Carrara, was anciently likewise Etruscan, and of importance to Rome
on account of its excellent harbour. The whole coast of Etruria has
but few harbours, and there is only one other at Populonia; but that
of Luna had the advantage of being at once the nearest and very good.
Before the Romans had formed a communication with Spain by land, the
military communication with that country was kept up by means of the port
of Luna; and the Romans had long been masters of the greater part of
Spain, before the communication through Gaul was opened. Luna was also
important on account of its quarries of white marble, called _marmor
Lunense_. The Romans did not commence to work in marble till a very late
period: before the time of Augustus it was not very extensively used,
and he first erected buildings of native marble. During Cicero’s youth
the Romans began to employ Carystian and Numidian (yellow) marble in
private houses, no doubt, for small pillars; and in the time of Pompey,
the use of foreign marble became a little more common. But in the reign
of Augustus it became very general, whence marbles of every kind are
found in the ruins; Carrara marble was employed in vast quantities, the
white Pentelian was less common. After the time of Augustus, it was
customary to use bricks for the internal parts of walls, and to cover
or incrustate, as the Italians say, the outside with slabs of marble.
At a later period of the empire this custom extended so far, that it
became an indispensable luxury to cover the walls even of private houses
with most costly kinds of marble. The temple of Apollo on the Palatine
seems to have been constructed of solid Carrara marble. When the Romans
advanced as far as Luna, the Etruscans were, probably, no longer masters
of the place, but it seems to have belonged to the Ligurians. In the
middle ages it was destroyed by the Saracens.
PISA also appears to have been Etruscan, but it never was a sovereign
city. It is regarded as a colony of Pisa in Elis (whence _Pisae Alpheae_
in Virgil); but this is a groundless fancy, and it is an undoubted fact
that Pisa was an ancient Tyrrhenian place. In the Hannibalian war,
it was an important military station to the Romans, who succeeded in
remaining masters of it. Afterwards it became a military colony. The
great importance of the place is manifest from the number of ruins and
remains of every description, although the town is not often spoken of.
In the middle ages it rose rapidly and became great at once, just as the
gods in the Aeneid step forth from the clouds, without any one having
anticipated them. In the eleventh century, when the Pisans constructed
their cathedral with its baptistery and tower, Pisa must have been a city
of gigantic power and greatness. Its inhabitants possessed a wonderful
taste for the arts even during the darkest periods of the middle ages,
when at Venice (I will not mention Rome which was quite barbarous) not
the slightest trace of such a taste was perceptible. The Venetians, as
late as the thirteenth century, melted down all the Greek works of art
in bronze which they could carry away; the preservation of the colossal
horses from Chios, in the Piazza S. Marco, is almost a mere accident: the
strange deliberation as to whether they should be melted down or not, is
well known. For half a century afterwards the horses stood neglected in
some shed, until civilisation advanced, and they were set up in their
present place. At Pisa, on the other hand, the taste for the arts was so
far developed that, as early as the eleventh century, the city employed
an architect, probably from the south of France (his name is Bruschetti,
as is stated in the excellent inscriptions), to build a church, which is
as magnificent as any structure belonging to the period of the emperors
of declining Rome, or of the Byzantine rulers. The Pisans, moreover,
carefully collected during their expeditions, especially at Rome, columns
and other antiquities, and obtained similar treasures as presents from
the emperors. During the twelfth century they collected fragments of
ancient architecture, sculptures, and especially sarcophagi which they
put together in their cemetery (Campo Santo); they then surrounded the
cemetery with a wall and a portico, and thus affectionately preserved
the remains of antiquity. The bodies of men of rank were buried in these
sarcophagi. Such was the spirit in which Nicolo Pisano, a gigantic
genius of the middle of the thirteenth century, made bas-reliefs more
beautiful than any that were produced at Rome during the third century
of our era; not only does he show great genius in invention, but also in
the beauty of his sculptures. The civic laws of the Pisans were based
upon remnants of the Roman law, nay, edicts of praetors, which had not
been introduced into the Justinianean Code, were preserved there; so
that Pisa, at a later period, remained an essentially Roman city, though
it was governed by a Lombard nobility. The vicissitudes of Pisa were
terrible and deplorable. The Genoese overpowered and cruelly destroyed
it: the more bravely and valiantly the city resisted, the more fearful
was its destruction. Afterwards it was subdued by the Florentines. No
republic ever carried the persecution of its subjects so far as Florence
carried that of the Pisans. The Florentines distrusted them so much, that
the Pisans were not only excluded from all honourable offices, but were
not allowed even within their own city to practise certain professions
or engage in certain trades; they were not allowed, e.g., to embrace
the professions of physicians and lawyers, or to carry on a wholesale
mercantile business, but they were limited to the small and common
trades. The consequence of this was an insurrection, but the Pisans
were subdued, and of the 100,000 inhabitants which Pisa had had during
the middle ages, not more than 8,000 remained at the time when Cosmo de
Medici entered upon the government. Athens was in a similar state of
decay during the period from Alexander to the last Philip of Macedonia.
