Trogloytes

Trogloytes (Gr. Trōglodytai, 'cave-dwellers'), the name given by the ancient Greeks to various tribes or races of uncivilised men, who dwelt either in natural caverns or in holes which they had dug for themselves in the earth. They are mentioned by Strabo as existing as far west as Mauretania, and as far east as the Caucasus; but perhaps the best-known Trogloytes of ancient times were those of southern Egypt and Ethiopia. It was reported that they could not speak articulately, but shrieked or screamed like the lower animals. The chief occupation of the Trogloytes was herding cattle, though we also read that they were hunters and robbers. They are likewise mentioned as serving among the light troops in the army of Xerxes. Their habits of life were rude and debased; their drink was a mixture of milk and blood; they had a community of wives; and they killed the old men when unfit to tend cattle. Trogloytes are mentioned by Herodotus, Aristotle, and Diodorus, and seem to have been found also in Mœsia. The prehistoric cave-dwellers of Europe and more recent cave-dwelling peoples are noticed at CAVE.