Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/933

 SARDINIA. Ant. p. 84; De la Marmora, vul. ii. p. 45.3.) It had also extensive fisheries, especially of tunny ; and of tiie murex, or shell-fish which produced the purple dye (Suid. s. v.). But its most peculiar natural productions were the wild sheep, or moufflon, called by the Greeks nova /xwv (^Ocis Ammon Linn.), which is still found in lart^e herds in the more unfrequented parts of the island (Strab. v. p. 225 ; Pans. x. 17. § 12; Aelian, //. A. xvi. 34), and a herb, called Herha Sardoa, the bitterness of which was said to produce a kind of convulsive grin on the countenances of those that tasted it, which was generally considered as the origin of the phrase, a Sardonic smile (risus Sardonicus ; 'S.apSwuios yeAais, Paus. X. 17. § 13; Suid. s. v. Sa/jSwwor; Serv. ad Virg. ^c^. vii. 41; Solin. 4. §4.) But the ety- mology and origin of this phrase are exceedingly dubious, and the peculiar herb alluded to by the ancients cannot be now identified. The bitterness of the Sardinian honey (Hor. A. P. 375), which Wi.s supposed to result from the same herb, is, however, a fact still observable at the present day. (Smyth's Sardinia, p. 104.) Pausanias mentions that the island was free from wolves, as well as from vipers and other venomous serpents, an advantage that it still enjoys(Paus. x. 17. § 12; Solin. 4. § 3; De la Jlar- mora, vol. i. pp. 173, 177); but it contained a venomous spider, apparently a kind of t.arantula, called Solifuga, which was peculiar to the island. (Solin. ;. e.) The native population of Sardinia seem to have enjoyed a very evil reputation among the Romans. The harsh expressions of Cicero (pro Scaur. 9. §§ 15, 42, &c.) must, indeed, be received with con- siderable allowance, as it was his object in those pas- sages to depreciate the value of their testimony; but the proverbial expression of" Sardi venales" was gene- rally understood as applying to the worthlessness of the individuals, as well as to the cheapness and abundance of slaves from that country. (" Habes Sar- dos venales, alium alio nequiorem," Cic. ad Fam. vii. 24.) The praetors, even in the days of Augustus, seem to have been continually making inroads into the mountain territories for the purpose of carrying off slaves (Strab. v. p. 255); but as these mountaineers according to Strabo and Diodorus, lived in caves and holes in the ground, and were unacquainted with agriculture (Strab. I. c. Diod. iv. 30), it is no wonder that they did not make useful slaves. Of the antiquities found in Sardinia, by far the mo.st remarkable are the singular structures called by the inhabitants Nuraghe or Nuraggis, which are ahnost entirely peculiar to the island. They are a SARDINIA. 913 kind of towers, in the form of a truncated cone, strongly built of massive stones, arranged in layers, but not of such massive blocks, or fitted with such skill -and care, as those of the Cyclopean structures of Greece or Italy. The interior is occupied with one or more vaulted chambers, the upper cone (where there are two, one over the other, as is frequently the case) being approached by a winding stair or ramp, conistructed in the thickness of the walls. In some cases there is a more extensive basement, or solid sub.struction, containing several lateral cham- bers, all constructed in the same manner, with rudely pointed vaultings, showing no knowledge of the principle of the arch. The number of these singular structures scattered over the island is pro- digious; above 1200 have been noticed and recorded, and in many cases as many as twenty or thirty are found in the same neigbourhood : they are naturally found in very different degrees of preservation, and many varieties of arrangement and construction are observed among them; but their purpose and des- tination are still unknown. Nor can we determine to what people they are to be ascribed. They are certainly more ancient than either the Roman or Carthaginian dominion in the island, and are evi- dently the stractures alluded to by the author of the treatise (fe MirahiUhus, which he describes as ^6oi, or vaulted chambers, the construction of which he ascribes to lolaus. (Pseud. Arist. de Mirah. 104.) Diodorus also speaks of great works constructed by Daedalus for lolaus, which mu.st evidently refer to the same class of monuments. (Diod. iv. 30.) Both tr.aditions are valuable at least as evidence of their reputed high antiquity; but whether they are to be ascribed to the Phoenicians or to the native in- habitants of the island, is a point on which it is veiy difficult to form an opinion. They are fully de scribed by De la JIarmora in his Voyage en Sar- daigne, vol. ii. (from which work the annexed figure is taken), and more briefly by Capt. Smyth (&W- dinia, pp. 4—7) and Vale'ry (Voy. en Sardaigne). The work of De la JIarmora, above cited, contains a most complete and accurate account of all the antiquities of Sardinia, as well as the natural his- tory, physical geography, and present state of the island. Its authority has been generally followed throughout the preceding article, in the determina- tion of ancient names and localities. The works of Captain Smyth (^Present State of Sardinia. 8vo. Lon- don, 1828), Vale'ry ( Vogageen Corse et en Sardaigne, 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1838), and Tyndale {Island of Sardinia, 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1849), though of mucti interest, are of inferior value. [K. H. B.] NUnACIIlC IN SAKDINIA. 3n