SAMNIS, or SAMNITES, a people of ancient Italy,
extending
on both
sides of the Apennine, famous in the Roman wars.
sides of the Apennine, famous in the Roman wars.
Tacitus
RICODULUM, a town of the Treviri on the Moselle.
S.
SABRINA, now the _Severn_; a river that rises in _Montgomeryshire_,
and running by _Shrewsbury_, _Worcester_, and _Glocester_, empties
itself into the Bristol Channel, separating Wales from England.
SALA. It seems that two rivers of this name were intended by Tacitus,
One, now called the Issel, which had a communication with the Rhine,
by means of the canal made by Drusus, the father of Germanicus. The
other SALA was a river in the country now called _Thuringia_,
described by Tacitus as yielding salt, which the inhabitants
considered as the peculiar favour of heaven. The salt, however, was
found in the salt springs near the river, which runs northward into
the Albis, or Elbe.
SALAMIS, an island near the coast of Attica, opposite to _Eleusis_.
There was also a town of the name of Salamis, on the eastern coast of
Cyprus, built by Teucer, when driven by his father from his native
island. Horace says, _Ambiguam tellure novâ Salamina futuram_.
SAMARIA, the capital of the country of that name in Palestine; the
residence of the kings of Israel, and afterwards of Herod. Samaritans,
the name of the people. Some magnificent ruins of the place are still
remaining.
SAMBULOS, a mountain in the territory of the Parthians, with the river
_Corma_ near it. The mountain and the river are mentioned by Tacitus
only.
SAMNIS, or SAMNITES, a people of ancient Italy, extending on both
sides of the Apennine, famous in the Roman wars.
SAMOS, an island of Asia Minor, opposite to Ephesus; the birth-place
of Pythagoras, who was thence called the _Samian Sage_.
SAMOTHRACIA, an island of Thrace, in the Egean Sea, opposite to the
mouth of the Hebrus. There were mysteries of initiation celebrated in
this island, held in as high repute as those of Eleusis; with a sacred
and inviolable asylum.
SARDES, the capital of Lydia, at the foot of Mount Tmolus, from which
the Pactolus ran down through the heart of the city. The inhabitants
were called _Sardicni_.
SARDINIA, an island on the Sea of Liguria, lying to the south of
Corsica. It is said that an herb grew there, which, when eaten,
produced a painful grin, called _Sardonius risus_. The island now
belongs to the Duke of Saxony, with the title of king.
SARMATIA, called also _Scythia_, a northern country of vast extent,
and divided into _Europæa_ and _Asiatica_; the former beginning at the
Vistula (its western boundary), and comprising Russia, part of Poland,
Prussia, and Lithuania; and the latter bounded on the west by Sarmatia
Europæa and the Tanais (the _Don_), extending south as far as Mount
Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, containing Tartary, Circassia, &c.
SAXA RUBRA, a place on the Flamminian road in Etruria, nine miles from
Rome.
SCEPTEUCI, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia, between the Euxine and the
Caspian Sea.
SCYTHIA, a large country, now properly Crim Tartary; in ancient
geography divided in Scythia Asiatica, on either side of Mount Imaus;
and Scythia Europæa, about the Euxine Sea and the Mæotic Lake. See
also SARMATIA.
SEGESTUM, a town of Sicily, near Mount _Eryx_, famous for a temple
sacred to the _Erycinian_ Venus.
SELEUCIA, a city of Mesopotamia, situate at the confluence of the
_Euphrates_ and the _Tigris_; now called _Bagdad_.