Sheep-breeding in Sicily—Bucolic poetry—Sheep-breeding in South Italy—Annual migration of the flocks—The ram employed to aid the shepherd in conducting his flock—The ram an emblem of authority—Bells—Ancient inscription at Sepino—Use of music by ancient shepherds—Superior quality of Tarentine sheep—Testimony of Columella—Distinction of the coarse and soft kinds—Names given to sheep—Supposed effect of the water of rivers on wool—Sheep-breeding in South Italy, Tarentum, and Apulia—Brown and red wool—Sheep-breeding in North Italy—Wool of Parma, Modena, Mantua, and Padua—Origin of sheep-breeding in Italy—Faunus the same with Pan—Ancient sculptures exhibiting Faunus—Bales of wool and the shepherd’s dress—Costume, appearance, and manner of life of the ancient Italian shepherds.
We now pass over to Sicily. The pastoral life of the Sicilians was marked by peculiar characters as well as that of the Arcadians. The bucolic poems of Theocritus represent many of its circumstances in the most lively colors; and, while their dramatic spirit and vivacity are unrivalled, they seem to be most exact copies of nature, the dialogues which they contain being in the style, the language, and the precise dialect of the Sicilian shepherds, and indeed only differing from their real conversation by being composed in hexameters. It is to be observed, that the mountains and pastures of Sicily were browsed by goats and oxen as well as by sheep. These animals were, however, under distinct keepers, called respectively Shepherds, Goatherds, and Herdsmen. But the tastes, manner of life, and the superstitions of these three classes of rustics appear to have been undistinguishable. They were probably not always independent proprietors of the soil, but in many cases the servants of a landed aristocracy who lived in Syracuse and other splendid cities. They appear, however, to have enjoyed far greater comforts and advantages than the corresponding class of hired laborers in the countries to the north of the Peloponnesus and of Attica. In composing pastoral verses and in playing on the pipe and the syrinx they probably equalled the Arcadians. Whilst they were watching their flocks and herds, it was a frequent amusement with them for two persons to contend for a stipulated prize, such as a goat, a carved wooden bowl, or a syrinx, which was to be awarded by an appointed judge to him who most excelled either in instrumental music, or in singing alternate and extemporaneous verses[313].
[313] According to the learned German traveller, Baron Riedesel, the custom was not extinct in his time; for in his Travels through Sicily, page 148 of Forster’s English translation, he says, “The shepherds still sing with emulation to gain the crook or the purse, which is the prize of the best performer.” Nevertheless, the modern can be only a very faint imitation of the ancient practice; for thus the same author speaks in other passages:
“Here I had an opportunity of pitying the wretched situation of modern Sicily in comparison with what it was in former ages. Many towns and different nations are destroyed; immense riches are dissipated; the whole island can at present scarce show 1,200,000 inhabitants, the number which Syracuse alone formerly had. Many beautiful spots, which used to produce corn and fruits, are now deserted for want of laborers; many spacious ports are without any ships for want of trade; and many people want bread, whilst the nobility and the monks are in possession of all the lands.” p. 112, 113.
“To conclude, the climate, the soil, and the fruits of the country are as perfect as ever. But the precious Greek liberty, population, power, magnificence, and good taste, are now not to be met with as in former times, and the present inhabitants can only say, Fuimus Troes.” p. 151.
That this elegant recreation was of Sicilian origin we have clear and abundant evidence. Bion (Idyll vii. 1.) calls pastoral poetry “a Sicilian strain;” which certainly implies, that of all places where the Greek language was used Sicily was the most noted for it, and that in fact it properly belonged to Sicily. So Moschus (Idyll iii.) speaks of “the Sicilian muses;” and throughout this Idyll, which is the lament of Moschus on the death of Bion, he repeatedly speaks of the pastoral poetry, such as Bion cultivated, as proper to Sicily. In Virgil’s Bucolics we find frequent allusions to the same acknowledged fact. Thus he says,
“I will set my verses to the tune of a Sicilian shepherd.”
