The Balearic Islands- Early History

Okay I have been completely USELESS and haven’t done a blog in a while now, so I’m hoping to catch up by doing a little series on the Balearics because it’s a catalan speaking region that I know little about and thought would be interesting to look at! Going to do a few blogs on it so that it’s not all in one go and I apologise Laia if I get anything wrong!
First off I’m going to have a little look at the ancient history of the Balearic Islands, which I found both quite interesting and quite funny (probably because it appeals to my rather immature sense of humour!). The earliest recorded writings about the Balearics and the people that lived there come from the Greeks (Who called the islands Gymnasiae) and the Romans (who called the islands Baleares) and both names have different legends behind their origins.
The name Gymnasiae derives from the greek word gymnos which means “Naked” and this came from the legend that the people leaving on the islands would spend the summer months naked due to the warm climate in which they lived (Can you see why I laughed a little? Especially since the same greek word is the origin for our word “Gymnasium”- by rights we should all work out in the nude! =P).
The name Baleares has a less funny but still interesting origin- it comes from the Latin for “to launch” and this refers to the islanders’ famous skills as slingers. They were trained from a young age (mothers wouldn’t allow their sons to eat until they had knocked their bread off a post with a sling!) wore three slings of differing lengths and sizes that allowed them to hurl different sized stones at the enemy and they were famed for seldom missing their target. They were so good that they were used by Roman, Carthaginian and Greek generals, and some historians have suggested that the Greek name Gymnasiae actually refers to the fact that the islanders wore little armour into battle in comparison to their heavily armoured hoplites (although I still think the first legend is better!).
Not a lot else is known of the earliest inhabitants of the island except that they had little interest in precious metals, preferring wine and women as payment for the military services, and they were invaded and controlled by both the Carthaginians and the Romans at different points in their history. Under these empires the islands flourished: they were incredibly fertile for any kind of produce escept wine or olive oil; they were famed for their cattle, mules and huge numbers of rabbits; they produced a breed of snails that the Romans considered a delicacy (grown in caves for some reason!); and they produced a mineral called “Sinope” which was used by painters as a rich red.
So that’s a quick look at the early history of the islands and next time I’ll have a look at a bit later in their history! Enjoy!
Chris