The first attests the high estimation in which the sheep of Calabria and Apulia were held by the Romans, especially before his own time, and he says that among them the Tarentine sheep were the best of all. In speaking of the practice so prevalent in this district of covering them with skins, he shows, that these “oves pellitæ” were also called “soft” (_molles_), and “covered” (_tectæ_). Indeed he makes the great distinction of sheep to be into the “_genus molle_,” i. e. the soft kind, and the “genus hirsutum,” or “hirtum,” i. e. the coarse kind. We further learn that the soft sheep were called by the Romans Greek sheep, because they were bred in Græcia Magna, and Tarentine, because the best of all were bred at Tarentum. According to Palladius they were also sometimes called Asiatic (_Asianæ_). It is to be observed that by _Asia_, Palladius and his contemporaries would understand the celebrated sheep-country of which Miletus was the centre[329]; and considering the frequent, long-established, and very friendly intercourse between Miletus and Tarentum[330], we may infer that the Milesians imported into Tarentum their fine breed of sheep, and at the same time introduced the art of _dyeing_ and _preparing_ the wool. The same sheep, which were called Greek by the Romans, were called _Italian_ by the Egyptians and others, to whom the word _Greek_ would not have been distinctive. Columella (vii. 4.) insists particularly on the great pains and care, which it was necessary to bestow upon this description of sheep, the “covered” or “soft,” in regard to food, warmth, and cleanliness, and he says that they were principally brought up in the house[331]. [329] Cellarii Ant. Orbis Notitia, iii. 1. 7, 8, 9. [330] Herod. vi. 21. and Wesseling _ad locum_. [331] According to Bochart (Hieroz. cap. 45. p. 486, ed. Leusden), the Talmud and another rabbinical book, lambs soon after their birth were invested with garments fastened upon them with thongs or buckles. In the sheep-breeding countries of Europe the practice seems to have been very general. Besides South Italy, Attica, Megaris, and Epirus, in regard to which countries positive evidence has been produced, we find that soft sheep, or “oves pellitæ” were kept by an inhabitant of Cynethæ in Arcadia (Polybius, L. ix. c. 17.), by the Roman settlers in the North of Gaul and in Spain.