Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1340

 1316 UMBMA. cans and Samnites. (Liv. x. 21.) Their comliinecl forces were, hovrever, overthrown in the great battle of Sentinum (76. 26, 27; Polyb. ii. 19); and this is the last time that tlie Umbrians, as a people, appear in arms against the Roman power. We are indeed told in the epitome of Livy that the Umbrians were again defeated, and reduced to submission at the .same time as the Sallentines, in b. c. 266 (Liv. Epit. XV.) ; but there seems no doubt that this refers only to the outlying tribe or people of the Sarsinates (on the N. of the Apennines, and adjoining the Boian Gauls), as the Fasti, in recording the events of the year, mention both consuls as triumphing only " de Sarsinatibus " {Fast. Capit.) We have no account of the terms on which the Umbrians were received into submission, or of the manner in which they passed, like their neighbours theEtrnscans, into the condition of dependent allies of Eome : it is certain only that the different tribes and cities were, according to the usual Roman policy, admitted on very different terms. Ocriculum, as already mentioned, enjoyed special privileges ; and the same was the case with the Camertes, who, even in the days of Cicero, re- tained a peculiarly favoured position, and had a treaty which secured them a nominal independence and equality. (Liv. xxviii. 45 ; Cic. pro Balb. 20.) The fertile district of the " Gallicus ager " was in great part occupied by Roman colonies, of which Sena Gallica was founded as early as B. c. 289, Ariminum in B.C. 268, and Pisaurum in B.C. 18.3. But besides these, a considerable part of that territory was divided among Roman citizens, by a law of the tribune, C. Flaminius, in b. c. 2.32. (Cic. Brut. 14.) The other Umbrians continued in the position of de- pendent allies of Rome, and appear to have remained uniformly faithful to the powerful republic. Thus, in B. c. 282, we are told that they were solicited by the envoys of the Tarentines (Dion Cass. i^r. 144), but apparently without effect : nor does it appear that their constancy was for a moment shaken by the successes of Hannibal; and before the close of the Second Punic War we find them coming forward with the offer of volunteers for the army of Scipio. (Liv. xxviii. 45.) In the Social War they are said to have for a time broken out into revolt, and were defeated in a battle by the legate C. Plotius ; but it is probable that the defection was a very partial one, and the Romans wisely secured the fidelity of the Umbrians as well as of the Etruscans by bestowing on them the Roman franchise, b. c. 90. (Liv. Epit. Ixxiv.; Oros. v. 18; Appian, B. C. i. 49.) From this time the name of the Umbrians as a nation disappears from history, though it continued, as already mentioned, to be well known as one of the territorial divisions of Italy. (Tac. Hist. iii. 41, 42; Jul. Capit. Gordiani, 4; &c.) In the early ages of the empire it was still one of the districts which supplied the most numerous recruits to the praetoi-ian cohorts. (Tac. Ann. iv. 5.) As long as the division of Italy into regions subsisted, the name of Umbria continued to be applied to the sixth re- gion; but from an early period, certainly long before the time of Constantine, it was united for adminis- trative purposes with Etruria, and its name seems to have become gradually merged in that of the more important province. Thus Servius tells ns that Umbria was a part of Tuscia (Serv. ad A en. xii. 753), and the Liber Coloniarum includes the ancient Umbrian cities of Hispellum, Tuder, Ameria, &c., among the " Civitates Tusciae." {Lib. Colon, p. 224.) On the other haud, the district E. of the UMBRIA. Apennines, the ancient Ager Gallictis, was row again separated from Umbria, and became known by the name of Picenum Annonarium. (Mommsen, de Lib.Col.Y>-2U.) Of the Umbrians as a nation during their period of independence we know almost nothing. We learn only that they enjoyed the reputation of brave and hardy warriors; and the sHght resistance that they opposed to the Roman arms was probably owing to their want of political organisation. So far as we learn, they appear to have been divided into several tribes or " populi," such as the Camertes, Sarsinates, &c., each of which followed its own line of policy without any reference to a common authority. No trace is found in history of the existence among them of any national league or council such as existed among the Etruscans and Latins ; and even where the Um- brians are spoken of in general terms, it is often doubtful whether the whole nation is really meant. The physical characters of Umbria are almost wholly determined by the chain of the Apennines, which, as already described, enters the province near the sources of the Tiber, and extends thence without interniption to the lofty group of the 3fonti delta Sibilla (the ancient Mons Fiscellus) at the sources of the Nar, and on the confines of Picenum and the land of the Sabines. The Apennines do not rise in this part of the chain to so great an elevation as they attain farther south, but their principal summits within the Umbrian territory range from 4000 to 5500 feet in height; while their numerous ramifications fill up a space varying from 30 to 50 miles in breadth. A very large portion of Umbria is therefore a mountain country (whence it is termed " montana Umbria " by JIartial, iv. 10), though less rugged and difficult of access than the central regions of Italy farther to the S. On the W. the mountain district terminates abruptly on the edge of a broad valley or plain which extends from near Spoleto to the neighbourhood of Perugia, and is thence con- tinued up the valley of the Tiber as far as Citta di Castello. But beyond this plain rises another group of hills, connected with the main chain of the Apen- nines by a ridge which separates Spoleto from Terrd, and which spreads out through almost the whole extent of country from the valley of the Nar to that of the Tiber. It is on the outlying hills orunderfalls of this range that the ancient Umbrian cities of Tuder and Ameria were placed. The broad valley between this group and the main mass of the central Apen- nines is a fertile and delightful district, and was renowned in ancient times for the richness and lux- uriance of its pastures, which were watered by the streams of the Tinia and Clitumnus. Here we find within a short distance of one another the towns of Treba, Hispellum, Mevania, and Assisium. This district may accordingly be looked on as the heart of Umbria properly so called. On the E. of the central chain the Apennines descend more gradually to the sea by successive stages, throwing off like anns long ranges of moun- tains, sinking into hills as they approach the Adri- atic. The valleys between them are furrowed by numerous streams, which pursue nearly parallel courses from SW. to NE. The most considerable of these are the Aesis {Esino'), which formed the established limit between Umbria and Picenum ; the Sexa, which flowed under the walls of Sena Gallica {Sinigaglia') the far more celebrated JIetaurus, which entered the sea at Fanum Fortunae {Funo) ; the PisAUKUS, which gave name to the city of Pi-