Part 20

In a physical point of view, Etruria may be divided into three parts. The central portion is formed by the main stock of the Apennines, both those in the neighbourhood of Siena and those in the north of the river Arno, for they belong together, having been separated only by the hand of man to make an opening for letting the Arno pass through. This part comprises the whole of the Apennines, which now separate Tuscany from Bologna and Romagna, together with the interior from the neighbourhood of Siena to the Roman towns of Aquapendente and Viterbo. This range of mountains contains indeed many beautiful valleys, but in some parts there are none, and on the frontiers of Tuscany and Bologna the country consists of rough, wild and inhospitable mountains, which at present have scarcely any wood at all; in ancient times it was different, for thick forests appear to have existed at least on the frontiers of Etruria and the country of the Gauls. The second part comprises the whole territory extending below Volterra, the so-called Maremma, or hilly coast land. It embraced the whole of _Suburbicaria Tuscia_, the modern Patrimonio di. S. Pietro, a district formerly containing the towns of Vulsinii and Saturnia, and at present Tuscanella and others, and extending to the very gates of Rome. The geological character of this part is quite different from that of the Apennines; it is of a volcanic nature, the lakes of Vulsinii, Bacanae, and all the others in that district are decayed craters, and volcanic stones and productions of every kind are found there in all directions as on the opposite side of the Tiber. The country is at present extremely unhealthy, and was in all probability never quite healthy on account of the bad quality of the water; there seem to be really poisonous exhalations. In ancient times, however, important towns existed there notwithstanding, and there was no doubt a corresponding degree of agriculture; at the time when Florence and Siena were flourishing republics, the state of the country was likewise better than it is now. It was ruined by the princes of the house of Medici, who made the towns responsible for the whole amount of taxes, as is the custom in the East; when one place was decayed, the others had to make up the sum among themselves. In some parts this system was carried so far, that during the second half of the seventeenth century, under Cosmo III., whole villages were ruined; and it was the greatest misfortune for the country that this Cosmo reigned for a period of half a century. In this manner the country became desolate by fiscal extortions. Wherever the population has once become extinct, it rarely re-appears; the emperor Leopold II. did every thing in his power to mend matters, but it was of little avail. The third part comprising the marshy country from the Arno as far as the Gonfalina, is a large and low district with many marshes and lakes, extending as far as Luna and Pescia; it has quite the appearance of the countries in the Netherlands. In the time of Hannibal, it was one continuous marsh, but he made his way through it, and deceived the Romans, who thought it impossible for him to advance through that morass, and accordingly considered themselves quite safe. We may say in general that the manner, in which the Romans at that time carried on the war, was beneath all criticism. The upper Arno was formerly a lake, and near Faesulae, too, there was a lake, but they have been drained by making a passage for the waters through the Gonfalina and La’ncisa.

I shall now proceed to give you an account of the separate towns, mentioning at once the things for which they were remarkable at different periods, for our time is too short accurately to separate the geography of the different periods.

LUCA. The northern part about Luca was afterwards in the hands of the Ligurians, and nothing is known about it in regard to the Etruscan period. Soon after the Hannibalian war, the town was taken by the Romans who established a colony there, for the purpose of securing the possession of the country. Throughout the middle ages, Luca was a place of considerable importance.

LUNA, situated on the sea-coast, in the neighbourhood of the modern Carrara, was anciently likewise Etruscan, and of importance to Rome on account of its excellent harbour. The whole coast of Etruria has but few harbours, and there is only one other at Populonia; but that of Luna had the advantage of being at once the nearest and very good. Before the Romans had formed a communication with Spain by land, the military communication with that country was kept up by means of the port of Luna; and the Romans had long been masters of the greater part of Spain, before the communication through Gaul was opened. Luna was also important on account of its quarries of white marble, called _marmor Lunense_. The Romans did not commence to work in marble till a very late period: before the time of Augustus it was not very extensively used, and he first erected buildings of native marble. During Cicero’s youth the Romans began to employ Carystian and Numidian (yellow) marble in private houses, no doubt, for small pillars; and in the time of Pompey, the use of foreign marble became a little more common. But in the reign of Augustus it became very general, whence marbles of every kind are found in the ruins; Carrara marble was employed in vast quantities, the white Pentelian was less common. After the time of Augustus, it was customary to use bricks for the internal parts of walls, and to cover or incrustate, as the Italians say, the outside with slabs of marble. At a later period of the empire this custom extended so far, that it became an indispensable luxury to cover the walls even of private houses with most costly kinds of marble. The temple of Apollo on the Palatine seems to have been constructed of solid Carrara marble. When the Romans advanced as far as Luna, the Etruscans were, probably, no longer masters of the place, but it seems to have belonged to the Ligurians. In the middle ages it was destroyed by the Saracens.

