DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0029
introduction.] ANCIENT AND MODERN CONDITION.
XXIX
north." Beside these, there were many other cities, renowned in
history, or remarkable for their massive fortifications still extant,
for their singular tombs, or for the wondrous treasures of their
sepulchral furniture—all of which will be described in the course
of this work.
Etruria was of old densely populated, not only in those parts
which are still inhabited, but also, as is proved by remains of
cities and cemeteries, in tracts now desolated by malaria, and
relapsed into the desert; and what is now the fen or the jungle,
the haunt of the wild-boar, the buffalo, the fox, and the noxious
reptile, where man often dreads to stay his steps, and hurries
away as from a plague-stricken land—
Rus vacuum, quod non habitet, nisi nocte coacta,
Invitus—
of old yielded rich harvests of corn, wine, and oil/ and con-
tained numerous cities, mighty, and opulent, into whose laps
commerce poured the treasures of the East, and the more
precious produce of Hellenic genius. Most of these ancient
sites are now without a habitant, furrowed yearly by the plough,
or forsaken as unprofitable wildernesses; and such as are still
occupied, are, with few exceptions, mere phantoms of their
6 The claims of these several cities
will be discussed, when they are treated
of respectively. The above is the classi-
fication which seems to me to be sanc-
tioned by ancient writers ; it agrees
with that of Cluver (Ital. Ant. II. p.
453), and Cramer(Anc. Italy, I.). Micali
(Ant. Pop. Ital. I. p. 140) adopts it with
the exception of Falerii, for which he
offers no substitute. Niebuhr (I. p.
118, et seq.) admits the claims of all,
save Falerii and Cortona, and hesitates
to supply the void with Fsesulae, Cosa,
or Capena. Muller (Etrusk. II. 1, 2 ;
1, 3), to those given in the text, adds
five—Pisa;, Fsesute, Satumia or Cale-
tra, Vulci, and Salpinum—whose claims,
he thinks, must be admitted, and sug-
gests that they may have held that
rank at different periods, or have been
associated respectively with some one of
the rest. Dempster (de Etruria Regali,
II. p. 41) offers a singular list—Veii, Tar-
quinii, Falerii, Vetulonium, Corythus,
Volsinii, Csere, Clusium, Fsesulse, Popu-
lonia, Luca, Luna—substituting the last
three for the much more important
cities of Volaterrse, Perusia, and Arre-
tium. The lists of the early Italian
antiquaries will still less bear the test of
examination.
1 The fertility of Etruria was re-
nowned of old. Diodorus (Y. p. 316)
says it was second to that of no other
land. Liv. IX. 36 ; XXII. 3 ; Varro,
Re Rust. 1.9,44. The Romans, even in
very early times, used to receive corn
from Etruria, in times of famine. Liv.
11.34; IV. 12, 13,25, 52.
XXIX
north." Beside these, there were many other cities, renowned in
history, or remarkable for their massive fortifications still extant,
for their singular tombs, or for the wondrous treasures of their
sepulchral furniture—all of which will be described in the course
of this work.
Etruria was of old densely populated, not only in those parts
which are still inhabited, but also, as is proved by remains of
cities and cemeteries, in tracts now desolated by malaria, and
relapsed into the desert; and what is now the fen or the jungle,
the haunt of the wild-boar, the buffalo, the fox, and the noxious
reptile, where man often dreads to stay his steps, and hurries
away as from a plague-stricken land—
Rus vacuum, quod non habitet, nisi nocte coacta,
Invitus—
of old yielded rich harvests of corn, wine, and oil/ and con-
tained numerous cities, mighty, and opulent, into whose laps
commerce poured the treasures of the East, and the more
precious produce of Hellenic genius. Most of these ancient
sites are now without a habitant, furrowed yearly by the plough,
or forsaken as unprofitable wildernesses; and such as are still
occupied, are, with few exceptions, mere phantoms of their
6 The claims of these several cities
will be discussed, when they are treated
of respectively. The above is the classi-
fication which seems to me to be sanc-
tioned by ancient writers ; it agrees
with that of Cluver (Ital. Ant. II. p.
453), and Cramer(Anc. Italy, I.). Micali
(Ant. Pop. Ital. I. p. 140) adopts it with
the exception of Falerii, for which he
offers no substitute. Niebuhr (I. p.
118, et seq.) admits the claims of all,
save Falerii and Cortona, and hesitates
to supply the void with Fsesulae, Cosa,
or Capena. Muller (Etrusk. II. 1, 2 ;
1, 3), to those given in the text, adds
five—Pisa;, Fsesute, Satumia or Cale-
tra, Vulci, and Salpinum—whose claims,
he thinks, must be admitted, and sug-
gests that they may have held that
rank at different periods, or have been
associated respectively with some one of
the rest. Dempster (de Etruria Regali,
II. p. 41) offers a singular list—Veii, Tar-
quinii, Falerii, Vetulonium, Corythus,
Volsinii, Csere, Clusium, Fsesulse, Popu-
lonia, Luca, Luna—substituting the last
three for the much more important
cities of Volaterrse, Perusia, and Arre-
tium. The lists of the early Italian
antiquaries will still less bear the test of
examination.
1 The fertility of Etruria was re-
nowned of old. Diodorus (Y. p. 316)
says it was second to that of no other
land. Liv. IX. 36 ; XXII. 3 ; Varro,
Re Rust. 1.9,44. The Romans, even in
very early times, used to receive corn
from Etruria, in times of famine. Liv.
11.34; IV. 12, 13,25, 52.