ItfO 



1STRIA ITALY. 



should ever participate in these games. They were 

 celebrated, with the same splendour as the Olympian 

 nud other public games, twice in each Olympiad, 

 probably in autumn : the athletic exercises were the 

 same. The victors were at first adorned with wreaths 

 of pine branches, but afterwards with wreaths of dry 

 and faded ivy. The pine wreaths were afterward-* 

 resumed. The following represents an Isthmian 

 crown : 



ISTRIA (anciently Histria); a province of Austri- 

 an Italy, in Illyria; bounded on all sides by the sea, 

 except towards the north, where it is joined to Car- 

 niola. It was anciently a part of Illyricum. Popu- 

 lation, 140,749; square miles, 1570; of this, more 

 than two thirds formerly belonged to the republic of 

 Venice. It is a rich, fertile tract. The occupation 

 of the inhabitants consists in agriculture, the culture 

 of wine and oil, the rearing of bees, the manufacturing 

 of silk, leather, tallow, salt, and also in fishing. The 

 chief towns are Rovigno, Capo d'Istria, and Fiume. 

 I stria was confirmed to Austria in 1814. 



ITALY, once the seat of universal empire, but 

 which, since the overthrow of the Roman power, has 

 never formed an independent whole, the pride of its 

 inhabitants and the admiration of foreigners, on 

 account of its delicious climate and former renown, 

 is a narrow peninsula, extending from the Alps (46 

 to 38 P N. lat.) into the Mediterranean sea, which, on 

 the east side of Italy, is called the Adriatic; on the 

 west, the Tuscan sea. The Apennines (q. v.), rising 

 near the maritime Alps (q. v.) are the principal chain 

 of mountains, and stretch through the country, divid- 

 ing Lombardy from the Genoese territories and 

 Tuscany, and Tuscany from Romagna, intersecting 

 the States of the Church, and running through the 

 kingdom of Naples to the strait of Messina. Upper 

 Italy (Lombardy) is remarkably well watered. The 

 Po, which receives a great number of rivers from the 

 large lakes at the foot of the Alps (lago Maggiore, 

 di Lugano, di Como, d'Iseo and di Garda), and the 

 Adige, are the principal rivers. They both rise in 

 the Alps, and flow into the Adriatic sea. In Middle 

 Italy (Tuscany and the states of the Church), are the 

 Arno and the Tiber, which rise in the Apennines, 

 and flow into the Tuscan sea. In Lower Italy 

 (Naples) there are no large rivers, on account of the 

 shortness of the course ofthe streams from the moun- 

 tains to the sea: the Garigliano is the principal. 

 The climate is warm, without excessive heat, and 

 generally salubrious. The winter, even in Upper 

 Italy, is very mild: in Naples, it hardly ever snows. 

 The abundance and excellence of the productions of 

 the soil correspond with the beauty of the climate. 

 In many places, both of the north and south, there 

 are two and even three crops a year. The volcanic 

 cliaracter of the coasts of Lower Italy is particularly 

 remarkable in a geological point of view, especially 

 in the region of Puzzuoli and Vesuvius. The neigh- 

 bouring islands ofthe Mediterranean are distinguished 

 by the same character. The present number of in- 

 habitants is much inferior to the former population 

 of this delightful country. The following table, 

 copied from Mr Balbi's different publications, is , 

 taken from the Revue Brifannigue: 



The national character of the Italians, naturally 

 cheerful, but always marked by strong passions, has 

 been rendered, by continued oppression, dissembling 

 and selfish. The Italian, moreover, possesses a cer- 

 tain acuteness and versatility, as well as a love of 

 money, which stamp him for a merchant. In the 

 middle ages, Venice, Genoa, Florence and Pisa were 

 the chief marts of the European commerce with the 

 East Indies ; and Italians (then called Lombards, 

 without distinction, in Germany, France, and Bri- 

 tain) were scattered all over Europe for the purposes 

 of trade. The discovery of a passage by sea deprived 

 them of the India trade, and the prosperity of those 

 republics declined. The Italian, restricted almost 

 solely to traffic in the productions of his own coun- 

 try, has nevertheless always remained an able and 

 active merchant. Before Rome had (2100 years 

 ago) absorbed all the vital power of Italy, this coun- 

 ry was thickly inhabited, and, for the most part, by 

 civilized nations. In the north of Italy alone, which 

 offered the longest resistance to the Romans, dwelt 

 a barbarous people, the Gauls. Farther south, on 

 the Arno and the Tiber, a number of small tribes, 

 such as the Etrusci, the Samnites and Latins, endea- 

 voured to find safety by forming confederacies. Less 

 closely united, and often hostile to each other, were 

 the Greek colonies of Lower Italy, called Magna 

 Grecia. The story of the subjection of these nations 

 to the Roman ambition, belongs to the history of 

 Rome. Italy, in the middle ages, was divided into 

 Upper, Middle, and Lower Italy. The first division 

 comprehended all the states situated in the basin of 

 the Po; the second extended between the former and 

 the kingdom of Naples, which formed the third. 

 At present, it is divided into the following indepen- 

 dent states, which are not connected with each other 

 by any political tie, and of which an account will be 

 given under the separate heads 1. the kingdom of 

 Sardinia; 2. Lombardy, or Austrian Italy (including 

 Milan and Venice); 3. the duchy of Parma; 4. the 

 duchy of Modena (including Massa); 5. the grand- 

 duchy of Tuscany; 6. the duchy of Lucca; 7. the 

 republic of San Marino ; 8. the papal dominions 

 (see Church, States of the) ; 9. the kingdom of 

 Naples or the Two Sicilies. Italia did not become 

 the general name of this country until the age of Au- 

 gustus. It had been early imperfectly known to the 

 Greeks under the name of Hesperia, Ausonia, Sa- 

 turnia, and (Enotria were also names applied by 

 them to the southern part, with which alone they 

 were at first acquainted. The name Italia was at 



* Savoy is not included here, not being contidered a part 

 of Italy by the Revue. 



