History of Rome | Page 4

overthrown by Marcell'us (B.C. 223) and compelled to
submit, and immediately afterwards military colonies were sent out as
garrisons to the most favourable situations in their country. The Gauls
zealously supported An'nibal when he invaded Italy, and were severely
punished when the Romans finally became victorious.
12. North-east of Cisalpine Gaul, at the upper extremity of the Adriatic,
lay the territory of the Venetians; they were a rich and unwarlike
people, and submitted to the Romans without a struggle, long before
northern Italy had been annexed to the dominions of the republic.
13. Central Italy comprises six countries, Etru'ria, La'tium, and
Campa'nia on the west; Um'bria, Pice'num, and Sam'nium, on the east.
14. Etru'ria, called also Tus'cia (whence the modern name _Tuscany_)
and Tyrrhe'nia, was an extensive mountainous district, bounded on the
north by the river Mac'ra, and on the south and east by the Tiber. The
chain of the Apennines, which intersects middle and Lower Italy,
commences in the north of Etru'ria. The chief river is the Ar'nus, Arno.
15. The names Etruscan and Tyrrhenian, indifferently applied to the
inhabitants of this country, originally belonged to different tribes,
which, before the historic age, coalesced into one people. The
Etruscans appear to have been Celts who descended from the Alps; the
Tyrrhenians were undoubtedly a part of the Pelas'gi who originally
possessed the south-east of Europe. The circumstances of the Pelasgic
migration are differently related by the several historians, but the fact is
asserted by all.[1] These Tyrrhenians brought with them the knowledge
of letters and the arts, and the united people attained a high degree of
power and civilization, long before the name of Rome was known

beyond the precincts of Latium. They possessed a strong naval force,
which was chiefly employed in piratical expeditions, and they claimed
the sovereignty of the western seas. The first sea-fight recorded in
history was fought between the fugitive Phocians,[2] and the allied
fleets of the Tyrrhenians and the Carthaginians (B.C. 539.)
16. To commerce and navigation the Etruscans were indebted for their
opulence and consequent magnificence; their destruction was owing to
the defects of their political system. There were twelve Tuscan cities
united in a federative alliance. Between the Mac'ra and Arnus were,
Pi'sæ, _Pisa_; Floren'tia, _Florence_; and Fæ'sulæ: between the Arnus
and the Tiber, Volate'rræ, _Volterra_; Volsin'ii, _Bolsena_; Clu'sium,
_Chiusi_; Arre'tium, _Arrezzo_; Corto'na; Peru'sia, Perugia, (near
which is the Thrasamene lake); Fale'rii, and Ve'ii.
17. Each of these cities was ruled by a chief magistrate called
_lu'cumo_, chosen for life; he possessed regal power, and is frequently
called a king by the Roman historians. In enterprises undertaken by the
whole body, the supreme command was committed to one of the twelve
lucumones, and he received a lictor from each city. But from the time
that Roman history begins to assume a regular form, the Tuscan cities
stand isolated, uniting only transiently and casually; we do not,
however, find any traces of intestine wars between the several states.
18. The Etrurian form of government was aristocratical, and the
condition of the people appears to have been miserable in the extreme;
they were treated as slaves destitute of political rights, and compelled
to labour solely for the benefit of their taskmasters. A revolution at a
late period took place at Volsin'ii, and the exclusive privileges of the
nobility abolished after a fierce and bloody struggle; it is remarkable
that this town, in which the people had obtained their rights, alone
made an obstinate resistance to the Romans.
19. The progress of the Tuscans in the fine arts is attested by the
monuments that still remain; but of their literature we know nothing;
their language is unknown, and their books have perished. In the first
ages of the Roman republic, the children of the nobility were sent to
Etru'ria for education, especially in divination and the art of

soothsaying, in which the Tuscans were supposed to excel. The form of
the Roman constitution, the religious ceremonies, and the ensigns of
civil government, were borrowed from the Etrurians.
20. La'tium originally extended along the coast from the Tiber to the
promontory of Circe'ii; hence that district was called, old La'tium; the
part subsequently added, called new La'tium, extended from Circeii to
the Li'ris, Garigliano. The people were called Latins; but eastward,
towards the Apennines, were the tribes of the Her'nici, the Æ'qui, the
Mar'si, and the Sabines; and on the south were the Vols'ci, Ru'tuli, and
Aurun'ci. The chief rivers in this country were the A'nio, _Teverone_;
and Al'lia, which fall into the Tiber; and the Liris, _Garigliano_; which
flows directly into the Mediterranean.
21. The chief cities in old Latium were ROME; Ti'bur, _Tivoli_;
Tus'culum, _Frescati_; Al'ba Lon'ga, of which no trace remains;
Lavin'ium; An'tium; Ga'bii; and Os'tia, _Civita Vecchia_; the chief
towns in new Latium