47. Copenhagen, or Kiobenhavn (i. e. Merchants' Harbour), as the natives call it, the metropolis of Denmark, is a large, well-built, fortified, and commercial city, about six miles in circuit, situated on the Eastern coast of the I. of Sieland, near the Southern extremity of that narrow channel of the Baltic, called the Sound. It is little more than ten miles from the opposite shores of Sweden, and about twice that distance from the Northern, and narrowest part of the Sound. In the eleventh century, it was a mean fishing village; but towards the middle of the fifteenth cen tury, having been greatly enlarged, it became the capital of the country. It is not only the residence of the court, but the seat of all the great public establishments of the kingdom: amongst others, it possesses a university, where the arts and sciences are cultivated with some diligence; but it bears in it's plan the traces of an unlettered age and country. Twenty-two miles to the N. of Copenhagen, at the entrance of the Sound, is the sea-port, and fortress of Elsinore, where all ships passing to, or from, the Baltic, pay toll. The channel between the islands of Sieland and Funen, is called the Great Belt, in contradistinction to the Little Belt, which lies between the latter island and the mainland of Jutland: ships passing through the Great Belt, pay toll at Nyeborg, on the E. coast of Funen; and those, which pass through the Little Belt, pay at Fridericia, in the S. E. corner of Jutland, near the borders of Sleswig. The northern extremity of the Danish peninsula, is called Skagen, or, sometimes, the Skaw, and from it the great sandbank, named the Skagen-ruck, extends a long way into the sea: on this promontory, there is a tower 64 feet high, on which, during winter, a fire is kept burning all night, for the safety of mariners. Some distance to the South of it, is Aalborg, situated on the Southern shore of the Lim Fiord, which extends, in a Westerly direction, completely across the Chersonese. Viborg, farther South, is remarkable as the place where the states of Jutland used formerly to hold their diets, and pay homage to the sovereign; it was here that, A. D. 1528, the reformation was begun in Denmark. To the West of Denmark, about 40 miles from the mouths of the Eyder, Elbe, and Weser, is Heligoland, or Holy Island, formerly belonging to the Danes, but now to the English. The Ferroe, or Faroe Islands, which likewise belong to Denmark, lie in the Atlantic Ocean, about midway between Scotland and Iceland: they are 180 miles N. W. of C. Wrath, in Scotland, and about the same distance from the Shetland Isles. They occupy a space of about 60 miles in length, by 40 in breadth, being 25 in number, of which 17 are inhabited: the language differs but little from the Icelandic. They contain 5,500 inhabitants. 48. The other Danish possessions, are Tranquebar, on the coast of Coromandel, in India; Axim, Aquidah, Christiansburg, and a few other forts on the coast of Guinea, in Africa; Iceland, Greenland, and three of the West India Islands (viz. St. Thomas, St. John, and S. Cruz), in America. The superficial extent of the Danish monarchy amounts to about 700.000 square miles; it's population, in 1828, was estimated at 2,125,000 souls. CHAPTER IX. VINDELICIA, RHÆTIA, NORICUM, PANNONIA, AND ILLYRICUM. VINDELICIA. 1. THE Province of Vindelicia, or Rhætia Secunda as it was sometimes called, was bounded on the W. and N. by the R. Danube, on the E. by Enus fl. Inn, and on the S. by the Rhine, Brigantinus L. L. of Constance, and the present limits of Bavaria and Tyrol. It had Germania on the N. and W. Noricum on the E. and Rhætia on the South. It contained Bavaria, between the Inn and Danube, those parts of Wurtemburg, Hohenzollern, and Baden, which are Ŝ. of the latter river, and the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen; in all about 10.400. square miles. The Vindelici1, are said by some to have been Illyrians, whose name was derived from the two rivers Vindo Wertach, and Licus Lech, which ran through their country Northwards into the Danube; others say, they were a branch of the Venedi, who, settling on the Licus, thus received their name. 2. Nearly all the rivers of Vindelicia are tributaries of the Danube; the largest and Easternmost of them, is the Enus Inn, rising in the Alpes Rhæticæ, not far from the source of the Rhine, and flowing with a N. E. course of 300 miles into the Danube, at Batava Castra Passau. Farther West are the Isargus Iser, with it's tributary Amber fl. Ammer, the Licus Lech, which is joined by Vindo fl. Wertach, at Augusta Vindelicorum Augsburg, and the Ilargus Iller. 