Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/708

 690 COBSICA. ▼ast forests with which it was covered (Soo'cior ircU Ihnrtp ^puHUyrfif if 8Aj7| I c). Stnbo speaks of the inhabitants of the mountain districts as "wilder than the very beasts" (oypt^tpoi dij- pitWy v. p. 224), and of so nntameable a cha- racter, that when thej were brought to Rome as slaves it was impossible to make anj use of them, or accnstom them to domestic habits. The jadg- ment of Diodorus on this point is more favoorable. He says the Corsican slaves were veiy docile, and readily adapted themselves to the ways of dri- lised life; and that the natives of the island, though ignorant of tillage, and snbsistmg wholly on meat, milk, and honey, were remarkable for their love of justice. (Diod. y. 13, 14.) Seneca, who was banished to the ishmd in A.D. 41, and liTed there eight yean in exile, naturally takes an un&Toorable view of it, and spnks in exaggerated terms of the barrenness of its BoU, as well as the barbarism of its inhabitantSj and the unhealthineas of its climate. (Sen. Com, ad Sdv, 6. § 4; Anthol. Lat 129, ISa) In the ktter respect, however, it had greatly the advantage of the neighbouring island of Secrdinia; the low grounds on the E. coast are indeed very unhealthy, hut the greater part of the island is free from the scourge of malaria; and ancient writers speak of the native Corsicans as remarkable for their longevity. (£u* stath. ad Dion. Per. 458.) We have very little information as to the origin of the native populati(Hi of Corsica, but there seems little donbt that it was derived principally from a Ligurian source. This is the opinion of Seneca, though he tells us that there were some tribes in the island of Spanish or Iberian extnctiott, whose manners and dress resembled those of the Cantabrians, and appears inclined to regard these as the earliest in- habitants, and the Lignrians as subsequent settlers. (Sen. L c. 8.) Sollnos, however, following authors now lost, who had written fully concerning Corsica, expressly ascribes its first population to the Lignrians, and this is confirmed by the legend which derived its name from a Ligurian woman of the name of Corsa, who was fobled to have first discovered and visited its shores. (Solm. 3. § 3; EusUth. I c; Isidor. Origg. xiv. 6.) We are expressly told that Corsica was the native name of the island, adopted from them by the Romans (Diod. v. 13; Dionys. Per. 459); the origin of that of Cymus, by which it was known to the Greeks, is wholly nnknown, though late writers, as nsual, derived it from a hero Cymus, whom they pretended to be a son of Hercules. The island appears to have been early known to the Greeks, and the Phocaeans founded the city of Alalia on its eastern coast as early as B.a A64. (Herod. L 165; Seneca, I c) Twenty years kter they established themselves in much greater force, but after a stay of only a fow years were compelled to abandon it again [ jj£ria] ; and from this period we hear nothing more of Greek colonies on the island. According to Diodorus, the Tyrrhenians, who had united their arms with the Carthaginians to expel the Phocaeans, established their authority over the island, in which they founded the city of Nicaea (a name that certainly appears rather to point to a Greek origin), and exacted from the inhabitants a tribute of resin, wax, and honey. (Diod. v. 13.) Their su- premacy fell with the dectine of their naval power, and Corsica, as well as Sardinia, appears to have been in a state of dependency, if not of subjection, to Carthage at the time of the First Punic War. On this account it was attacked, in d. o. 259, by a Ro^ CORSICA. man fleet mider L. Sdpio, who took tiie dty of Aleria, and compelled the inhabitants to acknow- ledge the sovereignty of Rome, and give hostages for their fideUty. (Zonar. viu. 11; Fkr. il 2. § 16; Liv. Epit xviL ; OrelL Inter. 552.) It is probable that the submission of the wild tribes of the native Corsicans was at this time little more than nominal ; and after the dose of the First Punic War we find them again repeatedly in arms, together with thdr neighbours the Sardiidans; at length, in b. a 231, C. Papirius Maso is said to have efiectnally subdued them, for which he claimed the honour of a triumph. (Zonar. viiL 18; liv. Epit xx.; Fast Capt) Yet long after this, repeated revolts attest the imperfect nature of their subjection; and the victories of the Roman praetors appear to have effected nothing be- yond a nominal submission, and the payment of an occasional tribute. (Liv. xL 19, 34, xliL 7, 21.) Before the dose of the Republic, however, the mari- time parts of the island at least were brought under complete subjection, and two colonies of Roman citi- zens were established on its E. coast, that of Mariana by Marius, and Aleiia by Sulla. (Plin. iiL 6. s. 12; Mel. il 7. § 9 ; Seneca, Cont. ad Hdv. 8. § 2.; Thb example, however, was not followed ; and under the Roman empre little pains were taken to extoid the dvilisation of Italy to an island which was rp- garded as wild and inhospitable. Even in the time of Augustus, Strabo describes the mountain tribes of the interior as subsisting prindpally by robbery and plunder; while the Roman governors froai time to time made an attack upon their fostnesses, and carried off a number of priseneis, whom they sold as slaves. (Strab. V. p. 224.) The fact that it was sdectcd as a place of banishment for political exiles (of which Scoieca was the most illustrious example) in itself shows the unfavourable estimation in which it was held. Its name only once occurs in the histovy of this period, during the dvil wars of A.D. 69, whoi a vain attempt was made by Dedmus Pacarius to arouse the Corsicans in fovour of VHdlius, though their coasts were exposed to the fleet of OUia (Tac Higt. ii. 16.) Under the Roman Republic, Corsica had been united in one province with Sardinia, and subject to the same praetor. Tacitus speaks of it apparently as having then a separate Procurator, but this was probably exoeptaonal. Af^ the time of Constantine, however, the two islands wero separ^ed, and each had its own governor, with the title of Praeses. (Not Dign. u. pp. 6, 64; P. Disc iL 22.) The seat of government was probably at Aleria. On the fisU of the Western Empire, Corsica fell into the hands of the Vandals, from whom it was wrested by Bdisarius, but was again conquered by the Gotlis under Totila. (Praoopw B. V. ii. 5, B. G. iv. 24.) It was, however, recovered by the Exarchs of Ra- venna, and continued a dependency of the Byzantine empire, till it was oonquerai in the 8th century by the Saracens. The physical character cf Corsica has been al- ready adverted to. The great chain of mountains which fiUs up almost the whole island approaches, however, somewhat nearer to the W. than the E. coast; the former is in consequence extremdy rugged, and broken by great mountain promontories, with deep bays between them, many of which afiord ex- cellent harbours, though these are rendered com- paratively useless by the difficulty of oommunicatiQO with the interior. The E. coast, on the contrary, is lower and more regular, presenting a neariy un- broken line for a distance of 75 idles, from the