"The Fort'of Apjirtus was built, by the young priuce, on th'elpat
where Ofero now (lands, on the brink o f the (Irak; hence the-itr-
habitants were called Apjirtus, and the.contiguous Aland, where-
the temple flood, was called Apjirtii. There, no doubt, the
Golchefians began to have pofllflions, without meeting with' any
difturbaneé-from the people of Cherfo, who;' on the north fide
of their city, mud alfo have had pbflefiTons near them. It is
probable, that; following the deflihy o f a ll the other iflandi,
that o f Cherfo and Ofero has-been fometimes free,, a n i'fometimes
fabjeifrbeforethe R'oman cohcjueAs. I find no autfientick records
o ik s id dory collected by a;ny ' autllbr,. which perhaps is
owing to the ignorance in which the i(landers lived-for. many
ages.
Lucio (Lih. i . cap. i. p; 2.) believed, that; without the pof-
feffibn of-the . Liburrria 'ftla'ndsp'it Would have been’ im’poffible
for thet^eople, o€,Adria'ta have m^iniiiééd thè dominion of the
g u lf to which'they gaveItHeibamè^and m àflòtfAf^iléè'givéstHè
proofs o f this•propofition; He/fixes the fovéreignty o f t f ie T u f l-
cans o f Adriaover thè-fflands o f t h e ^ ^ M à aboùt’ thè | | Ì # i year
o f Rome; Itfeeyn's piobablo, MOWeVef; Vliat!th!e 1 1 § § § the' Adrit
u f f ami that a rk fl.
or,ot C a J i e l x o w i i Rbmaris> ’ Near the
O .^ o f Ofero there are ftili remaifi?fiS ^:&Hè Tefliges o f Roman
habitations, nr the infcriptionsV and coin's' that’ are frequently
dug/up* and there are alfoWtìffi^&f & e dominion oF'theV Addrians..
* V , Appian. Alexand.dt B tlla jtyr
![ -R% 11
trians in feveral parts-of the icorfl o f Dalmatia, 'particularly ton
tthe ifland o f Lejj'a, where .Etrufcan vafes aceooften ¡found.
,-In the- times near the ruin of'the empire, v/e find Cherfo men-
■tioned by Paulus Diaconus, as I before took notice of, under the
.name o f Infula Flanonenfis, and the fame author relates the death
.of Gallus Ccefar in thefe parts, by order o f Canßant, who was
then at Milan./f-
. Attila, who did .lb much mifchief to Italy, carried alfo de-
•■vaftation and ruin to the ifland find city o f Qfero, making ufe o f
the gallies of. Salona, for that.purpofe.
..After the decline of 'the Roman empire, Cherfo and Ofero
changed mailers often; fometimes being annexed to the Greek
..empire, fometimes to the crown o f Hungary, and.fometimes
fubjeil to the Bans, and the kings of the Slavi-, but without
any remar-kable events to -render it illuftrious.
About the middle of the IX century, Saha, a captain o f the
(Saracens, plundered the ifland; and it appears, by the chronicle o f
Andrea Dandolo, that, in 99 r, It was under the dominion o f the
Republick of Venice. The Doge Pietro Orfeolo II. landed there,
and received honours as Lord o f the ifland. It feems naoft reasonable
to fix the dedition o f Qfero about this year. I hav.efeen,
.however, in fome Mfs- memoirs, that Qfero gave itfelf.up fo-
lemnly to the republick o f Venice.in the year 1018. Such
D d d ,2 a dif-
I Paul. Diac. lib. 12. Hiß. mifc.'Socrat, Hiß. 'Euleu I. 7. c/27. Htcepb. CallijfL,
l.j) . c. 32. Stzamtn. 1. 4 . c. ,6. See Note at page 368.
S