Before cheap flights to Barcelona Cagliari. Before the Erasmus. Before the fleet of Cardinal Alberoni. Before the Viceroy many predators. Before Pedro de Luna and Martin junior.
Before them there were the Balari mercenaries, and even before Norac, Norax or if you prefer. Why
to move from the Iberian Peninsula and conquer Sardinia, distance has never been too much.
But from the first Iberian soil Sardinian Norac.
The Roman historian Sallust in a fragment tells us that Norac was the son of Hermes and Eritehia, daughter of Geryon.
Which is like saying that Norac was from the West, from Iberia. Why Geryon the three bodies, the fact Heracles out because their herds were not too good to be stolen, before ending up in Dante's Inferno, was a king of the land where the sun goes down.
In fact, according Solino (III century AD), Norac and his left from Tartessus in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Cadiz. The usual
Pausanias (second century AD) adds that the Iberians arrived in Sardinia after Aristeo. Some may argue that maybe we should talk about Aristeo first to tell the Iberians, but we will see that the matter is more complex than it seems.
Anyway, Pausanias says that, with imagination, Norac gave his name to the town of Nora. And in most states that this was the first city \u200b\u200bof the island.
If we remember that the previous inhabitants as happened often lived in huts and caves, the arrival of the English (first and last time in the troubled history of Sardinia) coincided with an increase.
So, thanks to Norac was founded the first city.
But the island's environment, even then, no one would deny that success, alas English: the famous definition that sees as Sardis "pocos, locos y unidos mal."
"Locos" (crazy) do not know, really. But they were "ill-unidos" (disunited) was not something he doubted. Among the Iberians and Libyans Nora arrived earlier under the guidance Sardo there were conflicts.
To remedy the situation we wanted to, if not a miracle, at least a demigod. Indeed Solino always tells us that reigned Aristeo not far from Nora, which he founded in the Cagliari.
In the new town, destined to be the most important of Sardinia, the son of Apollo would have merged the Libyan tribes (bring on the island of Sardinia) and the Iberian (capacities from Norac): These people, although there were not accustomed to, accepted willingly his government.
But if the conflict were already there before the birth of Cagliari, the question that is Aristeo could come at a time after the arrival of the Iberians is at least legitimate. Since
here the news on the colonization of the south of Sardinia by the Iberians.
But if we talk about the center and north of the island, the matter becomes more complex, and the Iberians in comeback game.
The great naturalist Pliny the Elder, before he died of the ashes of Vesuvius, wrote that the most famous people of Sardinia were the Ilies, the Balari and courses. Of course we said, we will speak of Ilies, Balari of us have to deal with now.
Why the name too reminiscent of the Balearic Islands, intermediate between the Iberian Peninsula and Sardinia.
And what was the name of Iberian origin, or at least related to that area, there is also confirmed by Silius Italico. The poet at some point of his work speaks of Vettonia, inhabitants of Lusitania (now Portugal) and Cantabria (north-west Spain): well, he said their leader was called Balar.
But what relationship existed between the Iberians and Balari?
First, the sources seem to favor the subsequent arrival of a Balari: an arrival in historical, not mythical, in fact. When Nora was in a town of some commercial and political relations with the Carthaginians.
Yet another fragment of Sallust tells us that the courses allocated to Sardinia Balari believed the refugees' Pallantei "(whatever that means), but others were from the army or Hispanic Numidians Carthaginian.
Again Pausanias confirms (or returns?) As told by Sallust. According to him it was African or Iberian in the pay of Carthage. At some point, these mercenaries were fighting with the Phoenician city to issue its own money. So deserted and fled to the mountains of Sardinia.
seems to infer that the courses as "Balari" meant "deserter" (or perhaps "exile"), and since then the name stuck to that population.
Balari That the people were not trusted in the Roman world seems to intuit some sources: Sallust says that they were changing people's mind, shifty-eyed for fear of the allies, dark clothing. Cicerone will speak at Sardis "mastrucati," that is covered with leather. Strabo, a geographer who lived between the first century BC and first century AD, it has a great review. It tells them that dwell in caves (a constant Sardinian home, apparently ...). He adds that even if they had some arable land, did not bother to put it to good use, rather, preferring to plunder the profits of those who worked, even coming to rob the inhabitants of the area Tuscany.
Livy tells the story of Sardinia, just conquered by the Romans. Against the new rulers, and Ilies Balari formed an alliance and attacked the "pacatam provinciam" (Pacified the province).
It was not an easy fight, and when Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus led Rome's legions in the territory Ilies, the Balari sent large reinforcements.
But Rome, for the moment, prevailed. When
then Ilies rebelled again in Rome during the Second Punic War, at the decisive moment their leader tried to recruit troops Ampsicora between Sardis Pellati. These are
Sardi mastruccati mentioned by Cicero? Balari predators?
Whatever happens, even the Ampsicora uprising ended badly, and Ilies Balari had to give up and drive the Romans.
Some small notes ... Leaving the myth and entering the History (and disputes) can not fail to mention the famous Stele of Nora, pictured above. Written in archaic Phoenician alphabet, his translation (and interpretation) is discussed: the version of epigraphy "official" (interpretation of Moore-Cross, 1984) speaks of its settlers from Tarshish (= Tartessus?) Arriving in land of Sardi ... But the name of the leader is not alas, one of Norac: Milkaton this would be a dedication by the son of subn.
Obviously the stele, spoiled and hard to read, also has several interpretations (so much so that "son of Milkaton subn" becomes "Sb 'son Milkaton "...).
If we want to accept the theories of some "Independent researchers (STI)" the translation is virtually impossible, because, although written in Phoenician characters, the words would be speaking ... Shardana
Both scholia to Dionysius, is Eustathio confirm that the Iberians came before Heraclidae , who killed the children of quell'Eracle grandfather Norac.
But more about that in a future post.
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