VOLATERRAE, no doubt one of the ancient sovereign cities, was situated
at some distance from the coast. In the history of the Roman wars, it
acted a very prominent part; and from the vigorous manner in which it
supported Scipio, we see what a powerful place it must have been; but
it distinguished itself more especially by the resistance it offered
to Sulla. When the fate of the whole Marian party was already decided,
Volaterrae still sustained a war for two years, and did not surrender
until it was compelled by want of provisions. We do not know what was
the fate of the town, but we do know the character of the conqueror, and
may therefore presume that it was a most fearful one. Sulla established
a military colony there, and deprived the inhabitants of the franchise.
The ancient circumference of the city can still be distinctly traced:
it occupied all the surface of a very considerable hill, which rises
above the lower hills of an almost level and beautiful country. The wall
clearly shows the difference between the Pelasgo-Cyclopean and the more
artistic Etruscan mode of fortification. The Etruscan fortifications
were constructed along the upper edge of a hill as real walls, and the
sides of the hill below the walls were not cut precipitous; the Pelasgian
places, on the other hand, have no walls on the edge of the hills, but
the sides of the rock are cut down so as to be precipitous, and are
provided with substructions. Another difference consists in the fact,
that the Etruscan walls are built of regular square blocks, forming
parallelograms one perpendicularly above the other. The blocks are very
large, and generally put together without cement, their edges being cut
very sharp. The fortifications of Volaterrae are among the most perfect.
After the time of Sulla, or at least after that of Augustus, Volaterrae
was a military colony. It was the birth-place of the poet Persius, who
for this reason more than once alludes to the circumstances of his native
place, and can be understood only by those who are acquainted with them.
The hill on which Volaterrae stood, consists of alabaster, in consequence
of which many works in that material were executed there; hence the
sarcophagi of Volaterrae with Etruscan inscriptions, are made of
alabaster. During the middle ages the town was still very considerable;
but it has decayed, especially through the greatness of Florence.
The next place after Volaterrae in the south is POPULONIA, POPULONII or
POPULONIUM, for all these forms occur. On Etruscan coins it is called
_Puplana_, for the Etruscan alphabet has no _o_ nor any short vowels.
There is a statement which seems quite credible that Populonia was a
colony of Volaterrae. In later times it was one of the more important
Etruscan towns, and acted a prominent part in the wars against Rome,
of which an account is given in the tenth book of Livy. It had the
sovereignty of the neighbouring island of _Ilva_ or _Aethalia_, a Greek
name suggestive of its Pelasgian origin. The mountain of this island
consists of large masses of iron, which by the Catalanian method can
easily be transformed into the most excellent steel. The west of Europe
was, to a great extent, provided with iron from Elba, as it was imported
into the eastern parts from the Black Sea. The working of the mines of
Elba, however, seems to be of a more recent date than the composition of
the Odyssey, for in this poem the south of Italy is provided with iron
from Temese. The ancients notice it as a singular phenomenon, that the
iron could not be smelted in Elba, and that it was necessary to do this
on the continent; but this is a Greek absurdity, and an inability to
comprehend things connected with ordinary life, which we not unfrequently
meet with in the ancients. It was reported in Greece, that it was
necessary to transport the iron to Populonia, and the imagination of
the Greeks immediately invented a reason. The truth is simply this: in
later times there was a want of wood in Elba, and it was found cheaper
to convey the iron to Populonia, than to import wood into Elba, for
Populonia possessed smelting establishments. In like manner, the copper
ore found in Cornwall is conveyed to Wales and smelted there. Populonia
was a wealthy maritime town until it was destroyed by Sulla; and from
that time it has been a heap of ruins, which were seen by Strabo. The
town was never restored.
