Same
Same, an old name for Cephalenia, in the Ionian Sea
- I An earlier name for the island of Cephalenia, in the Ionian Sea, the mod. Cephalonia, Verg. A. 3, 271; Ov. Tr. 1, 5, 67; Sil. 15, 303; Liv. 26, 42 (acc. to Mel. 2, 7, 10, and Plin. 4, 12, 19, § 54, another neighboring island).—
- II The principal town of the island of Cephalenia, Liv. 38, 29.
- —Hence, Sămaei, ōrum, m., the inhabitants of Same, Liv. 38, 28 and 29.
- (L., V., O.) or Samos (O.), an old name for Cephalenia, in the Ionian Sea.
SAMEor SAMOS(Σάμη, Σάμος: Eth. : Σαμαῖος: Samo), the most ancient city in Cephallenia, which is also the name of this island in the poems of Homer. [CEPHALLENIA] The city stood upon the eastern coast, and upon the channel separating Cephallenia and Ithaca. (Strab. 10. p. 455.) Along with the other Cephallenian towns it joined the Athenian alliance in B.C. 43]. (Thuc. 2.30.) When M. Fulvius passed over into Cephallenia in B.C. 189, Samos at first submitted to the Romans along with the other towns of the island; but it shortly afterwards revolted, and was not taken till after a siege of four months, when all the inhabitants were sold as slaves. (Liv. 38.28, 29.) It appears from Livy's narrative that Same had two citadels, of which the smaller was called Cyatis; the larger he designates simply as the major arx. In the time of Strabo there existed only a few vestiges of the ancient city. (Strab. l. c.;comp. Plin. Nat. 4.12. s. 19.)
Same has given its name to the modern town of Samo, and to the bay upon which it stands. Its position and the remains of the ancient city are described by Leake. It stood at the northern extremity of a wide valley, which borders the bay, and which is overlooked to the southward by the lofty summit of Mount Aenus ( Élato). It was built upon the north-western face of a bicipitous height, which rises from the shore at the northern end of the modern town. The ruins and vestiges of the ancient walls show that the city occupied the two summits, an intermediate hollow, and their slope as far as the sea.On the northern of the two summits are the ruins of an acropolis, which seems to have been the major arx mentioned by Livy. On the southern height there is a monastery, on one side of which are some remains of a Hellenic wall, and which seems to be the site of the Cyatis, or smaller citadel. There are considerable remains of the town walls. The whole circuit of the city was barely two miles. (Leake, Northern Greece. vol. 3. p. 55.) COIN OF SAME.
(Σάμη) or Samos (Σάμος). The ancient name of Cephallenia. (See Cephallenia.) It was also the name of one of the four towns of Cephallenia. The town Samé or Samos was situated on the eastern coast, opposite Ithaca, and was taken and destroyed by the Romans, B.C. 189 (Livy, xxxviii. 28).
The Homeric name (Il. 2.634; Od. 1.246; 4.67 1; 9.24; 15.29) has been handed down, designating either the entire island or only its E part (cf. Hdt. 9.28; Plin., HN 5.54). The present name refers to a small port not far from the ruins of the ancient city. Same, the capital of the island, was taken and destroyed in 189 B.C. by M. Fulvius Nobilior because of its resistance to the Romans. Situated at the center of a fertile, well-watered zone near the sea, the city developed considerably and was defended by a vast wall of ca. 3500 km. In ancient times Same had two acropoleis, of which the one farthest S has been identified in the locality of Kyathis.
Several Hellenistic tombs, a grotto sacred to the cult of Pan, and a notable thermal complex datable to the late 2d-early 3d c. B.C. have been excavated near the urban center. A fine male portrait in bronze from the late period of the Emperor Gallienus has recently been found.
BIBLIOGRAPHYJ. Partsch, Kephallenia und Ithaka (1890); B. V. Head, Historia Numorum (1911); A. K. Orlandos, To Ergon tis archaiologhikis Etaireias 1959 (1960), 1960 (1961); V. Kallipolitis, MonPiot 54 (1965); G. Daux, BCH (1961, 1967).
N. BONACASA- suitors of Penelope from: Apollod. E.7.25