ures ill-combined and ineffectual. A fatal want of internal union which prevailed amongst their states, as Strabo* judiciously observes, rendered them an easy conquest to their Gallic invaders in the north of Italy, and to the hardy Samnites in Campania; while Rome was aiming at the very centre of their power and existence those persevering and systematic attacks which with her were never known to fail. The history of the Tuscans subsequently to the foundation of Rome, is to be gleaned from Livy, and, at intervals, from short detached notices in the Greek historians and poets; but a rich field is left open to the antiquary who would illustrate the annals of this interesting people from the monuments that are daily discovered in their country, which seems destined to be the seat of the arts and good taste, through a perpetuity of ages. If the books of Aristotle and Theophrastus on the civil instituions of the Tyrrheni, or even the history of the Emperor Claudius, had been preserved to us, we should doubtless have been better acquainted with the causes of that ascendency which they are said to have once exercised over the whole of Italy. Etruria, considered as a Roman province, was separated from Liguria by the river Macra; from Cisalpine Gaul and Umbria, to the north and northeast, by the Apennines; from the Umbria again, from the Sabines and Latium, by the Tiber to the southeast and south. Beginning from the Macra, the first place we meet on the coast of Etruria is Luna, now Golfo di Spezzia, celebrated for its beautiful and capacious harbor, as early as the days of Ennius.† Before the division under Augustus, Luna had formed part of Liguria. We find that the harbor of Luna was chiefly resorted to by the Romans, as a rendezvous for the fleets which they sent to Spain; it was also very famous for its white marbles, which now take their name from the neighboring town of Carraira. Pliny speaks of the wine and cheeses made in the neighborhood of Luna; the latter were sometimes so large. as to weigh one thousand pounds. Inscriptions give Luna * Strabo, v., 219. ↑ Lunai portum est operæ cognoscere civis. Anne metalliferæ reperfit jam monia lunæ Tyrrhenesyne domas? § Caseus Etruscæ signutus imagine lunæ, Praestabit pueris prandia mille tuis. the title of a Roman municipium. Pisa retains its site and name as a modern city of great celebrity. The origin of Pisa is lost amidst the fables to which the Trojan war gave rise, and which are common to so many Italian cities. The earliest mention we have of this city in the Roman history is in Polybius,* from whom we learn, as well as from Livy,† that its harbor was much frequented by th Romans in their communication with Sardinia, Gaul and Spain. It was here that Scipio landed his army, when returning from the mouth of the Rhone to oppose Hannibal in Italy. Strabo speaks of it as having been formerly an important naval station; in his day it was still a very flourishing commercial town, from the supplies of timber which is furnished to the fleets, and the costly marbles which the neighboring quarries afforded for the splendid palaces and villas of Rome. Its territory produced wine, and the species of wheat called siligo. The Portus Pisanus was at the mouth of the Arno. About three miles from Pisa, towards Lucca, are some hot springs, noticed by. Pliny as the Aqua Pisanæ,§ now Bagni di Pisa. Northeast of Lucca, and at the foot of the Appenines, we find Pistorium, now Pistoria. This town is memorable in the history of Rome, as having witnessed in its vicinity the close of Catiline's desperate, but short career. About twentyfive miles from Pistarium, in a southeast direction, we find Fæsula, a considerable town of Etruria, the ruins and name of which are preserved in the well-known hill and village of Fiesole. It is noticed for the first time in history, by Polybius, in his account of the early wars between the Gauls and Romans. Florentia, now Florence, a town so celebrated as the capital of Italy, has no pretentions to a foundation of great antiquity, as we find no mention made of it before the time of Cæsar, by whom Frontinus says it was colonized; unless we think with Cluverius, that the town called Fluentia by Flurus, and mentioned with many other distinguished cities, as having severely suffered in the civil wars of Scylla and Marius, might be identified with it. Hewever that may *Polybius, ii., 16-27. ↑ Livy, xxi., 39. Pliny, xiv., 3. ¶ Florus, i., 2 be, we find distinct mention made of Florentia, in the reign of Tiberius; when, as Tacitus informs us, the inhabitants of that city petitioned that the waters of the Clanis, a river which was very injurious from its perpetual inundations, might not be carried off into the Arno. Returning to the sea, the first place which presents itself beyond the mouth of the Arno is the Portus Herculis Liburni, now Livorno, or Leghorn. About eighteen miles farther we come to another harbor, named Vada Volaterrana, from the neighboring city of Volaterra; it is still known by the name of Vada. Nearly fifteen miles inland, and on the right bank of the same river, stood the ancient city of Volaterræ, now Volterra. Its Etruscan name, as it appears on numerous coins, was Volathri.