Delilah (Hastings' Dictionary)

The woman who be- trayed Samson into the hands of the Philistines. The account as given in Jg 16 does not say whether she was an Israelite or a Philistine ; but she was doubtless the latter, and Sorek, her place of resid- ence, was then within the Philistine territory. Samson often sought her society, and allowed her to gain a great influence over him. That she was his wife is very improbable, notwithstanding that that is the opinion of Chrysostom and other patris- tic writers. See Samson. W.

J. Beecher. DELOS ( A^Xos), a famous island in the j^Jgean Sea, has played a part in history quite out of proportion to its tiny size and rocky unproductive character. It was considered to have been anchored by Zeus to the bottom of the sea, and therefore not to be ex- posed to ordinary earthquakes. * It was the seat of a very ancient and widelj'-spread worship of Apollo, who, with his twin sister Artemis, was said to have been bom there ; and the Gr.

peoples flocked from a great distance to the annual festival on the island, which is celebrated in the Homeric hymn to the Delian Apollo. The festival of the Virgin on the neighbouring island of Tenos is the modem representative of the ancient feast of Apollo. D., in B.C. 478, was selected as the meeting-place of the great confederacy of Gr.

states on the ^gean coasts and islands for defence against the Persians ; but after a time Athens, the presiding city of the confederacy, became also its centre. The Athenians treated D. as a rival to their own interests. As Athens became great, D. lost its importance ; but when Athens grew weak, D. recovered. During the 2nd and Ist cent. B.C.

it became one of the greatest harbours of the jEgean Sea, playing the same part in ancient trade that the island of Syra has played in modem commerce, and being favoured by the Romans after B.C. 190 as a rival to the maritime power of Rhodes. It was a nominally independent state under Rom. protection from B.C. 197 to 167.

Then it was punished, for coquetting with Macedonia, with the loss of freedom ; it was given to Athens, and its natives fled and settled in Achaia ; and the Delian archons came to an end. The bland was repeopled by Athenian colonists (K\ripovxoi.), along with many Roman settlers ; and henceforth its inscriptions are dated by the Athenian archons ; and it was always considered to be part of the Roman province Achaia (which see).

The earliest trace of a Roman settler in I), is contained in an inscription of B.C. 250. During the 2nd cent, it lyecame the largest settlement of Roman (or • An earthquake at D. was considered a specially grave ex- pression of the will and power of the god ; see Herod, vi. 08 ; Thuuyd. li. 8. Italian) merchants and traders in the Mediler.

lands ; mainly through their ettbrts and wealtli ita rather poor harbour was greatly improved ; in theii interest it was declared a free port by tlic Roman state in B.C. 166 in order to strike a blow at their commercial rivals, the merchants of Rhodes ; and to satisfy them their other commercial rival Corinth (which see) was destroyed utterly by the Romans in B.C. 146. Owing to its great importance in the E. Mediter- ranean trade, D.

is mentioned in the list of states to which the Roman government addressed letters in favour of the Jews in B.C. 138-137, 1 Mac 15'*-^ : and the inscriptions of D. form the best commen- tary on that important historical document. D. was the great exchange where the products and the slaves of all the states of the E. were bought for the Italian market, and most of the names mentioned in the passage of 1 Mac occur in the Delian documents.

The strange omission of the kingdoms of Pontus and Bithynia in 1 Mac becomes all the more remarkable by comparison with the frequent mention of them at Delos. As Homolle says, 'Among the Orientals who fre- quented D., the Jews doubtless held a considerable Elace' (Bulletin de Corresp. Hellin. viii. 1884, p. 98) ; ut, as the inscriptions are to a large extent con- cerned with religious purposes, it is not easy to tind the traces of their presence.

A decree of the Delians confirming the immunity of the Jews from military service is quoted in full by Jos. (Ant. xrv. x. 14). A frightful calamity brought the prosperity of D., and especially of the Roman settlers, to an end. In the Mithridatic war Athens took part with the king, whUe D., where the Roman settlers were so numerous, naturally remained true to the Roman interest. After maintaining itself for a short time, D. was captured in B.C.

87 by the enemy; '20,0110 Italians were massacred there and in the neigh- bouring Cyclades ; and, when the Romans re- covered it m the course of the war, they found it, as Strabo says, deserted. It recovered to a certain extent in the following years ; but direct trade between Italy and the E. harbours now became more common ; Ostia and Puteoli took the place of D. as the great emporia for the purchase of E. products required in Italy, and under the Roman Empire D. became utterly insignificant.

LiTERATUUB. — The excavations conducted at Delos for many years by the French School of Athens have thrown a flood of lij,'ht on the history of the island. An excellent summary and estimate of their earlier results, as published in many scattered works, ia given by Jebb in Journai o/ Hellenic Studiett, IsSO, pp. 7-^2. Since then numerous articles in the BulUtin de Corresp. BelUn., by Homolle, S. Reinach, and others, have added much information, especially vi. pp. 1-167, vii. pp.

103-125, S29-373, viii. pp. 76-l."i8, xiV. pp. 389-511, xv. pp. 113-168. See also Homolle, Archives de t Intetidaiice Sacriie d DeioM\ Scbceffer, de Deli Imulce rebut. W, M. RaMSAY. DELUGE See Flood.