Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/580

 564 PELASGI. port them, they crossed over in sliips to Italy, called Saturnia, in obedience to the oracle. The winds bore them to Spines, on one of the mouths of the Po, where they establislied themselves, and by the help of their fleet acquired great power. They were, however, eventually driven out by an insurrection of the neighbouring barbarians, who were in turn over- powered by the Romans (i. 18). The Pelasgians thence migrated inland, crossed the Apennines, and entered the country of the Umbrians, who bordered on the Aborigines, and extended over a great part of Iialy, being a numerous and powerful people. Here they estahiished themselves for some time, and took some small towns from the Umbrians; but, being overpowered by them, they removed into the countiy of the Aboiiiiiiies. When they came to Cotyle, they recognised the spot where the oracle had told them they were to offer up a sacrifice to Jupiter, Pluto, and' Ph(«bus. On this'they invited the Aborigines, who CMme to attack them, to join alliance with them; which invitation they, being hard pressed by the Siculi, accepted, and gave the Pelasgi Velia to dwell in. The hitter then helped the Aborigines to conquer Crotnna in Umbria, and to drive the Sicels out of their land. Together they founded several cities. Caere, Al'vIUi, Pisa, Saturnium, and others, whieh were taken by the Tyrrhenians. Dionysius says that Phalerium and Fescennia retained in his time certain faint traces of the old Pelasgic popula- tion, especially in the weapons of war — viz. Argolic spears and shields — and the institution of fetials, and other religious rites. There was a temple of Hera at Falerium, exactly like that at Argos, where Were similar sacritices, and similar priestesses, cane- phori, and choruses of maidens. The Pelasgi also occupied parts of Campania, drivinsr out the Aurunci, and founded Larissa and other cities. Some of these remained, after under- going many changes of inhabitants, in Dionysius's time. Of Larissa there was no memorial save the name, and this was not commonly known ; but its site was not far from Forum Popilii. (Plin. iii. 15.) They took many cities from the Sicels, too, and estalilished their power along the coast and inland. Tiie Pelasgi, having drivenout the Sicels, increased in power and extent of territory. Eventually, how- ever, they incurred the anger of the gods, and suffered Various penalties at their hands. On consulting the oracle, they were told that they had neglected to perforin their oaths, in not sacrificing their first-born as well as the fruits of the field. Myrsilus tells this story, adding that the Pelasgi were soon dispersed in different directions, .some returning to Greece, and others remaining in Italy by the friendly intervention of the Aborigines. They were a warlike race, and acquired great skill in naval matters from their resi- deme with the Tyrrhenians. On this account they were often invited by other nations to serve as auxili- aries, and were called by the names Tyrrheni and Pelasgi indiscriminately (i. 18 — 23). Respecting the former name he says that it was given them on accountof the forts, TuVo'f'^.^^'hich they built. Hellanicus of Lesbos says that the Tyrrheni, formerly called Pelasgi, received the name which they bear alter tiieir arrival in Italy. For the counter- theory of Jlyrsiliis see Dionys. i. 28. Dionysius thinks all are mistaken who hold the Tyrrheni and the Pelasgi to be the same race. He thinks no argument can be drawn from the fact of their names being used indiscriminately, as that was very common, e. g., in the case of the Trojans and PELASGL Phrygians. Moreover, theGreeks called all Italians — Latins, Umbrians, Ansones, &c. — Tyrrhenians. Even Rome was believed by many to be a Tyrrhene city. Dionysius quotes Herodotus (i. 57) in support of his opinion that the Pelasgians and Tyrrhenians are not of the same origin. It would be a wonderful thing, he says, if the Crotoniatae spoke the same dialect as the Placieni on the He'lespont, both being Pelas- gians, but should not speak the same dialect as the Tyrrhenians, if they were also Pelasgi. For the contrary of the proposition — if o/xoyXwaffot, then 6ixuf6i'i7s — holds good : i. e. if aWoyXixraoi, then aWoeOfiis. If the ca.se were reversed, there might be a show of reason for believing them of the saine origin ; for it might be said that distance had ob- literated early traces of resemblance : but when they are so near each other as the Crotoniatae and Tyr- rheni this supposition is untenable (i. 29). Hence Dionysius believes the Pelasgians and Tyr- rhenians to be distinct. He sums up all by saying that those Pelasgians who suiTived the final disper- sion and ruin of the race existed among the Aborigines, and their descendants helped them and other tribes to build Rome (i. 30). It is unnecessary to remark the difference between Crotona in Umbria and Creston in Thrace, which Dionysius unsuspectingly passes over. The above somewhat lengthy extracts have been made from his Roman Antiquities, because they give us a very fair specimen of the way in which scattered traditions were dressed up in a quasi-historical garb, and decked out with any stray evidence which local names or language might supply. The common native tradition of the Latins only testifies to an immigration of so called Aborigines, not to any mixture of Pelasgi with them. On the other hand, another, which has received the testi- mony of Varro, and which agrees in other lespects with the narration of Dionysius, speaks of an im- migration of Pelasgians, but says nothing of Aborigines mixed with or allied with them. Certain Roman historians have combined these two traditions in a different way to that of Dionysius, making the Aborigines, namely, declare themselves to be one and the same people with the Pelasgians. This, for in- stance is, without any doubt, the meaning of Cato's assertion that the Aborigines came over into Italy many generations before the Trojan War, out of Achaia; for so he named the old Pelasgic Greece by the common appellation of his time. (Schwegler, livmiscke Gesch. iii. 2.) We find the same tradition of a Pelasgic immigration into Latium confirmed by many other testimonies. Pliny declares that writing was brought into Latium by the Pelasgi. It is a question, however, whether by these Pelasgi he means those who came out of Thessaly and Dodona, or the Arcadians of Evander. Other traditions assert the name of Rome to be Pelasgian, and derive the Saturnalia from a feast originally instituted by the Pelasgians who settled on the Saturnian hill. " In other parts of Italy we stumble repeatedly," says Schwegler, " on the same wide-extended name. Thus, it is said that the Hernici were descended from the Pelasgi. Picenum also is said to have been occupied by the Pelasgi. Report also says that the towns of Nuceria, Herculaneum, and Pompeii were founded by them, or that they dwelt there for a certain time. Other instances have been already given of towns and districts with which legendary history has Associated the name of the Pelasgi."