Buc. x. 51.
The historian Diodorus, himself a Sicilian, who lived about the commencement of the Christian æra, supposes bucolic poetry and music to be the peculiar invention and exercise of his own country, and says, that it continued in use at his time and was held in the same estimation as formerly[314]. In less than 200 years from this period the art lost much of its original simplicity. Maximus Tyrius (Diss. xxi.) says, that “the Dorians of Sicily became, to use the mildest term, more weak in understanding,” (more dissolute) “when instead of the simple Alpine music, which they used to employ in the presence of their flocks and herds, they began to love the tunes of the Sybarites, and a style of dancing adapted to them, such as was required by the Ionic pipe.”
[314] L. iv. c. 84, p. 283.
But, although the rustic Dorians of Sicily had the full credit of this invention and were never surpassed in the practice of it by any other people, yet the imitation of it was attempted in various instances by the pastoral inhabitants of other countries. More especially, it appears to have been adopted in the neighboring district of Magna Græcia; for it is near Sybaris that Theocritus has placed the scene of his Fifth Idyll, in which, a shepherd having staked a lamb and a goatherd a kid, they contend in alternate verses, whilst a wood-cutter, whom they have called from his labor, listens as judge, and awards the prize to the goatherd, who hereupon joyfully sacrifices his newly acquired lamb to the Nymphs.
In the Seventh Idyll (v. 12, 27, 40.) Theocritus mentions the goatherd, Lycidas of Crete, who was his contemporary, and also his predecessors and supposed instructors, Asclepiades of Samos, and Philetas of Cos, as distinguished for skill in pastoral music.
The bucolic poems of Theocritus prove, that the Arcadian belief in the attributes of Pan had extended itself into Sicily and the South of Italy, so that the rustics of those countries not only invoked him by name, but even sometimes offered sacrifices to him. Thus, in Idyll v. 58, the Lucanian goatherd already referred to says, that he will set aside for Pan eight dishes of milk and six of honey.
But besides importing the belief in Pan from Arcadia the Sicilians recognized two demigods of native origin, who contributed, if not to excite feelings allied to religion, at least to amuse their imagination and to contribute greatly to the variety and liveliness of their poetry. These were the shepherd Polyphemus, who was horridly deformed, and the herdsman Daphnis, who was endowed with the most surpassing beauty.
Polyphemus was the son of Neptune. Notwithstanding his forbidden aspect he is represented as susceptible of some tender emotions, and it is his misfortune to be deeply enamored of the beautiful Nereid or Mermaid Galatea, whom he sees sporting in the green waves, while he surveys the coast from the summit of a mountain and plays upon the syrinx for the amusement of himself and his flock[315].
[315] Theocritus, Idyll vi. and xi. Lucian, Dial. Doridis et Galateæ. Ovid, Met. L. xiii. 739-870.
The Sicilian Daphnis, like the Arcadian Pan, was the son of Mercury and of a mountain nymph, and excelled in playing on the syrinx; but his form was entirely human and the most beautiful that could be imagined.
The guardian of fair kine, himself more fair.
Virg. Buc. v. 44.
He tended his cattle upon the picturesque Heræan mountains to the north of Ætna, and did not mix in the society of men. At the time when the beard was beginning to grow on his upper lip, the nymph Echenais became enamored of him, and enjoined him upon pain of losing his eye-sight not to approach any other female. He consented, and for some time persisted in obeying her; but at length a Sicilian princess, having intoxicated him with wine, accomplished her purpose. He shared the fate of Thamyras, the Thracian, and was thus punished for his folly[316]. He then pined away, and died of hopeless love for the nymph, whom he had offended[317]. According to Virgil (Buc. v. 56-71.) he was raised to the stars, and sacrifices were offered to him by the shepherds.
[316] Timæus, author of the Hist. of Sicily, as quoted by Parthenius, c. 29. Ælian, Var. Hist. L. x. c. 18. Diod. Sic. L. iv. c. 84. p. 283.
