The Iolei, also known as the Ilienses, were an ancient Nuragic people who inhabited central-southern Sardinia. The Iolei were a brave, hard people with a strong connection to their homeland. Being islanders, they viewed their home as a vessel which carried and nurtured their kin along on the waves of life and destiny. It was the duty of every warrior, every stateman, and every member of their society to cherish and protect their homeland and its many treasures. In return, Sardinia provided generous supplies of natural resources, wildlife, fertile soil and seafood in its coastal waters. The greatest source of potential peril to the Iolei was Carthage - one of the most powerful forces in the entire region, which dominated the waters, certain coastal parts of Sardinia, and many of the nearby land masses. No one, however, had even the slimmest of chances to tame Sardinia - the Iolei were her only masters. It was not until 238 BC that an outside power, the Roman Republic, succeeded in subduing the Iolei and conquering Sardinia. A Iolei rebellion in 215 BC was crushed, and, in 177 BC, consul Tiberius Gracchus the Elder crushed another result and killed or enslaved 80,000 Sardinians. They were still relatively independent under Roman rule, remaining undefeated.