The moderns who have written on ancient geography are tolerably unanimous
in their opinions, that VETULONIUM was situated in the neighbourhood
of Populonia. Dionysius mentions it as a large city, which carried on
war against Rome, while Livy does not notice it either in the first
decad, where he describes the great Etruscan war, or in his account of
the Hannibalian war, or in any other place. It must accordingly have
disappeared at a time of which we know nothing. There exist coins with
Etruscan inscriptions, which unquestionably belong to Vetulonium. In a
forest near Populonia large ruins are found, which have been assigned
to Vetulonium, but this is a mere conjecture, and nothing can be said
with any degree of certainty about the situation of the place. I have
often thought, that it might possibly be Orviedo which was called _Urbs
vetus_ as early as the eighth century. However, the place has entirely
disappeared, and all that is said about it rests on mere conjecture.
There now follow RUSELLAE and COSSA, the latter of which, as I have
already observed, was probably not an Etruscan town; at a later time it
received a Latin colony.
TARQUINII appears in our histories as an Etruscan town, but that in the
most ancient times it was a real Tyrrhenian place, is attested by the
tradition of its having been founded by Thessalians; the name Tarchon,
which is mentioned as archegetes and is connected with Telephus, points
in the same direction. At the time when Tarquinii is drawn into the
traditions about Rome, and connected with Tarquinius Priscus, it probably
is still a Tyrrhenian town. In the war with Pyrrhus, Tarquinii, like
nearly all the Etruscan towns, formed an alliance with Rome in a general
peace, of which I shall speak in the third volume of my History of Rome.
By this peace the Etruscan towns were placed in a relation to Rome quite
different from that of the other towns of Italy, because the Romans
were anxious to gratify their wishes in order to prevent their forming
connections with Pyrrhus. This is one of the occurrences where Providence
directly interferes in the affairs of the world for the purpose of saving
a state from destruction. Such also was the peace between Russia and
Turkey in 1812, whereby the French army was prevented from retreating
to Turkey, and was thus left to its fate. In like manner, Soltikoff,
after the battle of Kunersdorf, ordered his troops to stand still. The
determination of the Etruscan towns to accept the peace of the Romans
forms a similar turning point in ancient history. After this, Tarquinii
remained faithful to Rome, until it disappeared in the time of the
Roman emperors. In the age of Cicero it still existed; in the war of
Sulla it was probably not destroyed, though severe sufferings may have
been inflicted upon it. The site which it once occupied, the modern
Corneto, is remarkable for the monuments which are discovered there,
and are more numerous than in any other place of Etruria. They are made
of clay, and are of a very peculiar character, approaching the Grecian
style, while those found in the interior of Etruria are altogether
different in workmanship from Greek monuments. The decay of Tarquinii
must perhaps be ascribed to the choking up of its good harbour, and to
the rise of _Centumcellae_, one of the few places in Italy the origin
of which belongs to a late period. Until the time of Trajan no town
existed there; it was only a summer palace of the emperor with a mineral
spring, for that volcanic region contains many hot springs. Trajan, who
in general did much to promote the navigation of the Italians, built a
harbour there, and constructed the _molo_ which still forms the harbour
of Civita Vecchia; and near it arose the town which received its name of
Centumcellae from the imperial palace. The town continued to increase
in importance, especially during the period of the decay of the empire,
when the Portus of Rome became more and more filled up, while that of
Centumcellae was capable of receiving larger ships. The Saracens took
the place, but the inhabitants withdrew, and built in the interior of
the country the town of _Leopolis_, named after pope Leo IV. When, in
consequence of the victory of Ostia, the danger of the Saracens was
removed, the inhabitants of Centumcellae returned, and from that time the
town has been called _Civita Vecchia_. It is, therefore, not an Etruscan,
but a Roman town.