PISA also appears to have been Etruscan, but it never was a sovereign city. It is regarded as a colony of Pisa in Elis (whence _Pisae Alpheae_ in Virgil); but this is a groundless fancy, and it is an undoubted fact that Pisa was an ancient Tyrrhenian place. In the Hannibalian war, it was an important military station to the Romans, who succeeded in remaining masters of it. Afterwards it became a military colony. The great importance of the place is manifest from the number of ruins and remains of every description, although the town is not often spoken of. In the middle ages it rose rapidly and became great at once, just as the gods in the Aeneid step forth from the clouds, without any one having anticipated them. In the eleventh century, when the Pisans constructed their cathedral with its baptistery and tower, Pisa must have been a city of gigantic power and greatness. Its inhabitants possessed a wonderful taste for the arts even during the darkest periods of the middle ages, when at Venice (I will not mention Rome which was quite barbarous) not the slightest trace of such a taste was perceptible. The Venetians, as late as the thirteenth century, melted down all the Greek works of art in bronze which they could carry away; the preservation of the colossal horses from Chios, in the Piazza S. Marco, is almost a mere accident: the strange deliberation as to whether they should be melted down or not, is well known. For half a century afterwards the horses stood neglected in some shed, until civilisation advanced, and they were set up in their present place. At Pisa, on the other hand, the taste for the arts was so far developed that, as early as the eleventh century, the city employed an architect, probably from the south of France (his name is Bruschetti, as is stated in the excellent inscriptions), to build a church, which is as magnificent as any structure belonging to the period of the emperors of declining Rome, or of the Byzantine rulers. The Pisans, moreover, carefully collected during their expeditions, especially at Rome, columns and other antiquities, and obtained similar treasures as presents from the emperors. During the twelfth century they collected fragments of ancient architecture, sculptures, and especially sarcophagi which they put together in their cemetery (Campo Santo); they then surrounded the cemetery with a wall and a portico, and thus affectionately preserved the remains of antiquity. The bodies of men of rank were buried in these sarcophagi. Such was the spirit in which Nicolo Pisano, a gigantic genius of the middle of the thirteenth century, made bas-reliefs more beautiful than any that were produced at Rome during the third century of our era; not only does he show great genius in invention, but also in the beauty of his sculptures. The civic laws of the Pisans were based upon remnants of the Roman law, nay, edicts of praetors, which had not been introduced into the Justinianean Code, were preserved there; so that Pisa, at a later period, remained an essentially Roman city, though it was governed by a Lombard nobility. The vicissitudes of Pisa were terrible and deplorable. The Genoese overpowered and cruelly destroyed it: the more bravely and valiantly the city resisted, the more fearful was its destruction. Afterwards it was subdued by the Florentines. No republic ever carried the persecution of its subjects so far as Florence carried that of the Pisans. The Florentines distrusted them so much, that the Pisans were not only excluded from all honourable offices, but were not allowed even within their own city to practise certain professions or engage in certain trades; they were not allowed, e.g., to embrace the professions of physicians and lawyers, or to carry on a wholesale mercantile business, but they were limited to the small and common trades. The consequence of this was an insurrection, but the Pisans were subdued, and of the 100,000 inhabitants which Pisa had had during the middle ages, not more than 8,000 remained at the time when Cosmo de Medici entered upon the government. Athens was in a similar state of decay during the period from Alexander to the last Philip of Macedonia.

VOLATERRAE, no doubt one of the ancient sovereign cities, was situated at some distance from the coast. In the history of the Roman wars, it acted a very prominent part; and from the vigorous manner in which it supported Scipio, we see what a powerful place it must have been; but it distinguished itself more especially by the resistance it offered to Sulla. When the fate of the whole Marian party was already decided, Volaterrae still sustained a war for two years, and did not surrender until it was compelled by want of provisions. We do not know what was the fate of the town, but we do know the character of the conqueror, and may therefore presume that it was a most fearful one. Sulla established a military colony there, and deprived the inhabitants of the franchise. The ancient circumference of the city can still be distinctly traced: it occupied all the surface of a very considerable hill, which rises above the lower hills of an almost level and beautiful country. The wall clearly shows the difference between the Pelasgo-Cyclopean and the more artistic Etruscan mode of fortification. The Etruscan fortifications were constructed along the upper edge of a hill as real walls, and the sides of the hill below the walls were not cut precipitous; the Pelasgian places, on the other hand, have no walls on the edge of the hills, but the sides of the rock are cut down so as to be precipitous, and are provided with substructions. Another difference consists in the fact, that the Etruscan walls are built of regular square blocks, forming parallelograms one perpendicularly above the other. The blocks are very large, and generally put together without cement, their edges being cut very sharp. The fortifications of Volaterrae are among the most perfect. After the time of Sulla, or at least after that of Augustus, Volaterrae was a military colony. It was the birth-place of the poet Persius, who for this reason more than once alludes to the circumstances of his native place, and can be understood only by those who are acquainted with them. The hill on which Volaterrae stood, consists of alabaster, in consequence of which many works in that material were executed there; hence the sarcophagi of Volaterrae with Etruscan inscriptions, are made of alabaster. During the middle ages the town was still very considerable; but it has decayed, especially through the greatness of Florence.

