|300px|thumb|[[Italy]] in 400 BC. The Samnitic League (dark green) at its peak, including also the [[Frentani]] tribe on the [[Adriatic Sea]] as a full member and controlling parts of both coasts of the Italian peninsula.]]

== Prominent Samnites ==

=== Rulers of the Samnites ===
* [[Gaius Pontius]] c. 320s BC
* [[Gellius Egnatius]] c. 296 BC

=== Uprising against Sulla ===
* [[Gaius Papius Mutilus]] 90–89 with:
* [[Pontius Telesinus]] – Samnite commander to Papius

===Roman citizens===
* [[Pontius Pilate]] – the 5th [[Prefect]] of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province of [[Iudaea Province|Judaea]] from AD 26–36.

=== Catholic Popes ===
* [[Pope Felix IV]]

== See also ==
* [[Samnites]]
* [[Samnite Wars]]
* ''[[Hirpinia]]'', a sub-region of Samnium

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{EB1911 poster|Samnites}}
* {{cite book |first=Julius |last=Pokorny |author-link=Julius Pokorny |title=Indogermanisches etymologisches Woerterbuch |year=2005 |orig-year=1959 |location=Leiden |publisher=Leiden University Indo-European Etymological Dictiopnary (IEED) Project |url=http://www.indoeuropean.nl/index2.html |ref=CITEREFPokorny1959 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927151807/http://www.indoeuropean.nl/index2.html |archive-date=2006-09-27 }}
* {{cite book |first=ET |last=Salmon |title=Samnium and the Samnites |location=London |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1967 }}
* Grossmann, Lukas, ''Roms Samnitenkriege: historische und historiographische Untersuchungen zu den Jahren 327–290 v. Chr.'' (Düsseldorf, Wellem Verlag, 2009) (Reihe Geschichte, 1).
* Ross Cowan, ''Roman Conquests: Italy'' (Barnsley, 2009).

== External links ==
* [http://xoomer.alice.it/asciatopo/samnium.html Toponymy of Samnium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924155744/http://xoomer.alice.it/asciatopo/samnium.html |date=2008-09-24 }}

{{Campania}}
{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Regions of Italy]]
[[Category:Samnium| ]]