3. The Western extremity of Vindelicia was inhabited by the Clautinatii; the Estiones were E. of them, on the Iller, and the Licatii, as their name imports, on the Lech; the Rhunicate were cantoned about the junction of the Inn and the Iser with the Danube, and above them, in the Southern part of the province, were the Leuni, Virucinates, and Consuantæ. At the junction of the Licus and Vindus was Augusta Vindelicorum Augsburg, the metropolis of the province; it was the most splendid Roman colony in all Rhætia', and was probably known at an earlier period as Damasia, which was said to have been the chief city of the Licatii. Munich, the capital of Bavaria, on the Iser, is not mentioned by the ancients, but, lower down that river, was Jovisura Landshut. Pons Æni was at Wasserburg on the Inn, and must not be confounded with the position of Innsbruck, considerably higher up the river, in Rhætia, and known also as Pons Eni. Batava Castra Passau, was a citadel at the confluence of the Inn and Danube, and was so called from a Batavian cohort being garrisoned there; above it were Serviodurum Straubing, and Regina Regensburg or Ratisbon, an important fortress, anciently called Artobriga. Samulocencis, a town of some consequence, was near the source of the Danube at Beuron, and was formerly called Bragodurum. RHÆTIA3. 4. THE Rhæti were said to be Tuscans, who fled from the Gauls when that nation invaded Italy, and to have been so called from their leader Rhætus. They were composed of many small tribes, who, in time, became sufficiently powerful to make frequent incursions into the Roman territory, till their submission was effected, during the reign of Augustus, by the Roman armies under the command of Drusus and Tiberius Nero. Rhætia, in it's extended sense, comprehended the country between Italy and the Danube, from the confines of the Helvetii to Noricum; but, these limits included the territory of the Vindelici. Rhætia Propria, or Prima, was bounded on the N. by Vindelicia, on the E. by Noricum, on the S. by the Italian provinces Venetia and Gallia Cisalpina, and on the W. by the Gallic province Maxima Sequanorum. It contained nearly the whole of Tyrol, the Valtellina, Vorarlberg, Lichtenstein, and the E. part of Switzerland (or the cantons of Grisons, Tessin, Glarus, S. Gallen, Thurgau, and Appenzell), in all, about 13.800 square miles. 5. The great chain of the Alps enters Rhætia at Adula M. St. Gothard, and passing through the middle of the province, obtains the name Alpes Rhæticæ Rhætian Alps, till it enters Noricum; the Ortler Spitz and Brenner Mountain are two of it's most famous elevations, the former is 14,764 and the latter 4,930 feet above the level of the sea. By the Alpes Tridentina was probably meant that spur of the great ridge, which passes off from the Carnic Alps towards Trent.-The source of the Rhine is in the Western part of Rhætia, at Adula M. St. Gothard, whence it runs with a Northerly course into 3 Rhætia was much commended for it's wine; Plin. XIII. 1. 6; Strab. IV. 206. et quo te carmine dicam, Rhætica? nec cellis ideò contende Falernis. Major Neronum mox grave prælium Virg. Georg. II. 96. Hor. Carm. IV. xiv. 14. Venetus, or Brigantinus L. L. of Constance or Boden See; on this lake Tiberius built a fleet, in order to attack the Vindelici: Acronius L., was the small lake at it's Western extremity, now known as the Unter See, or L. of Zell. The source of the Inn has already been mentioned as in Rhætia, and not far from it is the source of Addua fl. Adda, which, passing through Larius L.5 L. of Como, enters Italy, and joins the Po. In this neighbourhood also, near the Ortler Spitz, were the springs