HISTORY OF ROME. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.-GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE OF ITALY. Italia, oh, Italia! thou who hast 1. Phy'sical, adj. established by nature. 2. Designa'tions, s. names. 8. To'ga, s. a gown, the national dress of the Romans. 11. Subjuga'tion, s. conquest. BYRON. 14. Intersec'ts, v. passes through the 17. I'solated, part. alone, separate. 1. THE outline of Italy presents a geographical unity and completeness which naturally would lead us to believe that it was regarded as a whole, and named as a single country, from the earliest ages. This opinion would, however, be erroneous; while the country was possessed by various independent tribes, of varied origin and different customs, the districts inhabited by each were reckoned separate states, and it was not until these several nations had fallen under the power of one predominant people that the physical unity which the peninsula possesses was expressed by a single name. Italy was the name originally given to a small peninsula in Brut'tium, between the Scylacean and Napetine gulfs; the name was gradually made to comprehend new districts, until at length it included the entire country lying south of the Alps, between the Adriatic and Tuscan seas. 2. The names Hesperia, Satur'nia, an Enot'ria have also been given to this country by the poets; but these designations are not properly applicable, for Hesperia was a general name for all the countries lying to the Rome, 129 B west of Greece, and the other two names really belonged to particular districts. 3. The northern boundary of Italy, in its full extent, is the chain of the Alps, which forms a kind of crescent, with the convex side towards Gaul. The various branches of these mountains had distinct names; the most remarkable were the maritime Alps, extending from the Ligurian sea to Mount Ve'sulus (Veso); the Collian, Graian, Penine, Rhotian, Tridentine, Carnic, and Julian Alps, which nearly complete the crescent; the Euganean, Venetian, and Pannonian Alps, that extend the chain to the east. 4. The political divisions of Italy have been frequently altered, but it may be considered as naturally divided into Northern, Central, and Southern Italy. The principal divisions of Northern Italy were Liguria and Cisalpine Gaul. 5. Only one half of Liguria was accounted part of Italy; the remainder was included in Gaul. The Ligurians originally possessed the entire line of sea-coast from the Pyrenees to the Tiber, and the mountainous district now called Piedmont; but before the historic age a great part of their territory was wrested from them by the Iberians, the Celts, and the Tuscans, until their limits were contracted nearly to those of the present district attached to Genoa. Their chief cities were Genu'a, Genoa; Nicœ'a, Nice, founded by a colony from Marseilles; and As'ta, Asti. The Ligurians were one of the last Italian states conquered by the Romans: on account of their inveterate hostility, they are grossly maligned by the historians of the victorious people, and described as ignorant, treacherous, and deceitful; but the Greek writers have given a different and more impartial account; they assure us that the Ligurians were eminent for boldness and dexterity, and at the same time patient and contented. 6. Cisalpine Gaul extended from Liguria to the Adriatic or Upper Sea, and nearly coincides with the modern district of Lombardy. The country is a continuous plain, divided by the Pa'dus, Po, into two parts; the northern, Gallia Transpada'na, was inhabited by the tribes of the Tauri'ni, In'subres, and Cenoma'nni; the southern, Gallia Cispada'na, was possessed by the Boi'i, Leno'nes, and Lingo'nes. 7. These plains were originally inhabited by a portion of the Etrurian, or Tuscan nation, once the most powerful in Italy; but at an uncertain period a vast horde of Celtic Gauls forced the passage of the Alps, and spread themselves over the country, which thence received their name. 8. It was sometimes called Gallia Toga'ta, because the invaders conformed to Italian customs, and wore the toga. Cisalpine Gaul was not accounted part of Italy in the republican age; its southern boundary, the river Rubicon, being esteemed by the Romans the limit of their domestic empire. 9. The river Pa'dus and its tributary streams fertilized these rich plains. The principal rivers falling into the Padus were, from the north, the Du'ria, Durance; the Ticinus, Tessino; the Ad'dua, Adda; the Ol'lius, Oglio; and the Min'tius, Minzio: from the south, the Ta'narus, Tanaro, and the Tre'bia. The Athe'sis, Adige; the Pla'vis, Piave; fall directly into the Adriatic. 10. The principal cities in Cisalpine Gaul were Roman colonies, with municipal rights; many of them have preserved their names unchanged to the present day. The most remarkable were, north of the Pa'dus, Terge'ste, Trieste; Aquilei'a; Patavium, Padua; Vincentia; Vero'na; all east of the Athe'sis: Man'tua; Cremo'na; Brix'ia, Brescia; Mediola'num, Milan; Tici'num, Pavia; and Augusta Turino'rum, Turin: all west of the Athe'sis. South of the Po we find Raven'na; Bono'nia, Bologna; Mutina, Modena; Parma, and Placen'tia. 11. From the time that Rome was burned by the Gauls (B.C. 390), the Romans were harassed by the hostilities of this warlike people; and it was not until after the first Punic war, that any vigorous efforts were made for their subjugation. The Cisalpine Gauls, after a fierce resistance, were overthrown by Marcel'lus (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 Han'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 Veneti; 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, Etruria, La'tium, and Campa'nia, on the west; Um'bria, Pice'num, and Sam'nium, on the east. 14. Etruria, 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 Etruria. The chief river is the Arnus, 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. 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. One of the earliest naval engagements recorded in history was fought between the fugitive Phocians, 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 politica. 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'sula: between the Arnus and the Tiber, Volate'rræ, Volterra; Volsin'ii, Bolsena; Clu'sium, Chiusi; Arre'tium, Arezzo; Corto'na; Peru'sia, Perugia (near which is the Thrasimene lake), Falerii, 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, 1 See Pinnock's History of Greece, Chap. I. 2 See Historical Miscellany, Part II. Chap. I. 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 were 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 Etruria 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 Æqui, the Mar'si, and the Sabines; and on the south were the Vols'ci, Rutuli, 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; Tusculum, Frescati; Alba Lon'ga, of which no trace remains; Lavin'ium; An'tium; Ga'bii; and Os'tia, Civita Vecchia: the chief towns in new Latium were Fun'di, Anx'ur or Terraci'na, Ar'pinum, Mintur'næ, and For'miæ. 22. CAMPANIA included the fertile volcanic plains that lie between the Liris on the north, and the Sil'arus, Selo, on the south; the other most remarkable river was the Volturnus, Volturno. The chief cities were, Cap'ua the capital, Linter'num, Cu'mæ, Neap'olis, Naples; Hercula |