Like many of the Spanish Jews he united scholarly tastes with political ability.
When the king of Persia, Shapur, captured Mazaca-Caesarea, the Cappadocian capital, Samuel refused to mourn for the 12,000 Jews who lost their livesin its defence.
The Jews were forbidden to reside in the city, but Christians were freely admitted.
Apart from the great interest of his philosophical work, Lazarus was pre-eminent among the Jews of the so-called Semitic domination in Germany.
The number of Jews was returned as 36,000, but is certainly higher.