The next place after Volaterrae in the south is POPULONIA, POPULONII or POPULONIUM, for all these forms occur. On Etruscan coins it is called _Puplana_, for the Etruscan alphabet has no _o_ nor any short vowels. There is a statement which seems quite credible that Populonia was a colony of Volaterrae. In later times it was one of the more important Etruscan towns, and acted a prominent part in the wars against Rome, of which an account is given in the tenth book of Livy. It had the sovereignty of the neighbouring island of _Ilva_ or _Aethalia_, a Greek name suggestive of its Pelasgian origin. The mountain of this island consists of large masses of iron, which by the Catalanian method can easily be transformed into the most excellent steel. The west of Europe was, to a great extent, provided with iron from Elba, as it was imported into the eastern parts from the Black Sea. The working of the mines of Elba, however, seems to be of a more recent date than the composition of the Odyssey, for in this poem the south of Italy is provided with iron from Temese. The ancients notice it as a singular phenomenon, that the iron could not be smelted in Elba, and that it was necessary to do this on the continent; but this is a Greek absurdity, and an inability to comprehend things connected with ordinary life, which we not unfrequently meet with in the ancients. It was reported in Greece, that it was necessary to transport the iron to Populonia, and the imagination of the Greeks immediately invented a reason. The truth is simply this: in later times there was a want of wood in Elba, and it was found cheaper to convey the iron to Populonia, than to import wood into Elba, for Populonia possessed smelting establishments. In like manner, the copper ore found in Cornwall is conveyed to Wales and smelted there. Populonia was a wealthy maritime town until it was destroyed by Sulla; and from that time it has been a heap of ruins, which were seen by Strabo. The town was never restored.

The moderns who have written on ancient geography are tolerably unanimous in their opinions, that VETULONIUM was situated in the neighbourhood of Populonia. Dionysius mentions it as a large city, which carried on war against Rome, while Livy does not notice it either in the first decad, where he describes the great Etruscan war, or in his account of the Hannibalian war, or in any other place. It must accordingly have disappeared at a time of which we know nothing. There exist coins with Etruscan inscriptions, which unquestionably belong to Vetulonium. In a forest near Populonia large ruins are found, which have been assigned to Vetulonium, but this is a mere conjecture, and nothing can be said with any degree of certainty about the situation of the place. I have often thought, that it might possibly be Orviedo which was called _Urbs vetus_ as early as the eighth century. However, the place has entirely disappeared, and all that is said about it rests on mere conjecture.

There now follow RUSELLAE and COSSA, the latter of which, as I have already observed, was probably not an Etruscan town; at a later time it received a Latin colony.

TARQUINII appears in our histories as an Etruscan town, but that in the most ancient times it was a real Tyrrhenian place, is attested by the tradition of its having been founded by Thessalians; the name Tarchon, which is mentioned as archegetes and is connected with Telephus, points in the same direction. At the time when Tarquinii is drawn into the traditions about Rome, and connected with Tarquinius Priscus, it probably is still a Tyrrhenian town. In the war with Pyrrhus, Tarquinii, like nearly all the Etruscan towns, formed an alliance with Rome in a general peace, of which I shall speak in the third volume of my History of Rome. By this peace the Etruscan towns were placed in a relation to Rome quite different from that of the other towns of Italy, because the Romans were anxious to gratify their wishes in order to prevent their forming connections with Pyrrhus. This is one of the occurrences where Providence directly interferes in the affairs of the world for the purpose of saving a state from destruction. Such also was the peace between Russia and Turkey in 1812, whereby the French army was prevented from retreating to Turkey, and was thus left to its fate. In like manner, Soltikoff, after the battle of Kunersdorf, ordered his troops to stand still. The determination of the Etruscan towns to accept the peace of the Romans forms a similar turning point in ancient history. After this, Tarquinii remained faithful to Rome, until it disappeared in the time of the Roman emperors. In the age of Cicero it still existed; in the war of Sulla it was probably not destroyed, though severe sufferings may have been inflicted upon it. The site which it once occupied, the modern Corneto, is remarkable for the monuments which are discovered there, and are more numerous than in any other place of Etruria. They are made of clay, and are of a very peculiar character, approaching the Grecian style, while those found in the interior of Etruria are altogether different in workmanship from Greek monuments. The decay of Tarquinii must perhaps be ascribed to the choking up of its good harbour, and to the rise of _Centumcellae_, one of the few places in Italy the origin of which belongs to a late period. Until the time of Trajan no town existed there; it was only a summer palace of the emperor with a mineral spring, for that volcanic region contains many hot springs. Trajan, who in general did much to promote the navigation of the Italians, built a harbour there, and constructed the _molo_ which still forms the harbour of Civita Vecchia; and near it arose the town which received its name of Centumcellae from the imperial palace. The town continued to increase in importance, especially during the period of the decay of the empire, when the Portus of Rome became more and more filled up, while that of Centumcellae was capable of receiving larger ships. The Saracens took the place, but the inhabitants withdrew, and built in the interior of the country the town of _Leopolis_, named after pope Leo IV. When, in consequence of the victory of Ostia, the danger of the Saracens was removed, the inhabitants of Centumcellae returned, and from that time the town has been called _Civita Vecchia_. It is, therefore, not an Etruscan, but a Roman town.

