BALARI(Βαλαροί), one of the tribes or nations who inhabited the interior of Sardinia. They are mentioned both by Pliny and Strabo as one of the most considerable of the native races; the latter tells us that they inhabited a mountainous district, dwelling principally in caves, and in common with the other tribes of the interior raised but little produce of their own, and subsisted in great measure by plundering the more fertile districts on the coast. (Plin. Nat. 3.7. s. 13; Strab. 5. p. 225.) According to Pausanias they derived their origin from a body of African or Iberian mercenaries in the service of the Carthaginians, who took refuge in the mountains and there maintained their independence: he adds, that the name of Balari signified fugitives,in the Corsican language. (Paus. 10.17.9.) Their geographical position cannot be determined with any certainty.
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