ANCIENT ETRURIA. 327 



beards and hair of the men; the winged genii; the arms, and 

 other attributes, generally enable the antiquary easily to 

 distinguish them, and are sufficient indications of their 

 origin. 



HENRIETTA. 



Aunt, but I do not know anything about the Etruscans. 



MRS. F. 



Nor is much known respecting them. The history of 

 Italy, before the dominion of the Romans, is involved in ob- 

 scurity; and whether the Etruscans be originally of Lydian 

 or of Egyptian origin, is quite uncertain. So little is known 

 of this eminently distinguished people, that circumstances 

 seem to confirm the idea that the Romans destroyed every 

 thing relating to the records of ancient Etruria. Thus, 

 although the Etruscans seem to have arrived at the highest 

 points of civilisation, and even of luxury, at an early period, 

 whilst Rome had as yet no existence, and to have been dis- 

 tinguished, in a variety of respects, far beyond the people of 

 surrounding nations, we are almost wholly ignorant of their 

 history, and even their origin is involved in the greatest ob- 

 scurity. The Emperor Claudius is said to have written 

 twenty books of Etruscan history, which are unfortunately 

 lost. 



ESTHER. 



Were the Etruscan dominions extensive 1 ? 



There is proof that almost all Italy was, at one time, under 

 the power of Etruria; and Capua was built by an Etruscan 

 colony; but their dominion in the south of Italy must have 

 been of short duration, as no traces of their language are to be 

 found there. Their territories extended at one time, in the 

 north, from Turin to the Adige, and they were only separated 

 at one part of their confines from Rome, by the Tiber.* 



* See Sir W. Cell's Topography of Rome for the above details. 



