Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/116

 ETBUBU. iMil it IB far from prMenting an unbrolMi and iiiii- fonn plain, and rather fbnns a anooesrioD of baiuna batweeu the uplands and the sea, separated hj inter- vening ridges of hills, which descend in places quite to the sea'Ooast, and constitute the natural limits of these separate districts, now known as the Maremma a VoUirrOf Maremma di Groneio, he. Of these, the last-mentioned, which may be called the basin of the Ombnme (Umbro), and extends akmg the coast from the pcxKnontoiy of Populonium to the Mous Argentarius, is the roost eztenaiTe. S. of Centum- DelJae tlie hills descend quite to the sea*ooaitt, and continue to skirt it at a very short distance, till within a few miles of the Tiber. The minor riven of Etruria may be readily classed into three groups: 1. those which &U into the Amus; S. those whkh fidl into the Tiber; and 3. thoeo which flow direct to the sea. I. Of the first group it is singular that not a single ancient name has been preserved to us, except that of the Auseb or SerckiOf which now no longer joins the Amus, but pttctues its own ooone to the sea. The most important tributaries of the Armo are the Sieve and the Ombrome from the N., and the EUa and Era oo the & side. S. Of the affluents of the Tiber, the only oonsidenble one which joins it from the W. or Etruscan bank is the Cijuiis already mentioned, together with its tributary the Pallia or Pallia (Pallia, Tab. Peai.}: several small streams, how- ever, bring down to it the waters of the Etruscan hills; but the only one of which the ancient name Is rsoorded is the Crbmbra, between Borne and VeiL 3. The rivers which discharge their waters directly into the sea are more numerous and oooai- demble. Proceeding S. from the mouth of the Amus, we find: the Cabcima (Cecma), which wa- tered the territory of Vohtterme; the Umbro (Om- Mme), which flowed beneath the walls of Boselbe, and is the most considerable stream between the Ano and the Tiber; the Albinia {Atbegna), be- tween Portus Tehmioius and Gosa; the Armina or Armenta (Amine, Armine,/(m. MariL p. 499; Ar- menta, TaL Pen!.), now called the Fionk, which oonatitutes the modem boundary between Tuscany and the Roman SUtes; the Marta {Tab. PeuL; JHtL Ant, p. 291), still called MariOy which carries off the waters of the lake of Bolaena^ and flows beneath the walls of Tarquinii; and the Mixio (ift^none), H small stream, but better known than the preceding irom the mentioii of its name in Virgil {Aen, x. .183). Besides these, the name of the Ossa ( Oaa a very small stream b^ween the Albinia and Portus Tehunoou), is recorded by Ptolemy (iii. 1. § 4); and that of the Ahna (Alma also a trifling rivulet, be- tween the Umbro and Populonium, by the Mantime Itinerary (p. 500). N. of the Amus, the Aventia and Vesidia oif the TabnU may probably be identified with the river Lavenga^ which descends from the jnoontaias of Carrara; and the VerngHa, which flows from thos^ of SerravetM, Of the lakes of Etraria the most considerable is the Lagos TiiAsiMBirua, still called the Lago TVatmeao or La^ di Perugia^ about 36 miles in ciivumference, and celebrated for the great victory of Hannibal over the Romans in b.c 217; next to this in magnitude is the Lacus VoLauiiBNSu, or logo di JMtena^ so called from the city of the same name, a cimter-formed lake, as well as the mors southerly Lac us Sabatihub jLago di B racdano) and the mncJiMnaller Lacus Cimin us {Logo £ Vico) •ajui Lacus AuiucTiiiua (JLago di Mariigmmff), ETRURIA. 857 The Laiu or GmsiaM, on the contraiy (Logo di Ckiud)f was a mere stagnant aocnmulatkm of water connected with the river Clanis: and the Apriub Lacus, or Prelius Lacus of Cicero, was a kind of lagoon or marshypool on the sea-coast, not far iitnn the month of the Umbroy now called the PiuMi di Caetigticme, Several similar lagoons or marshy Ukee exist at diflersnt points akmg the coast of Etraria, of which the ancient names have not been preserved; as well as on the N. akie of the Amus, where the PaduU di FueeccMo and Lago di BieiH Hna are evidently only the remains of far more extensive waters and manhes, which previously occupied this part of Etruria. [Abhus.] Tha Vadunonian L^e (Lacus Vadimohis), noted as the scene of two s i M xe a si v c defeats of the Etrus- cans by the Romans, is a mere sulphureous pool of very small extent, now called the LagheUo or Laga di BaseanOy a few miles from the town of Onto (Hobta) and close to the Tiber. The most prominent physical leaturea of the coaet of Etruria are the promontory of Pofulomium, and that of the Mens Abobmtarius, which seems to have been better known to the Romans by the name of Promontorium Gosanum: the latter is s remarkable, detached, and almost msulated mountain, joined to the mainland only by two narrow strips of sand. Several small islands ars situated off the coast of Etruria, and between that country and Corsiea. Of these by far the most considemble is Ilva, caDed by the Greeks Aethalia, celebrated for its iron mines, and separated from the promontoiy of Populonium by a strait only six miles wide. S. of Ilva Uy the small low isknd of Plahasta {Pianaad) and the still smaller Oolasa {Monie Criito), Off the promontoiy of Cosa were Ioilium {Giglio) and DiAiviUM (GtatmuU): and N. of Ilva, between tlie mouth of the Amus and Corsica, hiy Urgo or Gor- gon (Gargoma) and Gapraria (jCaprajd), Besides these Pliny mentions several smaller islets, probably mere rocks, of which Msenaria may probably be Identified with Jdehria, immediately opposite to the port of Livomo; Columbaria mag be PalmajokL, in the straits between Ilva and the mainland; and Barpana and Venaria may be the small islets off the Portus Telamonis now called the Fomdche di Grot- teto, (Plin. iii. 6. s. 12.) But these last identi- fications are merely conjectural IIL Obioih asd National AFmnruES of tub Etbuscaicb. There are few problems that have in modem times more exercised the ingenuity of scholan and philologers than that of the origin of the Etruscan nation, and few upon which opinions still remain more divided. Without attempting to notice all the various hypotheses that have beoi advanced and derivations that have been found for this remarkable people, it will be necessary to review the most im- portant of them, beginning with the statements found in ancient authon on the subject. The opinion generally received in ancient times, and almost umversally adopted by Roman writers, ascribed to the Etruscans a Lgdian origin. The earliest autliority fur this statement is that of He- rodotus, who rJates it aooonling to the tradition reported to him by the Lydians. Their account (mixed up with many &bnlous and legendary de- tails) was, in substance, that a cerUin Atys, king of Lydia, had two sons, Lydus and Tynenns, the one of whom had remained in Lydia and given name to