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'sae, _Pisa_; Floren'tia, _Florence_; and Fae'sulae: between the Arnus and the Tiber, Volate'rrae, _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 AE'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.