Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/98

 82 ITALIA. Italy ; but we have no specific account of its pro- duction, and the fact that silver money was unknovn to the ancient rations of Italy sufficiently shows that it was not found in any great quantity. The early coinage of Italy was of copper, or rather bronze ; and this metal appears to have been extracted in large quantities, and applied to a variety of purposes by the Etruscans, from a very early period. The same people were the first to explore the iron mines of Ilva, which continued to be assiduously worked by the Romans ; though the metal produced was thought inferior to that of Noricum. Of other minerals, cinnabar (minium) and calamine (cad- mium) are noticed by Pliny. The white marble of Luna, also, was extensively quarried by the Romans, and seems to have been recognised as a superior material for sculpture to any of those derived from Greece. IV. En-ERS, Lakes, and JIoun'tains. The configuration of Italy is unfavourable to the formation of great rivers. The Padus is the only stream which deserves to rank among the principal rivers of Europe : even the Arnus and the Tiber, celebrated as are their names in history, being in- ferior in magnitude to many of the secondary streams, which are mere tributaries of the Rhine, the Rhone, or the Danube. In the north of Italy, indeed, the rivers which flow from the perpetual snows of the Alps are furnished with a copious and constant supply of water; but the greater part of those which have their sources in the Apennines, though large and formidable streams when swollen by heavy rains or the snows of winter, dwindle into insignificance at other times, and present but scanty streams of water winding through broad beds covered with stones and shingle. It is only by comparison with Greece that Italy (with the e.^iception of Cisalpine Gaul) could be praised for its abundance of navigable rivers. The Padus, or Po, is by far the most important river of Italy, flowing from W. to E. through the very midst of the great basin or trough of Northern Italy, and receiving, in consequence, from both sides, all the waters from the southern declivities of the Alps, as well as from the northern slopes of the Apennines. Hence, though its course does not ex- ceed 380 geog. miles in length, and the direct distance from its sources in the lions Vesulus (^Mte. Viso) to its mouth in the Adriatic is only 230 miles, the body of water which it brings down to the sea is very large. Its principal tributaries are as follows, beginning with those on the N. bank, and proceeding from W. toE. : — (1) the Duria Minor (^Dona Ripa- ri(z), which joins the Po near Turin 'Augusta Tauri- norum; (2 ) the Stura(5/wrrt); (3) the Orgus (Oreo), (4) the Duria JIajor, or Dora Baltea ; (5) the Ses- sites {Sesia) (6) the Ticinus {Ticlno); (7) the Lambrus {Lamhro); (8) the Addua {Adda) ; (9) the Ollius (Oglio); (10) the Mincius {Mincio). Equally numerous, though less important in volume and magnitude, are its tributaries from the S. side, the chief of which are : — (1) the Tanarus {Tcmaro), flowing from the JIaritime Alps, and much the most considerable of the southern feeders of the Po ; (2) the Trebia (^reiiw); (3) the Tarns (Trtro); (4) the Incius {Enza); (5) the G.abellus {Seccltw) ; (6) the Scultemia (PoJjaro) ; (7) the Renus {Reno); (8) the Vatrenus {Santerno). (Plin. iii. 16. s. 20.) The first river which, descending from the Alps, does not join the Padus, is the Athesis or Adige, which in the lower part of its course flows nearly ITALIA. parallel with the greater river for a distance of above 50 miles. E. of this, and flowing from the Alps direct to the Adriatic, come in succession, the Jle- doacus or Brenta, the Plavis or Piave, the Tila- vemptus {Tagliamento), and the Sontius {Isonzo), besides many smaller streams, which will be noticed under the article Venetia. Liguria, S. of the Apennines, has very few streams worthy of notice, the mountains here approaching so close to the coast as to leave but a short course for their waters. The most considerable are, the 'arus ( Var), which forms the western limit of the province ; the Rutuba {Roja), flowing through the land of the Intemelii, and the Macra {Magra), which divides Liguria from Etruria. The rivers of Central Italy, as already mentioned, all take their rise in the Apennines, or the mountain groups dependent upon them. The two most im- portant of these are the Amus {Arno) and Tiberis {Tevere). The Ausar (5erc/jjo), which now pursues an independent course to the sea a few miles N. of the Arnus, w.as formerly a confluent of that river. Of the smaller streams of Etruria, which have their sources in the group of hills that separate the basin of the Arno from that of the Tiber, the most con- siderable are the Caecina {Cecina), the Umbro {Ombrone), and the Arminia {Fiora). The great valley of the Tiber, which h.is a general southerly direction, from its som'ces in the Apennines on the confines of Etruria and Umbria to its mcuth at Ostia, a distance in a direct line of 140 geog. miles, is the most important physical feature of Central Italy. That river receives in its course many tribu- tary streams, but the only ones which are important in a geographical point of view are the Claris, the Nar, and the Anio. Of these the Nar brings with it the waters of the Velinus, a stream at least as considerable as its own. South of the Tiber are the Lmis {Garigliano or Liri), which has its sources in the central Apen- nines near the lake Fucinus; and the Vi'ltur- xcs {VoUurno), which brings with it the collected waters of almost the whole of Samnium, receiving near Beneventum the tributary streams of the Calor {Galore), the Sabatus {Sahhato), and the Tamarus {Tamaro). Both of these rivers flow through the plain of Campania to the sea : south of that province, and separating it from Lucania, is the S11..VRUS {Sele), which, with its tributaries the Calor {Calore) and Tanager {Xegro), drains the western valleys of the Lucaniau Apennines. This is the last river of any magnitude that flows to the western coast of Italy: further to the S. the Apennines approach so near to the shore that the streams which descend from them to the sea are mere mountain torrents of trifling length and size. One of the most consider- able of them is the Laiis {Lao), which forms the limit between Lucania .and Bruttium. The other minor streams of those two provinces are enumerated under their respective articles. Returning now to the eastern or Adriatic coast of Italy, we find, as already noticed, a large number of streams, descending from the Apennines to the sea, bitt few of them of any great magnitude, though those which have their sources in the highest parts of the range are formidable torrents at particular seasons of the year. Beginning from the frontiers of Cisalpine Gaul, and proceeding from N. to S., the most im- portant of these rivers are : — (1) the Ariminus {^farecchi(l)■, (2) the Crustumius (CoHca); (3) the Pisaurus {Foglia); (4) the Metaurus {Metauro);