[317] Theocritus, Idyll i. 66-141. and vii. 72-77.
Daphnis was the frequent subject of pastoral poetry, being regarded as an ideal representation of the perfection of the shepherd’s culture and manner of life. Of this we have a proof in the epigram of Callimachus on the death of Astacides, and which concludes thus: “We (shepherds) will no longer sing of Daphnis, but of Astacides.” The poet’s design was to extol Astacides, by comparing him with Daphnis. According to Ælian (l. c.) the first bucolic poems related to the blindness of Daphnis and its cause; and the first poet, who composed verses upon this subject, was Stesichorus of Himera in Sicily. In Theocritus the allusions to the beautiful story of Daphnis are very frequent[318], and his sad fate is described at length by contending shepherds or goatherds in the First and Seventh Idylls. We shall quote only his dying words, where he calls on Pan to leave the great Mænalus and the long ridges of Lycæus, and to come to Sicily in order to receive from his own hand the syrinx, on which he had been accustomed to play.
[318] Idyll v. 20. See also v. 80. In Idyll vi. Daphnis is one of the performers, and gives a description of Galatea.
Pliny informs us, that in his time the wool of Apulia was in the highest repute; that throughout the South of Italy the best sheep were bred in the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium; and that the wool of Tarentum was admired for its tinge of black, and that of Canusium for its fine brown or yellow color[319].
[319] See Appendix A.
The directions for the management of sheep, given by Varro, Columella, Virgil, and other writers on rural affairs, all tend to show the pains taken by the Romans to improve the breed of sheep, and especially to produce wool of the finest quality.
The first of these authors (De Re Rustica, L. ii. Præf.) mentions his own flocks of sheep in Apulia. It appears from his account that every man was obliged to report the number of his sheep to the publican and to have them inscribed in a register, the earliest allusion, to a code of laws, which may probably have been in some respects similar to that now called “La Mesta” in Spain. Varro further speaks expressly of the summer and winter migrations of the flocks; and to show the great distances to which they were conducted on these occasions, he states that the sheep of Apulia were taken every year to pass the summer in the mountains of Samnium, and sometimes even in those of Reate[320].
[320] De Re Rustica, L. ii. c. 1. p. 161. ed. Bip. See also, c. 2. p. 167.
Of the nature and circumstances of these annual migrations we are enabled to form some judgment, not only from the animated description already quoted from Dr. Holland in relation to Albania, but still more distinctly from the following accounts by the Honorable Keppel Craven, one of which relates to the first group of mountains mentioned by Varro, the other to the second.
In the year 1818 Mr. Craven visited a large farm a few miles to the south of Foggia, and consequently not far from the site of the ancient Arpi in Apulia. He mentions the following particulars.
“Above 200 persons were employed, and resided on the spot. The stock of sheep consisted of 8000, divided into several flocks; to which those of cows, goats, and buffaloes, together with a set of brood mares and a suitable quantity of poultry, bore an equivalent proportion. All the cattle are guarded by large milk-white dogs of the Abruzzo breed. These animals are very handsome and resemble the Newfoundland species, but have sharper noses; they are very intelligent and equally fierce. The flocks are tended by natives of Abruzzo, who also undertake the care of milking them, as well as making the cheese, &c.; they are assisted by their wives and children, who accompany them in their yearly migrations to and from the mountains. These shepherds are clothed in the skins of the animals which they watch, and are reckoned a quiet, attentive, frugal, and trust-worthy race.” Tour through the southern Provinces of the Kingdom of Naples, by the Honorable Keppel Craven, p. 80.
The scene of the following extract is the valley of the Aternus, descending from the region of the highest Apennines, the “montes Reatini” of Varro, not very remote from the ruins of his farm and villa, (These ruins are described at page 45 of the volume from which this passage is extracted.), and proceeding towards the sites of the modern Aquila and of the ancient Amiternum.