CAERE with the port towns of _Fregenae_, _Alsium_, and _Pyrgi_, was
situated nearer the mouth of the Tiber. Caere was anciently called
_Agylla_, and as such it is said to have been Pelasgian or Thessalian:
it is, moreover, expressly mentioned that the town was taken by the
Etruscans. As later writers believed in the Lydian origin of the
Etruscans, this misunderstanding gave rise to the account that Agylla
was taken by the Lydians. Agylla existed as a Tyrrhenian town until
a very late period. In the account of Herodotus, where the Phocaeans
settle in Corsica, and are attacked and expelled by the Carthaginians
and Agyllaeans, Agylla does not yet appear as an Etruscan town. When the
Agyllaeans, after treating their captives treacherously, had experienced
the wrath of heaven, they consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi,
which no Etruscan town ever did; they, moreover had a _thesaurus_ at
Delphi, and the mention of _thesauri_ there does not go farther back
than the fortieth Olympiad. It must therefore have been after this time
that the Etruscans advanced into those districts. The names of Pyrgi
and Alsium also attest their Tyrrhenian origin. It is probable, lastly,
that Caere, because of its Tyrrhenian origin, was on such friendly terms
with Rome, that during the Gallic calamity the Romans carried their
sacred treasures in safety to Caere. Afterwards they were involved in a
protracted war with each other; a truce was concluded and renewed from
time to time, until Caere gradually entered the general relation in which
the Etruscan towns stood to Rome. In this condition, we find Caere in the
time of the Hannibalian war. Afterwards it is no longer mentioned, except
that we find it entered as a Marian colony in the lists of colonies drawn
up by Hyginus and Frontinus.
VEII was situated not quite ten English miles from Rome. Its
circumference, according to Dionysius, was like that of Rome under
Servius Tullius, and the same as the ancient Attic ἄστυ. However, it is
scarcely credible that Dionysius should have possessed such accurate
information about a town which had been razed to the ground long before
his own time. It is well known, that Veii was destroyed by the Romans
even before the Gallic period, because the plebeians had declared that
they would emigrate to Veii, if the patricians thought them unworthy of
being members of the same state. For this reason, the patricians and the
senate systematically destroyed the place. Its site is undoubted, but
scarcely any traces of Etruscan remains are found there. In the reign
of Tiberius, we find it mentioned as a military colony, but we do not
know when or how it was constituted as such. About thirty years ago,
excavations were made on the spot, and some beautiful works of art, and
among them a very fine statue of Tiberius, were discovered; but most of
the things found there are not above mediocrity, and all the inscriptions
refer to the restoration of the place by Tiberius. Henceforth, and down
to the overthrow of the western empire, Veii remained a small country
town in the neighbourhood of the capital. A bishop of Veii occurs as late
as the fifth century. It is quite in accordance with the natural course
of things, that places which were great before Rome rose to eminence,
and for a time her equals, were in the end subdued and perished in the
wars with their rival. In places of this kind a new population gradually
sprang up, and corporations were formed which were nothing else but
military colonies, and could not last long, as most of the men were
unmarried. Such a population was generally of the worst kind, consisting
of inn-keepers, carters, and the like; the places were in reality suburbs
of Rome, though at a considerable distance from it.
CAPENA was about the same distance from Rome as Veii; it is mentioned
in the earlier times, but afterwards completely disappears, and its
inhabitants, according to all appearances, were removed to Rome after the
Punic war. SUTRIUM and NEPET were for a long time the frontier towns of
Etruria towards the territory of Rome.
