Psylli
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In his discussion of North Africa Herodotus tells the story of the Psylli, “a tribe that met with extinction.” After the desert wind dried up their water holes, they marched out to do battle with it and were buried alive (IV.173). Pliny the Elder maintains more reasonably that they were “almost exterminated” in a war with their neighbors, the Nasamones, but the descendants of those who escaped “survive today in a few places” (VII.2.14). Strabo does not mention an unsuccessful war against either the desert wind or the Nasamones but only that the Psylli were still in existence, occupying “a barren and arid region” (XVII.3.23) below the Nasamones. Later writers, especially poets, bestowed on the Psylli a reputation as great snake charmers.
[edit] References
Smith, Richard L. 2003 "What Happened to the Ancient Libyans?" Journal of World History, Vol. 14.4: 459-500.
