entirely the tribute which gave
them so much uneasiness,(577) and possessed themselves of a great part of
Africa.

About this time there arose a great dispute between Carthage and Cyrene,
on the subject of their respective limits. Cyrene was a very powerful
city, situated on the Mediterranean, towards the greater Syrtis, and had
been built by Battus the Lacedaemonian.(578)

It was agreed on each side, that two young men should set out at the same
time, from either city; and that the place of their meeting should be the
common boundary of both states. The Carthaginians (these were two brothers
named Philaeni) made the most haste; and their antagonists pretending that
foul play had been used, and that the two brothers had set out before the
time appointed, refused to stand to the agreement unless the two brothers
(to remove all suspicion of unfair dealing) would consent to be buried
alive in the place where they had met. They acquiesced with the proposal;
and the Carthaginians erected, on that spot, two altars to their memories,
and paid them divine honours in their city; and from that time the place
was called the altars of the Philaeni, Arae Philaenorum,(579) and served as
the boundary of the Carthaginian empire, which extended from thence to the
pillars of Hercules.

_Conquests of the Carthaginians in Sardinia, &c._--History does not inform
us exactly, either of the time when the Carthaginians entered Sardinia, or
of the manner in which they got possession of it. This island was of great
use to them; and during all their wars supplied them abundantly with
provisions.(580) It is separated from Corsica only by a strait of about
three leagues in breadth. The metropolis of the southern and most fertile
part of it, was Caralis or Calaris, now called Cagliari. On the arrival of
the Carthaginians, the natives withdrew to the mountains in the northern
parts of the island, which are almost inaccessible, and whence the enemy
could not dislodge them.

The Carthaginians seized likewise on the Balearic isles, now called
Majorca and Minorca. Port Mahon, (_Portus Magonis_,) in the latter island,
was so called from Mago, a Carthaginian general, who first made use of,
and fortified it. It is not known who this Mago was; but it is very
probable that he was Hannibal's brother.(581) This harbour is, at this
day, one of the most considerable in the Mediterranean.

These isles furnished the Carthaginians with the most expert slingers i