“One of the broad tratturos, or cattle-paths, runs in the same line with the high-road to Aquila; and I was so fortunate as to see it occupied by a very extended line of flocks, which slowly passed by the carriage for the space of a mile or more. The word ‘fortunate’ adapted to such a spectacle, may excite a smile in my readers; but I own that I never beheld one of these numerous animal congregations plodding across the flats of Capitanata, or the valleys of Abruzzo, as far as the eye could reach, without experiencing a sensation of a novel and exciting kind, nearly allied to that of enjoyment, but which I shall not attempt to account for.
“One shepherd heads each division of cattle, of which he has the peculiar care and direction. Armed with his crook, he walks some paces in advance of his flock, followed by an old ram termed il manso; which word, meaning tame or instructed, has undoubtedly a more apposite signification than that of our bell-wether, though he is, as well as ours, furnished with a large deep-toned bell.
“The sheep march in files of about twelve in each; and every battalion, if I may so call it, is attended by six or eight dogs, according to its number; these accompanying the herd, walking at the head, middle, and rear of each flank. The beauty and docility of these animals, which are usually white, has often been described, and their demeanor is gentle as long as the objects of their solicitude are unmolested, but at night they are so savage, that it would be dangerous to approach the fold they guard.
“The goats, which bear a very small proportion to the sheep, and are in general black, wind up the array, and evince their superior intelligence by lying down whenever a temporary halt takes place. The cows and mares travel in separate bodies. A certain number of these flocks, commonly those belonging to the same proprietor, are under the immediate management and inspection of an agent, entitled fattore, who accompanies them on horseback, armed with a musket, and better clad than the shepherds, who, both in summer and winter, wear the large sheep-skin jacket, and are in other respects provided with substantial though homely attire, including good strong shoes.
“These Fattores are all natives of Abruzzo, an Apulian never having been known to undertake the profession: the former, through particular habits and the repeated experience of years, are looked upon as so peculiarly fitted for the care required by cattle, and indeed animals of all kinds, that all the helpers in the stables of the capital are natives of these provinces, or of the adjoining county of Molise. In addition to these qualifications, they are esteemed an abstemious and honest race.
“When following the calling of shepherds, and occupied, as I saw them, in the duties of their charge in travelling, their countenances are almost invariably marked by the same expression, which combines mildness and sagacity with immovable gravity, and, it is painful to add, a look of deep-seated sadness; the whole caravan, animal as well as human, exhibiting, at least while engaged in one of those tedious peregrinations, a general appearance of suffering and depression, distinguishable in every individual that composes it. The shepherd that opens the march, the independent manso jingling his brazen bell, the flocks that follow, the dogs that watch over their security, and even the Fattore who directs the procession, all appear to be plodding through a wearisome existence of monotony and toil. The extreme slowness of their progress, the downcast expression of every head and eye, and, above all, the indications of exhaustion and fatigue which are but too perceptible after a journey of more than a month’s duration, may well account for this impression.
“The animals suffer greatly from heat until they reach their summer dwelling, and full as much from lameness, which, when it has reached a certain pitch, becomes the signal for destruction. I saw a mule bearing no other load than the skins of those that had perished in this manner.
“Several other beasts of burden follow the rear of the herds, laden with the various articles necessary for them and their guardians during their protracted march: these consist in the nets and poles requisite to pen the folds at night, the coarse cloth tents for the use of the shepherds, and a limited stock of utensils for milking, and boiling the produce of the flock. Among these are to be noticed some portable jointed seats of very ingenious though simple construction, composed of the stems of the giant fennel, a substance remarkable for its light and compact texture.
“The cattle which I thus met near Aquila were within two days’ journey of their resting-place, which is generally in some of the valleys placed on the lower flanks of the mountain ridges, but sufficiently elevated above the larger plains to afford fresh and abundant herbage and a cooler temperature.
