Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/202

 186 LIGURIA. Monaco, while the main chain of the same mnnn- tains, turning ofi' from the general direction of the central chain of tlie Alps near the sources of the Var (Varus), is prolonged in a lofty and rugged range till it reaches the sea between Noli and Savona. The lateral ranges and oftshoots which descend from these mountains to the sea occupy the whole line of coast from Monaco to Sarona. Hence this line has always been one where there has been much diffi- culty in making and maintaining a practicable road. It was not till the reign of Augustus that the Eomans carried a highway from Vada Sabbata to Antipolis; and in the middle ages, when the Roman roads had fallen into decay, the whole of this line of coast becatne proverbial for the difficulty of its com- munications. (Dante, Pur(j. iii. 49.) From the neighbourhood of Vada Sabbata, or Saimia, where the Alps may be considered to end and the Apennines to begin, the latter chain of mountains runs nearly parallel with the coast of Liguria throughout its whole extent as far as the river Macra; and though the range of the Apennines is f;tr inferior in elevation to that of the Maritime Alps, they nevertheless con- stitute a mountain mass of a rugged and difficult character, which leaves scarcely any level space be- tween the foot of the mountains and the sea. The northern declivity of the Apennines is less abrupt, and the mountains gradually subside into ranges of steep wooded hills as they approach the plains of the Po: but for this very reason the space occupied by the mountainous and hilly tract is more extensive, and constitutes a broad belt or band varying from 15 to 30 miles in width. The narrowest portion of the range, as well as one of the lowest, is immedi- ately at the back of Genoa, and for that reason the pass from that city to Dertona was in ancient as well as modern times one of the principal lines of communication with the interior. Another natural pass is marked out by a depression in the ridge be- tween the Maritime Alps and Apennines, which is crossed by the road from Savona to Ceva. This line of road communicates with the plain at the N. foot of the jMaritime Alps, extending from the neighbour- hood of Cotii and Mondavi to that of Twin, which is one of the most extensive tracts of fertile and level country comprised within the limits of the ancient Liguria. E. of this, the hills of the Astiyi- ana and Monferrat extend from the foot of the Apennines (of the northern slopes of which they are, in fact, a mere continuation) qtiite to the bank of the Po; but are of moderate elevation and constitute a fertile country. Beyond these, again, another tract of plain occurs, but of less extent ; for though it runs far up into the mountains near Kovi, it is soon hemmed in again by the hills which descend to Tortona (Dertona), Vogliera (Iria), and CastPfjgio (Clastidium), so as to leave but a narrow strip of plain between them and the banks of the Po. The physical features of Liguria naturally exer- cised a marked influence on the character and habits of its inhabitants. It was with the tribes who occu- pied the lofty and rugged ranges of the Apennines E. of the Macra (where these mountains rise to a much greater elevation, and assume a much more Alpine character, than in any part of Liguria proper) that the Romans waged their longest and most ob- stinate contests; but all the tribes who inhabited the upper valleys of the central chain, and the steep and rugged declivities of the Apennines towards the sea, partook of the same hardy and warlike character. On the other hand, the Statielli, Vagienni, and other LIGURIA. triljes who occupied the more fertile hills and valley.s on the N. declivity of the Apennines, were evidently reduced with comparatively little difficulty. It is to the former portion of the Ligurian people that the character and description of them which we find in ancient writers may be considered almost exclusively to apply. Strabo says that they dwelt in scattered villages, tilling the soil with difficulty, on account of its rugged and barren character, so that they had almost to qitari'y rather than dig it. But their chief subsistence was derived from their herds, which sup- plied them with flesh, cheese, and milk ; and they made a kind of drink from barley. Their mountains also supplied timber in great abundance and of the largest size. Genua was their principal emporium, and thither they brought, for export, timber, cattle, hides, and honey, in return for which they received wine and oiL (Strab. iv. p. 202, v. p. 218 ; Diod. V. 39. ) In the days of the geograjjher they pro- duced but little wine, and that of bad quality ; but Pliny speats of the Ligurian wines with commenda- tion. (Strab. p. 202 ; Plin. xiv. 6. s. 8.) The nature of their country and the life they led inured them to hardships (" assuetum malo Ligurem," Virg. G. ii. 168; "Ligures montani duri et agrestes," Cic. de Leg. Agr. ii. 35) ; and they were distinguished for their agility, which admirably fitted them for the chase, as well as for the kind of predatory warfare which they so long maintained against the Romans. Cato gave them the character of being treacherous and deceitful, — an opinion which seems to hare been generally adopted by the Romans (Serv. ad Aen. xi. 700, 715), and must naturally have grown up from the nature of the wars between them ; but they appear to have served faithfully, as well as bravely, in the service of the Greeks and Carthaginians, as mercenaries, and, at a later period, as auxiliaries in those of Rome. (Diod. v. 39 ; Plut. Mar. 19 ; Tac. Hist. n. 14.) The troops they furnished were almost exclusively infantry, and, for the most part, light- armed : they excelled particularly as slingers(Pseudo Arist. 31irab. 90) ; but their regular infantry car- ried oblong shields of brass, resembling those of the Greeks. (Diod. Z. c; Strab. iv. p. 202.) During the period of their independence, they not only made plundering incursions by land into the neighbouring countries, but carried on piracy by sea to a consider- able extent, and were distinguished for their hardi- ness and daring as navigators, as well as in all their other pursuits. (Diod. v. 39; Liv.xl. 18, 28.) The mountain tribes resembled the Gauls and Germans in the custom of wearing their hair long ; on which account the wilder tribes, which were the last to maintain their independence, were known as the Ligures Capillati or Comati {Alyves Ko^tjtoI, Dion Cass. liv. 24 ; Plin. iii. 20. s. 24 ; Lucan, i. 442) ; and the cropping their hair was regarded as a proof of their subjection to Rome. Among the more peculiar natural productions of Liguria are noticed a breed of dwarf horses and mules, called by the Greeks yivvot ; and a kind of mineral resembling amber, called iyyoipwv, which appears to have been confounded by Theophrastus with genuine amber. (Strab. iv. p. 2C2 ; Tlieophr. de Lapid. §§ 28, 29.) The Ligurians were divided, like most nations in a similar state of society, into a number of tribes, which appear to have had little, if any, political bond of union beyond the temporal^ alliances which they might form for warlike objects ; and it is evi- dent, from the account of the wars carried on by