The Corsi were an ancient people of
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
and
Corsica, to which they gave the name, as well as one of the three major groups among which the ancient
Sardinians
The Sardinians, or Sards ( sc, Sardos or ; Italian and Sassarese: ''Sardi''; Gallurese: ''Saldi''), are a Romance language-speaking ethnic group native to Sardinia, from which the western Mediterranean island and autonomous region of Italy de ...
considered themselves divided (along with the
Balares and the
Ilienses). Noted by
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
(III, 3), they dwelt at the extreme north-east of Sardinia, in the region today known as
Gallura
Gallura ( sdn, Gaddura or ; sc, Caddura ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy.
The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area".
Geography
Gallùra has a surface of and it is situated between 40°55'20"64 latitude ...
, near the
Tibulati The Tibulati (Greek: ), also called Tibulates and Tibulatii, were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologe ...
and immediately north of the
Coracenses.
According to historian
Ettore Pais Ettore Pais (27 July 1856, Borgo San Dalmazzo, Piedmont, Italy – 1939, Rome) was an ancient historian, Latin epigrapher, and an Italian politician.
Pais was the son of Michele Pais Leoni, a nobleman from Sassari, Sardinia and Carlotta Tranch ...
and archeologist Giovanni Ugas, the Corsi probably belonged to the
Ligurian people. Similar was also the opinion of
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
, who claimed that the ''Corsi'' from Corsica, where he had then been staying in exile, were of mixed origin, resulting from the continuous mingling of various ethnic groups of foreign origin, like the Ligures, the
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
and the
Iberians
The Iberians ( la, Hibērī, from el, Ἴβηρες, ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (amo ...
. In the myth, reported by
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan ...
, the peopling of Corsica is traced back to Corsa, a Ligurian woman who when grazing her
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
, went to the island, which then took her name.
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
in the ''Description of Greece'' wrote:
Pausanias Description of Greece
/ref>
See also
*List of ancient Corsican and Sardinian tribes
This is a list of ancient Corsican and Sardinian tribes, listed in order of ethnic kinship or the general area in which they lived. Some closely fit the concept of a tribe. Others are confederations or even unions of tribes.
Overview
Before the ...
*Paleo-Corsican language
The Paleo-Corsican language is an extinct language (or perhaps set of languages) spoken in Corsica and presumably in the northeastern part of Sardinia (corresponding to today's historical region of Gallura) by the ancient Corsi populations d ...
*Nuragic civilization
The Nuragic civilization, also known as the Nuragic culture, was a civilization or culture on Sardinia (Italy), the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, which lasted from the 18th century BC (Middle Bronze Age) (or from t ...
*Torrean civilization
The Torrean civilization was a Bronze Age megalithic civilization that developed in Southern Corsica, mostly concentrated south of Ajaccio, during the second half of the second millennium BC.
History
The characteristic buildings of this cul ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
Ancient peoples of Sardinia
{{europe-ethno-group-stub