Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/660

Rh 636 E T K U R I A followed, after which the city was rebuilt by Augustus. Even under the empire it maintained a position of import Vola- terrae. Popu lonia. ance. Natural resources Volaterrce, called Velathri on its coinage, and now Volterra, of which the massive walls from 4 to 5 miles in circuit still stand on a great bare height visible far round, appears to have been one of the twelve cities, notwithstand ing the fact of its having taken part with the Latins against Tarquinius Priscus. Almost nothing, however, is known of its history except the record of a defeat (298 B.C.) inflicted by L. Cornelius Scipio (Livy, x. 12), the battle having raged all day till darkness set in. The Etruscans deserted their camp in the night. Though considerably inland, Volaterrse is cited as having supplied tackling and other gear for Scipio s fleet, from which it would appear that she had been maritime, trading probably in the main through the port of Populonia, which is said to have been colonized by her Possibly also the island of Elba with its rich mines belonged to Volaterrae. Its territory was extensive. During the civil wars it took the side of Marius, and after a siege of two years had to surrender, and only for a time escaped having to receive a military colony through the exertions of Cicero. Besides the walls there remain still several sepulchres of great interest, in par ticular that of the Caecince family, famous in Roman history, and the ruins of two dome-shaped chambers, resembling in their construction the so-called tomb of Agamemnon at Mycenae. Populonia, called Pitpluna on its coins, furnished iron obtained from the mines of Elba for Scipio s fleet. Daring the civil war it was destroyed by Sulla. Parts of the walls of huge masonry remain. Russella; (Roselle) still survives in its walls of colossal masonry, but otherwise is a wilderness. Its history is uneventful, except for its siege by the Romans (294 B.C.), when it lost 2000 as prisoners and as many more slain (Livy, x. 37). It furnished corn and fir for the fleet of Scipio. Vetulonia is given as one of the twelve cities, but little is known of it from records, and scarcely anything from remains, if, as appears to be the case, Mr Dennis is right in identifying its site on the coast near Telamone, which he presumes would have been its port. Piste, on the coast, was said to have been founded by T irchon as a barrier against the Ligurians. Luna and Luca were pro bably included in its territory. Of Ffesitlcc the huge walls on an impregnable height still remain. In Roman times the inhabitants moved to the lower ground of Florence. At Cosa and Saturnia are remains of massive walls, and at the latter place a peculiar form of tomb, which seems to date from a very early and at any rate a rude age. Salpenum and Aurinia are mentioned also among the Etruscan cities. Outside of Etruria proper, but still claiming to be Etruscan towns, we have, in Etruria Circumpadana, Felsini, afterwards called Bononia, said to have been at the head of the league formed by this district, Melpum, Mantua, Spina, Ravenna, Hatna, and Cn.pra. In Campania again were the following cities which Etruria was said to have founded or sent colonists to, but without the effect of making them practically Etruscan towns : Capua, N ola, Pompeii, Heradanevnn, Surrentum, Mardna, Salernum. These, then, are the towns of Etruria, In their records and in their ruins they survive as monuments of a life spent in extraordinary activity, and highly honoured in death. No country has left such wealth in its tombs. Nowhere have such battlements endured till now. Nature must have largely aided the Etruscans with her fertility, where now she is either exuberant to the degree of being a wilderness or pestilential as in the Maremma. Evidence of its natural products has been seen in the corn, fir wood, and iron, supplied to the Roman fleet. Its rivers and lakes must have assisted agriculture (&quot; sic fortis Etruria crevit, Virg., Georg., ii. 533), on which the country appears to have relied even more than on commerce, since with a large sea coast it had comparatively few ports. The exceeding unhealthiness of the coast district anciently as now may have had much to do with this result. Yet their commerce was such as to place the inhabitants in a position to make treaties with that powerful nation of traders the Carthaginians, as, for instance, in the mutual agreement that the latter should hold Sardinia, while the Etruscans retained Corsica. To the Athenian expedi tion against Sicily in the Peloponnesian war Etruria sent three ships, probably more from enmity to Sicily than from friendship to the Athenians. Their success in piracy was too well known in early times. The greater part of the country is broken up by chains and ridges of hills. The supply of timber was large, and doubtless profitable, as were also the pastures, from which a consider able trade in cattle rearing and wool spinning was derived. The numerous lakes Lacus Ciminius, Sabatinus, Vadi- monius, Clusinus, Thrasymenus,and Volsinius with its basalt j rocks, afforded extensive occupation in fishing, as did the forests for hunting. Wine, largely produced, was nowhere so fine as at Luna. Flax and linen were grown at Falerii and Tarquinii. Besides iron and copper, there was a supply of silver and gold. The variegated marble of Luna was greatly prized. Volaterra? yielded alabaster, Arretium a clay peculiarly adapted for pottery, for which in later times it was celebrated. Tufa or travertine could be obtained in massive blocks from many places. There were numerous warm and sulphurous springs. The country had once been volcanic in many places, the extinct craters serving as basins for lakes. The most fertile and most highly cultivated districts wers in the north at the foot of the Apennines, and along the upper valleys of the Arno and Tiber. The chief rivers were the Clanis, the Arnus (Arno), and the LTmbro. During the early period the natural resources of Etruria Custc must have been severely drained by her wars with Rome. Afterwards, when she sank into dependence, there arose private wealth, and the individual Etruscan became pinguis et obesus, an expression which is abundantly verified by the portrait sculptures on their sarcophagi. Their extra vagance in diet was a reproach, and in connexion with this their habit of reclining at banquets, as constantly seen in their works of art, was remarked on as similar to that of the Greeks ; while the presence on these occasions of women who joined in the toasts, contrary to the customs of the Greeks and the Italic nations, was pointed out as consistent with the origin of the Etruscans from Lydia, where no less indulgence was said to have been allowed to women, and where also, as in Etruria, it was very usual to trace descent from the maternal side Etruscan dancers, who appear to have attended private as well as public ceremonies, were distinguished for the skill with which, without words, and only by action and gesture, they represented a story. Different from this may have been the armed dance, sinqe it recalls that of the Salii in Rome, who accompanied their movements by songs of heroic deeds of old. Athletic contests, such as those of the Roman circus, together with displays of gladiatorial fights, were part of the amusements, and it seems almost certain that the latter form of excitement was derived by Rome from Etruria, The flute, trumpet, and lit mis were the favourite musical instruments. Their literature consisted mainly of religious verses and national songs, of which, however, nothing is known. To these must be added the form of satyric songs -s-hich originated in Fescen- nium, a place belonging to Etruria, In science, especial!} in medicine, and in philosophy their knowledge was