VULSINII, situated on lake Bolsena, was one of the largest Etruscan
towns. When after the Gallic war we find Etruria in arms, we must suppose
that the Vulsinians were the soul of those undertakings. They were
involved in hostilities with Rome even before the Gallic war; afterwards
they are, for a time, not mentioned at all, whence their relations with
Rome seem to have ceased; the frontier heights between Rome and Etruria
were allowed to grow wild and to become covered with an impenetrable
forest, as has been the case in modern times in the neighbourhood of
Licca, on the frontier between Croatia and Turkish Bosnia. This is the
_Ciminian forest_, the description of which in Livy is exaggerated in
a ridiculous manner; it often happens that his great imaginative power
leads him to make descriptions which would be excellent in a novel,
but are ludicrous in a work where truth is the object. The history of
Vulsinii is remarkable both for its facts and for its fables. It is a
fact that ever since A.U. 440, and for a period of thirty years, Vulsinii
offered a resistance to the Romans, which larger Etruscan towns recoiled
from, and that at length Rome, in the height of her power, when she was
the mistress of Italy, with difficulty conquered and then destroyed it.
In later times it re-appears, for Sejanus was a native of Vulsinii.
Metrodorus of Scepsis says that the real cause of the destruction of
Vulsinii was the circumstance that the Romans wanted to obtain possession
of 2000 magnificent statues which existed there. This is a fable, and no
doubt the view of a Greek, which he attributed to the Romans. The latter
were far from attaching such value to works of art; gold and silver were
the things they sought after. The real reason was that Vulsinii, by its
thirty years’ resistance, had distinguished itself above all Etruscan
tribes; and the Romans, therefore, were determined to take the sap
out of the tree, so as to prevent its ever growing again. The ancient
inhabitants had called in the Romans against their slaves. These slaves,
however, must not be understood to have been domestic slaves, but serfs,
or the subdued ancient population, whom elsewhere the Etruscan magnates
kept in servitude, while the Vulsinians had given them freedom and the
franchise. The commonalty, having thus become free, did not stop short
there, but, indignant at the ancient wrong done to them, they attacked
their former tyrants; they did not, however, expel, but only weakened
them. The latter then applied to Rome, and preferred having their town
destroyed to living on a footing of equality with the commonalty. The
correct spelling of the name is _Vulsinii_ and not _Volsinii_, for,
as I have already mentioned, the Etruscans had no _o_; hence we find
_Vulsinii_ in the Capitoline Fasti, though in genuine Roman words it is
more correct to write _o_ after _v_, as _volnus_ and not _vulnus_.
In the centre of Etruria there was no ruling city, nay, no Etruscan place
at all. Augustus established there _Sena Julia_ as a military colony,
the sixth legion being stationed there. As there was no road through the
centre of the country, but only one along the coast, and another through
the eastern part, Augustus made the one running by Aquapendente.
The Etruscan towns in the eastern part of the country were Clusium,
Perusia, Cortona (though its Etruscan character is doubtful), Arretium,
and Faesulae.
The greatness of CLUSIUM belongs to the most ancient times, for in Roman
history it is not of any importance; nor do the Romans mention any ruins
of Clusium, for all that is related of the buildings of Porsena, belongs
to the domain of fable.
PERUSIA was situated east of Clusium. During the period described in
the ninth and tenth books of Livy, Perusia acts the same part as the
other Etruscan towns; but after having suffered a defeat, it concluded
a truce. The Perusines undertook the war in a foolish manner, and
the first reverse discouraged them. Here, too, a military colony was
afterwards established, probably by Sulla. The town is remarkable in
history for the obstinate resistance it offered to Augustus, as in fact
the descendants of Sulla’s soldiers in the military colonies were almost
everywhere opposed to the party of Caesar. The town was taken and the
most illustrious citizens put to death, or rather butchered, at the altar
of Julius Caesar. Afterwards a new military colony was sent thither under
the name of _Colonia Julia Augusta Perusina_.
CORTONA, also a military colony, probably likewise founded by Sulla, was
situated on a very high hill and in a very strong position. Its ancient
walls do not appear to have been particularly strong.