C/z.XII.
THROUGH ITALY.
431
gave to a provincial town, the pomp and splendor
of the Capital. The reason which induced Csesar
to fix upon Lucca for this interview, was because
being in Liguria it was in his province, and ly-
ing at the same time on the southern side of the
Apennines, it might be visited by his friends and
partisans from Rome without inconvenience.
From the fall of the empire, or rather from the
destruction of the kingdom of the Goths, Lucca
seems to have been governed by princes of its
own. From one of these princes or dukes, Adal-
berto il Ricco, who reigned in the beginning of
the tenth century, the royal family of England is
supposed, by Muratori, to have derived its origin
through the princes of Este. The magnanimous
Countess Matilda, who made so conspicuous a
figure in Italy during the eleventh century, and
rendered the Roman See such important services,
was born princess of Lucca. From the death of
this princess which took place in the beginning
of the twelfth century, Lucca has enjoyed, with
the exception of a few intervals of domestic
usurpation, the honors of independence and the
advantages of a republican government. These
advantages are sufficiently conspicuous; in the
first place, in the cleanliness of the streets, and in
the excellent police established in the city; in
THROUGH ITALY.
431
gave to a provincial town, the pomp and splendor
of the Capital. The reason which induced Csesar
to fix upon Lucca for this interview, was because
being in Liguria it was in his province, and ly-
ing at the same time on the southern side of the
Apennines, it might be visited by his friends and
partisans from Rome without inconvenience.
From the fall of the empire, or rather from the
destruction of the kingdom of the Goths, Lucca
seems to have been governed by princes of its
own. From one of these princes or dukes, Adal-
berto il Ricco, who reigned in the beginning of
the tenth century, the royal family of England is
supposed, by Muratori, to have derived its origin
through the princes of Este. The magnanimous
Countess Matilda, who made so conspicuous a
figure in Italy during the eleventh century, and
rendered the Roman See such important services,
was born princess of Lucca. From the death of
this princess which took place in the beginning
of the twelfth century, Lucca has enjoyed, with
the exception of a few intervals of domestic
usurpation, the honors of independence and the
advantages of a republican government. These
advantages are sufficiently conspicuous; in the
first place, in the cleanliness of the streets, and in
the excellent police established in the city; in