This magician was a Samaritan who apparently brought his religion successfully to Rome. I'd like to hear more about him. Thank you
Simon the Magician was a character from the New Testament book of Acts, (specifically Acts 8:9-24), where he approached Peter and John, who were healing people, and tried to buy the power of God to supplement his own sorcery and magic.
He became a prominent Gnostic figure, and many apcryphal works were written about his exploits. Justin Martyr, a 2nd century theologian, writes that he visited Rome, and was deified by the populace there due to his works, but this has not been archaeologcally proven to my knowledge. Other early Church documents paint him as a major character opposing the Apostles of the early Church, with confrontations with St. Peter in Rome.
Ferreiro (2005) notes that Simon Magus was a practically ubiquitous figure in the Patristic and Medieval eras.
Here are some accessible links with some more info:
(note: you can skim the Ferreiro book on Google Books)
Justin Martyr said the Romans erected a statue of Simon, but that statue was discovered in 1574 and was dedicated not to Simon but the Roman God Semo Sancus. Read more about Simon at my site dedicated to him: http://simonmagus.com/background/ See http://simonmagus.com/sources/ for my research sources.