“The duration of their abode in these regions is regulated by the rapid or slow progression of the summer season; in the course of which they shift their quarters, as the heat increases, till they reach the highest spots, which are the last divested of the deep snows, in which they have been buried during three quarters of the year. Here large tracts of the finest pasture, rills of the coldest and purest water, and shady woods of considerable extension, are occupied by them during the remainder of the fine weather, and afford the ne plus ultra of enjoyment allotted to an existence of such restricted variety.” Excursions in the Abruzzi by the Honorable Keppel Craven. London, 1838, vol. i. p. 259-264.
The account, given in the second paragraph of this extract, of the shepherd marching at the head of his battalion of sheep illustrates in a striking manner the remark made respecting the comparison of kings to shepherds, and to their leading rams in Homer and in the Scriptures.
The Greek word Κτίλος, originally an adjective, corresponds exactly to the Italian manso. It appears to have been applicable to all trained tame animals. Hence it was used specially to denote the large and powerful ram, which was instructed to assist the shepherd in disposing the sheep in proper order and in leading them to and from their daily pasture as well as during their long migrations. In the third book of the Iliad (l. 196-198), where Priam is described surveying the Greek troops from the Scæan gate, after the account of Agamemnon, who was considered as their shepherd, we find Ulysses, who was inferior to him both in rank and in stature, represented as his manso, that is, as the ram, which immediately follows the shepherd and aids him in conducting the flock. The same image is repeated in the thirteenth book (l. 492, 493), where Pope’s translation, though very paraphrastic, is an admirable representation of the real circumstances.
Aristotle calls these rams “the leaders of the sheep,” and he states, that the shepherds provided for each flock such a leader, which, when called by name by the shepherd, placed himself at the head of the flock, and was trained to execute this office from an early age[321]. The employment of the manso was probably the ground, on which many of the Orientals adopted the ram as the emblem of military authority[322]. According to this supposition it would rather denote secondary than supreme command; and if so, the representation of the king of Persia by the symbol of a ram in the 8th chapter of Daniel is the more expressive, because it indicated that he was the agent of the supreme Deity. Probably also the same sentiment was intended to be conveyed by the enthusiastic Sapor, or Shahpoor II., King of Persia in the fourth century, when he rode to battle in front of his army wearing instead of a diadem a ram’s head wrought in gold and studded with precious stones[323].
[321] Hist. Animal. viii. 19.
[322] E. F. K. Rosenmuller, Bibl. Alterthumskunde, iv. 2. p. 83.
[323] Ammianus Marcell. xix. 1.
Any one, who has seen the collection of ancient bronze bells in the Museum at Naples, and compared them with those now worn in Italy about the necks of sheep and other cattle, will be struck with their similarity. We know also from various ancient laws and other evidence[324] that the shepherds fastened bells upon their sheep as they do at the present day.
[324] See note of Sweertius on the treatise of Hieron. Magius de Tintinnabulis, cap. viii.
There is a striking correspondence between the words of Varro, “crates, retia, cæteraque utensilia,” and Craven’s account of the provision of nets, &c. for making folds, and of the other necessary utensils.
At Sepino, the ancient Sæpinum, situated in the highest part of the mountains of Samnium near the source of the Tamarus, Mr. Craven saw over the Eastern gate the remains of a very remarkable inscription referring to the same practice[325]. This inscription has been accurately published by Muratori[326]. It clearly distinguishes between the “fattores” (conductores gregum oviaricorum) and the shepherds who were under them (pastores quos conductores habent). These were molested by the magistrates of Sæpinum and the neighboring town of Bovianum, and by the “stationarii” or soldiers, who, instead of being ready to protect them in case of need, charged them with being fugitives and with cattle-stealing, and under this pretence drove back even those sheep which belonged to the emperor (oves quoque dominicas) and thus greatly injured his revenue. These grievances were consequently represented to an officer at Rome who kept the emperor’s accounts (Cosmus, Augusti Libertus a Rationibus); and he writes in the terms of the inscription to Basseus Rufus and Macrinus Vindex, officers of rank in the army, in order that the evil might be remedied. This inscription must have been erected about the commencement of the Christian æra. As Mr. Craven remarks, “It not only corroborates what was already known, that the periodical migration of the herds from Apulia is of most ancient origin, but it proves, that they observed the same line of route which they follow to the present day; the road, that runs from the east to the western gate of this inclosure, falling into the line of the tratturos, or sheep-paths, exclusively allotted to the use of the flocks in their annual journeys.”