* Even if we had not the express authority of Dion. Hal.t for assigning to Volterra a place among the twelve principal cities of ancient Etruria, the extent of its remains, its massive walls, vast sepulchral chambers, and numerous objects of Etruscan art, would suffice to show its antique splendor and importance, and claim for it that rank. From the monuments alone which have been discovered within its walls, and in the immediate vicinity, no small idea is formed of the power, civilization, and taste of the ancient Etruscans. Its walls were composed, as may yet be seen, of huge, massive stones piled on each other without cement; and their circuit which is still distinctly marked, embraced a circumference of between three and four miles. The citadel was built, as Strabo§ reports, on a hill, the ascent of which was fifteen stadia; and it is supposed that the Tyrrhenian city, of which Aristotle speaks under the name of Oenarea, as being built on a hill, is Volterra. The first mention of Voloterra, in Roman history, occurs in Livy, where an engagement of no great importance, is stated to have taken place near the city, at the close of a war, in which the Etruscans were leagued with the Samnites against the Romans. The latter were under the command of L. Corn. Scipio. In the second Punic war, we find Volaterra among the other cities of Etruria that were *Lanzi, ii., 93. ↑ Dion, Hal., iii., 52. Mic., i., 26. § Strabo, v., 223. | Livy, x., 12. zealous in their offers of naval stores. The evias of Volaterra have the impression of a dolphin, which numismatical writers agree in considering as emblematical of a maritime power to the Romans. Many years afterwards, Volaterrea sustained a siege against Sylla, which lasted two years. To the east of Volterra stands Sienna, a modern city of celebrity, which appears to have been anciently called Sena, with the addition of Julia to distinguish it from Sena Gallicia, in Umbria. This designation implies a colony formed by Julius, or Augustus Cæsar. Considerably to the southwest of this last place, Massa Veternensis has preserved the first part of its name. The adjective Veternensis implies the existence of a more ancient town, probably called Veterna from the ruins of which Massa may have arisen. A few miles to the southwest of this place Vetulonii, one of the most powerful and distinguished of the twelve Etruscan cities, is supposed to have been situated. Its position, indecd, was long a matter of great uncertainty, and has given rise to much discussion. D'Auville,* who examines the subject fully, is inclined to think with Cluverias, that the position marked by the name of Valinis, is a corruption for Vetuloniis, and would, therefore, place this ancient town on the coast, though against the authority of Strabo, who expressly states that Populonium was the only one of the Etruscan cities which was close to the sea.t Dempster was not able to throw any light on the subject. But a more accurate survey of this tract of the country, usually called the Maremma of Sienna, by an Italian antiquary, named Qimenes,‡ has proved the ruins of Vetulonii to exist in a forest, still called Selva di Vetlesa, and in the position which Ptolomy had assigned to that city. The Velinis and the ruins called Vetulia, must belong to the Aqua Vetuloniæ of Pliny. If we may believe Silius Italiens, it was Vetulonii that first used the insignia-the Etruscan name of Vetulonii, as we learn from coins, was Vetluna; they bear the impression of a wheel and an axe, which are supposed to have reference to those insignia of magistracy common to the Etruscans, * D'Auville, Anal. Geogr., i., 132. ↑ Esame su la Maremma Sencse, p. 24. ↑ Pliny, iii., 5. and with which Rome afterwards decorated her consuls and dictators. Vetulonii is ranked among the twelve principal cities.' An inscription quoted by Cluverius, proves that it was a municipal town under the Romans. In a line with Vetalonii, and on the coast, was Populonium, once a most flourishing town, and the naval arsenal of the Etruscans. It has been already noticed, that this was the only considerable city which that nation founded immediately on the coast; in other instances they were prevented from doing this by the want of commodious havens, and through fear of being exposed to the attacks of pirates. But the harbor of Populonium, now Porto Baratto, possessed peculiar advantages; it was secure, and of great extent, and from its proximity to the island of Elba, so rich in metals, of the highest importance, as the produce of the mines appears never to have been prepared for use in the island itself, but was always sent over to Populonium for that purpose. In proof of the antiquity of this place, it may be observed, that it is mentioned by Virgilt as one of the Etruscan cities which sent forces. Strabo has accordingly described the site of Populonium from personal inspection; he tells us that it was placed on a lofty hill that ran out into the sea, like a peninsula. On the summit was a tower for watching the approach of the thunny fish. From thence you could see plainly the island of Elba, and even Corsica and Sardinia. We may infer from Livy, that it was still an important city in the time of the second Punic war, but during the 'civil wars it sustained a siege, about the same time with Volterra, in which it suffered so much, that nothing but the temple and a few houses were preserved. The arsenal and part of the foot of the promontory, now Capo di Campana, presented, however, a less desolate appearance. The vestiges of this ancient city are to be seen about three miles north of Piombino. A little to the east is a small lake, formed by the river Cornia, supposed by Cluverius to be the Lynceus of Lycophron. This lake, which has a narrow outlet to the sea, is now called Caldano, and is described by Rutilius, together with its haven, * Dion. Hal., iii., 51, + Aen. x., 174, + Livy, xxx., 39. |