of the Etsch Atagis, which is joined by the Isarus Eisach at Botzen, and flows afterwards into Athesis fl. Adige; this last river runs through Venice, into the Adriatic Sea. 6. In the S. W. part of Rhætia, were the Lepontii, or Leipontii (from Aɛíno linquo) as they were sometimes called, from the fable of their being left there by Hercules; their name seems still preserved in Val Leventina: their principal city was Oscela Domo d'Ossola, at the Eastern termination of the famous pass of Simplon. The Genauni', or Genaunes, were E. of them, in the Val d'Agno, between the lakes Verbanus Maggiore and Larius Como; Bilitio Bellinzona, Summus Lacus Samolico, and Clavenna Chiavenna, were in their territory. The Vennones and Culicones occupied the Valtellina; the name of the latter is still preserved in Colico. The Tridentini dwelled on the Adige, and received their name from their capital Tridentum Trent, where the last Christian council was held A. D. 1545; above them, round Brixen, were the Brixentes, with their towns Sabio Seben, Vipitenum Sterzing, and Littamum Prunecken; Pons Drusi, where Drusus threw a bridge over the Eisach, was at Psenn, not far from Botzen. The Venostes inhabited the Val di Venosca; amongst them was the citadel Terioli Tyrol, which has given name to the county of Tyrol. The Breones, or Brenni, dwelled about the It was usual for travellers, who were going from Italy to Rhætia, to embark at Comum for Clavenna, where they found a road leading over the Alps to Curia, Coire. This route is alluded to by Claudian: Protinus, umbrosa qua vestit littus oliva Parva puppe lacum prætervolat. Ocius inde L Bell, Get. 319. Rhætian Alps; their name is evidently preserved in the Brenner Mountain, and in the Val Bregna, near the source of the R. Ticino. Tinnetio Tinzen, Cuneus Aureus Splugen, and Taxgetium Tavetsch, may be mentioned amongst their towns. In the North Western part of the province, on the Rhine, were the Sarunetes, whose name may be traced in Sargans; their towns were Curia Chur, and Magia Meyenfeld. Below them, on Brigantinus L. (to which they gave name) were the Brigantii, who are sometimes reckoned in Vindelicia; their chief towns were Brigantia Bregenz, Ad Rhenum Rheineck, and Arbor Felix Arbon. 7. The Benlauni were cantoned in the North Eastern part of Rhætia, about Innsbruck or Pons Eni; to them belonged Matreium Mattrey, Veldidena Wilden, and Scarbia Porta Claudia. The Naunes were a small tribe cantoned near the Tridentini, in the Val di Non, and possessed the towns Maletum Male, and Anaunium Nano. The Stoni and Symbri were S. of the Tridentini; the former in the Val di Steneco, and the latter near Cembra Cimbra. About the source of Meduacus fl. Brenta, were the Medoaci, with their town Ausugum Borgo Valsugana, and farther E. near Quero, the Querquani; N. of whom were Feltria Feltre, and Belunum Belluno. The Camuni were cantoned in Val Camonica, about the source of the Oglio. To the South of the Lepontii were the Focunates, near Vogogna, and the Mesiates in the Val Maggia; the Canini Campi were plains on the Northern shore of the L. Maggiore. NORICUM. 8. NORICUM, was bounded on the N. by the Danube; on the E. by Cetius Mons Kahlenberg, Seeberg, &c. and by a part of Murius fl. Mur; on the S. by Carvancas Mons, Steiner Alps, and Alpes Carnica Carnic Alps; and on the W. by the limits of Rhætia, and by Enus fl. Towards the N., it bordered on Germania, on the E. Pannonia, on the S. Illyricum and the Carni, and on the W. Rhætia and Vindelicia. It comprehended parts of Upper and Lower Austria, nearly all Styria, Carinthia, and Salzburg, with portions of Tyrol and Bavaria;—about 16.100 square miles. The Norici, who were governed by their own king, were subjected under Augustus as allies of the Pannonii; their country was famous for it's iron and steel 10. In a subsequent age, Noricum was subdivided into Ripense and Mediterraneum; the former lying between the Danube and the Noric Alps, the latter between these hills and the Carnic Alps. 10 9 Tum sciat, aërias Alpes et Norica si quis quas neque Noricus Deterret ensis, nec mare naufragum, Virg. Georg. III. 474. Her, Carm. I. xvi. 9. |