The History of Rome, Book I: The Period Anterior to the Abolition of the MonarchyMommsen, Theodor
History
The History of Rome, Book I: The Period Anterior to the Abolition of the Monarchy
Mommsen, Theodor
Rome -- History
It is, on the other hand, a matter of historical interest to
determine what were the oldest traceable abodes of the Etruscans,
and what were their further movements when they issued thence.
Various circumstances attest that before the great Celtic invasion
they dwelt in the district to the north of the Po, being conterminous
on the east along the Adige with the Veneti of Illyrian (Albanian?)
descent, on the west with the Ligurians. This is proved in particular
by the already-mentioned rugged Etruscan dialect, which was still
spoken in the time of Livy by the inhabitants of the Raetian Alps,
and by the fact that Mantua remained Tuscan down to a late period.
To the south of the Po and at the mouths of that river Etruscans
and Umbrians were mingled, the former as the dominant, the latter
as the older race, which had founded the old commercial towns of
Atria and Spina, while the Tuscans appear to have been the founders
of Felsina (Bologna) and Ravenna. A long time elapsed ere the
Celts crossed the Po; hence the Etruscans and Umbrians left deeper
traces of their existence on the right bank of the river than they
had done on the left, which they had to abandon at an early period.
All the regions, however, to the north of the Apennines passed too
rapidly out of the hands of one nation into those of another to
permit the formation of any continuous national development there.
Etruria
Far more important in an historical point of view was the great
settlement of the Tuscans in the land which still bears their name.
Although Ligurians or Umbrians were probably at one time(5) settled
there, the traces of them have been almost wholly effaced by the
Etruscan occupation and civilization. In this region, which extends
along the coast from Pisae to Tarquinii and is shut in on the east
by the Apennines, the Etruscan nationality found its permanent abode
and maintained itself with great tenacity down to the time of the
empire. The northern boundary of the proper Tuscan territory was
formed by the Arnus; the region north from the Arnus as far as the
mouth of the Macra and the Apennines was a debateable border land
in the possession sometimes of Ligurians, sometimes of Etruscans,
and for this reason larger settlements were not successful there.
The southern boundary was probably formed at first by the Ciminian
Forest, a chain of hills south of Viterbo, and at a later period by
the Tiber. We have already(6) noticed the fact that the territory
between the Ciminian range and the Tiber with the towns of Sutrium,
Nepete, Falerii, Veii, and Caere appears not to have been taken
possession of by the Etruscans till a period considerably later
than the more northern districts, possibly not earlier than in the
second century of Rome, and that the original Italian population must
have maintained its ground in this region, especially in Falerii,
although in a relation of dependence.
Relations of the Etruscans to Latium
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