[325] See Excursions in the Abruzzi, vol. ii. p. 135, 136.
[326] Novus Thesaurus Vet. Inscriptionum, p. DCVI.
Whilst we discover these numerous points of resemblance between the ancient and the modern practice, it is probable that in other respects there was a greater diversity. If the author whose observations have been cited had witnessed a similar procession in very ancient times, he would have seen less reason to deplore its toilsome and melancholy aspect. Music was then probably of no little service in animating both the shepherds and their flocks. The sonorous bagpipe may have contributed to this effect[327]. At least Mr. Craven’s account of a modern pastoral march is strikingly contrasted with the following description by Apollonius Rhodius, in which he compares the ship Argo and the music of Orpheus, followed by multitudes of fishes, to a shepherd playing on the syrinx and followed by his sheep.
[327] According to Montfaucon (Ant. Expliquée, Suppl. Tom. iii. p. 188.) the bagpipe was seen under the arm of a shepherd in the collection of Cardinal Albani at Rome.
The testimony afforded by Varro relative to the management of the South Italian sheep, having been given and illustrated, it is to be deplored that Italy, once so renowned for its sheep, can now boast little of this production of her bounteous clime. The Romans, whose dress was woollen, cultivated in an especial degree the fineness of the fleece; and it was not until the days of the Empire that the silk and cotton of the East began to supersede the ancient raiment of the Roman people. The finest wools of ancient Italy were produced in Apulia and Calabria, being the eastern parts of the present kingdom of Naples[328].
[328] It appears from the following passage of Varro, that the Apulian was sold at a higher price than some other kinds of wool which were equally beautiful, because it wore better. By lana Gallicana in this passage we must understand the wool of Gallia Cisalpina, of which we shall next treat.
Sic enim lana Gallicana et Appula videtur imperito similis propter speciem, cum peritus Appulam emat pluris, quod in usu firmior sit.
De Lin. Lat., lib. ix. 28. p. 484. ed. Spengel.
We now proceed to the other writers on Rural Affairs, viz., Columella and Palladius.
The first attests the high estimation in which the sheep of Calabria and Apulia were held by the Romans, especially before his own time, and he says that among them the Tarentine sheep were the best of all. In speaking of the practice so prevalent in this district of covering them with skins, he shows, that these “oves pellitæ” were also called “soft” (molles), and “covered” (tectæ). Indeed he makes the great distinction of sheep to be into the “genus molle,” i. e. the soft kind, and the “genus hirsutum,” or “hirtum,” i. e. the coarse kind. We further learn that the soft sheep were called by the Romans Greek sheep, because they were bred in Græcia Magna, and Tarentine, because the best of all were bred at Tarentum. According to Palladius they were also sometimes called Asiatic (Asianæ). It is to be observed that by Asia, Palladius and his contemporaries would understand the celebrated sheep-country of which Miletus was the centre[329]; and considering the frequent, long-established, and very friendly intercourse between Miletus and Tarentum[330], we may infer that the Milesians imported into Tarentum their fine breed of sheep, and at the same time introduced the art of dyeing and preparing the wool. The same sheep, which were called Greek by the Romans, were called Italian by the Egyptians and others, to whom the word Greek would not have been distinctive. Columella (vii. 4.) insists particularly on the great pains and care, which it was necessary to bestow upon this description of sheep, the “covered” or “soft,” in regard to food, warmth, and cleanliness, and he says that they were principally brought up in the house[331].
[329] Cellarii Ant. Orbis Notitia, iii. 1. 7, 8, 9.
[330] Herod. vi. 21. and Wesseling ad locum.
