Strait of Bonifacio

[Kull]

From a historical standpoint, I'd have to say no. Throughout the Punic Wars, there's not a single mention of a Corsica-Sardinia invasion or battle in which one side used the other island as a base. Another example is the mercenary rebellion after the first Punic War, in which the defeated mercs fled to Italy rather than Roman Corsica.

While Corscia DID have population centers on the east and south of the island, the corresponding settlement zones in Sardinia were mostly in the south and west. So travel in either direction would surely have skirted the NE portion of Sardinia (the wilder, less settled portion of the island), which almost by definition means it's not a short journey by boat. The only possible exception was the settlement of Olbia on the NE coast of Sardinia, but it was separated from the "civilized" areas by the mountainous central region (known as Barbagia for it's fierce "barbaric" inhabitants).

The most compelling argument of all however, is the startling contrast between ancient cultures on the islands - specifically the group which built the Nuraghe towers (1800-250 BC), some 7000 of which can be found all over the island of Sardinia. Surely if it were easy for armies to traverse the strait between the islands, we'd have seen some cultural overlap, yet not a single tower can be found on the island of Corsica.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Very nice Kull. That's why you get paid the big bucks around here.