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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0026
xxvi THE THREE DIVISIONS OF ETRURIA. [introduction.
This wide territory was divided into three grand districts—
that in the centre, which may be termed Etruria Proper; that
to the north, or Etruria Circumpadana; and that to the south,
or Etruria Campaniana. And each of these regions was divided
into Twelve States, each represented by a city,2 as in Greece,
Trojans, followers of JEneas. Then
the Carthaginians, at the height of their
maritime power, took possession of the
island ; apparently about the middle of
the third century of Rome. Pausan.
X. 17 ; Diod. Sic. V. p. 296 ; Justin.
XIX. 1 ; Sil. Italic. XII. 358, et
sej. No mention is made of its being
under Etruscan domination, except by
Strabo (V. p. 225), who says it was
subject to the Tyrrheni, prior to the
Carthaginian rule. By these Tyrr-
henes Miiller (Etrusk. einl. 4, 7) thinks
Strabo meant Etruscans, not Pelasgi,
because he always made a distinction
between these races; but Niebuhr (I. p.
127, Engl, trans.) maintains that they
were unquestionably Pelasgians.
2 The Twelve Cities of Etruria Proper
will be presently mentioned.
In Etruria Circumpadana there were
Twelve cities. Liv. V. 33 ; Serv. ad
Virg. Ma. X. 202. Plutarch (Camil-
lus) however, asserts that there were
eighteen cities of commercial and
manufacturing importance in this region
of Etruria. The capital appears to
have been Mantua (Virg. Ma. X. 203 ;
Serv. ad Ma. X. 202), though Pliny
asserts that Felsina, now Bologna, was
intitled to that honour. Plin. III. 20 ;
cf. Liv. XXXVII. 57. A third city
was Melpem, of which we know no
more than that it stood north of the Po,
was renowned for its wealth, and was
destroyed by the Gauls on the same.
day that Camillus captured Yeii. Corn.
Nepos, ap. Plin. III. 21. Atria, or
Adria, was a noble city and port of the
Etruscans which gave its name to the
Adriatic sea. Plin. III. 20; Liv. V. 33 ;
Strabo, V. p. 214; Varro, Ling.
Lat. V. 161 ; Fest. v. Atrium. The
notices of Justin (XX. 1), and Ste-
phanus (sub voce) are referred by
Miiller to the Hadria of Pieenum.
Etrusk. einl. 3, 4 ; cf. Cramer, Anc.
Italy, I. p. 116. And Spina, at the
mouth of the Po, though called a Greek
city, was certainly a Pelasgic settle-
ment, as Dionysius (I. p. 15, ed. Sylb.)
affirms, and probably also Etruscan.
See Niebuhr, I. p. 36 ; Miiller, Etrusk.
einl 3, 4. Miiller thinks, from Strabo's
notice of it (V. p. 214), that Ravenna
is to be regarded as an Etruscan site ;
and Cupra in Pieenum was probably
so, for its temple was built by the
Etruscans and named after their god-
dess, Cupra, or Juno. Strabo, V. p.
241. Yet Niebuhr (I. p. 49) refers this
statement to the Tyrrhene-Pelasgi, not
to the Etruscans. We know the names
of no other Etruscan cities beyond the
Apennines.
There were Twelve chief cities also
in Etruria Campaniana. Liv. V. 33 ;
Strabo, V. p. 242. The metropolis was
Capua, built by the Etruscans 800 years
before Christ, and called by them Vul-
turnum. Strabo. loc. cit.; V. Paterc.
I. 7; Liv. IV. 37 ; Mela, II. 4 ; Serv.
ad Ma. X. 145. Nola also was of
Etruscan foundation. Veil. Pater, loc.
cit. Dic^jarchia, or Puteoli (Pausan.
