Columella (vii. 2.) and Pliny (viii. 48.) assert the celebrity of the flocks of Miletus in former times, although in their time they were surpassed by the sheep of some other countries.
In soft Milesian wool as fine as possible.—Hippocrates, vol. i. p. 689. ed. Fœsii.
Ye are hairs of sheep, although Miletus may boast of you, and Italy be in high repute, and though the hairs be guarded under skins.—Clemens Alexandrinus, Pæd. ii. 30.
Lying on Milesian carpets.—Aristoph. Ranæ, l. 548.
Nor do I speak of the sheep of Miletus and Selge and Altinum, nor of those, for which Tarentum and Bætica are famous, and which are colored by nature.—Tertullian de Pallio, 3.
If, from the beginning the Milesians were occupied in shearing sheep, the Seres in spinning the produce of trees, the Tyrians in dyeing, the Phrygians in embroidering, and the Babylonians in weaving.—Tertullian de Habitu Muliebri.
We may now notice Samos, as being near the Ionic coast. Athenæus (xii. p. 540. D.) cites two ancient authors who assert that, when Polycrates was introducing into Samos the most excellent of the different breeds of animals, he chose the dogs of Laconia and Molossis, the goats of Scyros and Naxos, and the sheep of Miletus and Attica.
Respecting the breeding of sheep in Samos it may be proper to quote the remark of Ælian (Hist. Anim. xii. 40.), that the Samians gave some religious honor to this animal, because a consecrated utensil of gold, which had been stolen from one of their temples, was discovered by a sheep.
It appears probable, that the shepherd life was established in Thrace as early as in any part of Europe; for in the Homeric poems it is called “the mother of flocks” (Il. v. 222.). In a much later age the sheep of Thrace are mentioned by Nicander (Nicand. Ther. 50.). We learn from Plato (De Legibus, l. vii. p. 36. ed. Bekker) that in Thrace the flocks were entrusted to the care of the women, who were there compelled like slaves to work out of doors.
Aristotle speaks of the sheep of Magnesia, and says that they brought forth young twice a year[268].