Fabio Bazzani stunned the home crowd with a fifth minute opener, but their lead did not last long with Norwegian John Carew levelling matters with a header shortly after.
Italian international forward Francesco Totti finally gave Roma the lead on the hour mark and his second shortly after put Roma in control.
Samp did have a chance at pulling one back, however Carlo Zotti (pictured) pulled off a fine penalty save from Francesco Flachi after the striker was felled in the area by the keeper.
The visitors' misery was compounded when half-time substitute Morris Carrozzieri was dismissed for pulling back Totti four minutes into injury time.
Juventus remain hot on the heels of Roma with a comfortable 4-2 win over Siena at the Stadio Delle Alpi, thanks in the main to a hat-trick from Alessandro Del Piero.
The Italian international opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 15 minutes with David Trezeguet doubling their advantage shortly before half-time.
Del Piero's second spot kick of the contest just before the hour mark was followed by his third shortly after to put Juve four-goals up.
Nicola Ventola netted a late brace, including the game's third penalty after 74 minutes, however the flurry proved nothing more than consolations.
Milan are level on points with Juventus after a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Brescia.
Defender Giuseppe Pancaro headed in the only goal in the 81st minute though Kaka later hit the bar. Brescia then had Dario Dainelli sent off in injury time.
Internazionale fell further behind the pace-setters following a surprise late 1-0 defeat to lowly Empoli at the Giuseppe Meazza.
Inter were always up against it after Emre's dismissal on 63 minutes, but the visitors had to until the last minute before Tommaso Rocchi netted the winning goal.
Rebuilt Ancona, featuring the likes of recent signings Corrado Grabbi and Luigi Sartor, secured just their fifth point of the season following a 0-0 draw at home to winless Perugia.
Bologna pulled to within two points of Chievo following a 3-1 victory over The Flying Donkeys.
Guiseppe Signori gave the home side the perfect start with a goal after just two minutes with Igli Tare netting a second 15 minutes later.
Mario Santana's goal back for the visitors was erased minutes before the break by Carlo Nervo, although the home side did finish the contest with 10-men following Marco Zanchi's late sending off.
Lecce leap-frogged Perugia in the table following a priceless 3-1 away win over 10-man Reggina.
It was the visitors' third victory all season and they could not have planned a better start with Valeri Bojinov and Javier Chevanton both scoring within the opening three minutes.
Francesco Cozza pulled one back for Reggina, but their hopes of levelling the contest were hindered when Andrea Sottil was shown red.
Bojinov bagged his second shortly after the half-time interval to end the home side's resistance and clinch a rare win.
Click below for match summaries:
Ancona 0-0 Perugia
Bologna 3-1 Chievo
Brescia 0-1 Milan
Internazionale 0-1 Empoli
Juventus 4-2 Siena
Reggina 1-3 Lecce
Roma 3-1 Sampdoria
Click here for the latest Serie A table.