IV. 35, VIII. 7 ; Steph. Byz. v.
TlorioKot), Pompeii, Herculaneum
(Strabo, V. p. 247), and Nuceeia
(Philistos, cited by Miiller, einl. 4, 2)
were all once possessed by the Etrus-
cans ; and Marcina in the Gulf of
Peestum was built by them. Strabo,
This wide territory was divided into three grand districts—
that in the centre, which may be termed Etruria Proper; that
to the north, or Etruria Circumpadana; and that to the south,
or Etruria Campaniana. And each of these regions was divided
into Twelve States, each represented by a city,2 as in Greece,
Trojans, followers of JEneas. Then
the Carthaginians, at the height of their
maritime power, took possession of the
island ; apparently about the middle of
the third century of Rome. Pausan.
X. 17 ; Diod. Sic. V. p. 296 ; Justin.
XIX. 1 ; Sil. Italic. XII. 358, et
sej. No mention is made of its being
under Etruscan domination, except by
Strabo (V. p. 225), who says it was
subject to the Tyrrheni, prior to the
Carthaginian rule. By these Tyrr-
henes Miiller (Etrusk. einl. 4, 7) thinks
Strabo meant Etruscans, not Pelasgi,
because he always made a distinction
between these races; but Niebuhr (I. p.
127, Engl, trans.) maintains that they
were unquestionably Pelasgians.
2 The Twelve Cities of Etruria Proper
will be presently mentioned.
In Etruria Circumpadana there were
Twelve cities. Liv. V. 33 ; Serv. ad
Virg. Ma. X. 202. Plutarch (Camil-
lus) however, asserts that there were
eighteen cities of commercial and
manufacturing importance in this region
of Etruria. The capital appears to
have been Mantua (Virg. Ma. X. 203 ;
Serv. ad Ma. X. 202), though Pliny
asserts that Felsina, now Bologna, was
intitled to that honour. Plin. III. 20 ;
cf. Liv. XXXVII. 57. A third city
was Melpem, of which we know no
more than that it stood north of the Po,
was renowned for its wealth, and was
destroyed by the Gauls on the same.
day that Camillus captured Yeii. Corn.
Nepos, ap. Plin. III. 21. Atria, or
Adria, was a noble city and port of the
Etruscans which gave its name to the
Adriatic sea. Plin. III. 20; Liv. V. 33 ;
Strabo, V. p. 214; Varro, Ling.
Lat. V. 161 ; Fest. v. Atrium. The
notices of Justin (XX. 1), and Ste-
phanus (sub voce) are referred by
Miiller to the Hadria of Pieenum.
Etrusk. einl. 3, 4 ; cf. Cramer, Anc.
Italy, I. p. 116. And Spina, at the
mouth of the Po, though called a Greek
city, was certainly a Pelasgic settle-
ment, as Dionysius (I. p. 15, ed. Sylb.)
affirms, and probably also Etruscan.
See Niebuhr, I. p. 36 ; Miiller, Etrusk.
einl 3, 4. Miiller thinks, from Strabo's
notice of it (V. p. 214), that Ravenna
is to be regarded as an Etruscan site ;
and Cupra in Pieenum was probably
so, for its temple was built by the
Etruscans and named after their god-
dess, Cupra, or Juno. Strabo, V. p.
241. Yet Niebuhr (I. p. 49) refers this
statement to the Tyrrhene-Pelasgi, not
to the Etruscans. We know the names
of no other Etruscan cities beyond the
Apennines.
There were Twelve chief cities also
in Etruria Campaniana. Liv. V. 33 ;
Strabo, V. p. 242. The metropolis was
Capua, built by the Etruscans 800 years
before Christ, and called by them Vul-
turnum. Strabo. loc. cit.; V. Paterc.
I. 7; Liv. IV. 37 ; Mela, II. 4 ; Serv.
ad Ma. X. 145. Nola also was of
Etruscan foundation. Veil. Pater, loc.
cit. Dic^jarchia, or Puteoli (Pausan.
IV. 35, VIII. 7 ; Steph. Byz. v.
TlorioKot), Pompeii, Herculaneum
(Strabo, V. p. 247), and Nuceeia
(Philistos, cited by Miiller, einl. 4, 2)
were all once possessed by the Etrus-
cans ; and Marcina in the Gulf of
Peestum was built by them. Strabo,