CAERE with the port towns of _Fregenae_, _Alsium_, and _Pyrgi_, was situated nearer the mouth of the Tiber. Caere was anciently called _Agylla_, and as such it is said to have been Pelasgian or Thessalian: it is, moreover, expressly mentioned that the town was taken by the Etruscans. As later writers believed in the Lydian origin of the Etruscans, this misunderstanding gave rise to the account that Agylla was taken by the Lydians. Agylla existed as a Tyrrhenian town until a very late period. In the account of Herodotus, where the Phocaeans settle in Corsica, and are attacked and expelled by the Carthaginians and Agyllaeans, Agylla does not yet appear as an Etruscan town. When the Agyllaeans, after treating their captives treacherously, had experienced the wrath of heaven, they consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, which no Etruscan town ever did; they, moreover had a _thesaurus_ at Delphi, and the mention of _thesauri_ there does not go farther back than the fortieth Olympiad. It must therefore have been after this time that the Etruscans advanced into those districts. The names of Pyrgi and Alsium also attest their Tyrrhenian origin. It is probable, lastly, that Caere, because of its Tyrrhenian origin, was on such friendly terms with Rome, that during the Gallic calamity the Romans carried their sacred treasures in safety to Caere. Afterwards they were involved in a protracted war with each other; a truce was concluded and renewed from time to time, until Caere gradually entered the general relation in which the Etruscan towns stood to Rome. In this condition, we find Caere in the time of the Hannibalian war. Afterwards it is no longer mentioned, except that we find it entered as a Marian colony in the lists of colonies drawn up by Hyginus and Frontinus.

VEII was situated not quite ten English miles from Rome. Its circumference, according to Dionysius, was like that of Rome under Servius Tullius, and the same as the ancient Attic ἄστυ. However, it is scarcely credible that Dionysius should have possessed such accurate information about a town which had been razed to the ground long before his own time. It is well known, that Veii was destroyed by the Romans even before the Gallic period, because the plebeians had declared that they would emigrate to Veii, if the patricians thought them unworthy of being members of the same state. For this reason, the patricians and the senate systematically destroyed the place. Its site is undoubted, but scarcely any traces of Etruscan remains are found there. In the reign of Tiberius, we find it mentioned as a military colony, but we do not know when or how it was constituted as such. About thirty years ago, excavations were made on the spot, and some beautiful works of art, and among them a very fine statue of Tiberius, were discovered; but most of the things found there are not above mediocrity, and all the inscriptions refer to the restoration of the place by Tiberius. Henceforth, and down to the overthrow of the western empire, Veii remained a small country town in the neighbourhood of the capital. A bishop of Veii occurs as late as the fifth century. It is quite in accordance with the natural course of things, that places which were great before Rome rose to eminence, and for a time her equals, were in the end subdued and perished in the wars with their rival. In places of this kind a new population gradually sprang up, and corporations were formed which were nothing else but military colonies, and could not last long, as most of the men were unmarried. Such a population was generally of the worst kind, consisting of inn-keepers, carters, and the like; the places were in reality suburbs of Rome, though at a considerable distance from it.

CAPENA was about the same distance from Rome as Veii; it is mentioned in the earlier times, but afterwards completely disappears, and its inhabitants, according to all appearances, were removed to Rome after the Punic war. SUTRIUM and NEPET were for a long time the frontier towns of Etruria towards the territory of Rome.