[331] According to Bochart (Hieroz. cap. 45. p. 486, ed. Leusden), the Talmud and another rabbinical book, lambs soon after their birth were invested with garments fastened upon them with thongs or buckles.
In the sheep-breeding countries of Europe the practice seems to have been very general. Besides South Italy, Attica, Megaris, and Epirus, in regard to which countries positive evidence has been produced, we find that soft sheep, or “oves pellitæ” were kept by an inhabitant of Cynethæ in Arcadia (Polybius, L. ix. c. 17.), by the Roman settlers in the North of Gaul and in Spain.
As there was in general a great affinity between the manners and ideas of Sicily and South Italy, we might infer that the pastoral habits of these two districts were in many respects similar. Theocritus accordingly lays the scene of some of his Idylls on the coast opposite to Sicily. The fifth Idyll describes a contest between a shepherd and a goatherd, who are supposed to have been employed as hired servants in the vicinity of Sybaris. The shepherd, observing some of his sheep to be feeding on an oak, which could not be very good for them, utters the following exclamation, showing that it was customary to give proper names to sheep, and thus confirming the fact, that in ancient times they were regarded as the objects of affection, and not of profitable speculation merely:
The passage has often been cited in illustration of the following verses from the Gospel of St. John. Our Savior, describing himself as a shepherd, here alludes to various indications of care and attachment, which distinguish the owner of a flock from the hireling, who, being engaged to tend the sheep only for a season, could not be so well known by them, nor so much interested in their security and welfare.
“He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth (from the fold) his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him; for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”—John, x. 3-5.
In reference to this passage of Scripture the following remarks of a late traveller are instructive:
“I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give names to sheep. He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them by their names. This morning (March 5, 1828), I had an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing by a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question which I put to my servant, and he gave me the same answer. I then bade him to call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions, and ran up to the hand of the shepherd, with signs of pleasure and with a prompt obedience which I had never before observed in any other animal. It is also true of the sheep in this country, that a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of the strangers. The shepherd told me that many of his sheep are still WILD; that they had not yet learned their names; but that by teaching they would all learn them. The others, which knew their names, he called TAME.”—Researches in Greece and the Levant, by the Rev. John Hartley, p. 321.
The city of Sybaris stood between two rivers, the Sybaris and the Crathis. The ancients asserted that the sheep which drank of the Crathis, were white, and those which drank of the Sybaris, black. They attributed similar virtues to other streams in various parts of the world[332].
[332] Ælian, Nat. Anim. xii. 36. Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxi. 9. Kruse’s Hellas, i. p. 369. (See Appendix A.)
According to Strabo (L. vi. cap. 3. § 9. p. 303. ed. Siebenkees) the hilly promontory of Garganus was particularly celebrated for its sheep. He says, that their wool was softer than the Tarentine, but less shining.
The Roman poets allude in various instances to the excellence of the Apulian wool, and especially to that of Tarentum. Horace in the following stanza expresses his predilection for this celebrated city, and mentions its “soft” or “covered” sheep. He had been asserting his wish to end his days at Tibur, the modern Tivoli.
Martial alludes to the celebrity of the Tarentine wool in no less than five of his epigrams.
The poet intended here to describe a toga of the most expensive and fashionable kind.
The last lines were written by Martial on the death of Erotion in her sixth year. He describes her interesting qualities by comparing her to a lamb of the soft Tarentine breed, always clothed and usually kept in the house and hence remarkably tender and delicate.
The following epigram (L. viii. ep. 28.) was written on the receipt of a handsome toga from the wealthy and munificent Parthenius, chamberlain to the emperor Domitian. In expressing his admiration of it, the poet enumerates the places from which the Romans of his time obtained the best and most fashionable garments of this description. He next proceeds to extol its whiteness; and in conclusion observes how ridiculous he would appear wearing his old lacerna over this new and snowy garment, and he thus conveys a hint to Parthenius how acceptable and suitable would be the present of a lacerna in addition to the toga.
De Partheniana toga.