I S T R I A. 



r. :.. 



litri*. marked l>y the learned Dr. Pococke, " in relation to 

 T'' iu antiquities, to be regarded among the greatest." It 

 stands towards the south-west extremity of Istria, but 

 the approach to it from the sea is dangerous on account 

 of rocks and shoals. It has a fine road, spacious and 

 convenient, forming a basin which is completely shel- 

 tered from every wind. Fola is surrounded by walls, 

 and defended by a citadel, a poor edifice of four bas- 

 tions, wherein the Venetians kept a garrison of 15 or 

 20 men, and a governor, who was always a nobleman, 

 and whose monthly allowances cost more than the 

 whole annual pay of the military. All maritime visit- 

 ors undergo the strictest examination, to guard against 

 infection of the plague from the Levant. Nevertheless, 

 it sometimes breaks out and makes considerable rava- 

 ges. The occurrence of thisjcalamity is attributed to the 

 negligence of a police not sufficiently vigilant in pre- 

 venting the surreptitious introduction of contraband 

 goods, the fruits of piracies and robbery, by profligate 

 persons dwelling on some of the neighbouring islands. 

 The inhabitants of Pola do not exceed 600 or 700 dis- 

 persed within the walls. Here are the remains of one 

 of the noblest amphitheatres now extant. Its exterior 

 walls are almost entire, consisting of very large hewn 

 stones, bound together with cramps of iron. They 

 rise in three stories, each penetrated by 72 arcades, or 

 216 in whole, and are capable of containing several 

 thousand persons. This amphitheatre, like others, is 

 of an elliptical form, the largest diameter extending 

 400 feet ; and in the interior is a wide subterraneous 

 channel, supposed to have been for the purpose of car- 

 rying off water. Pola possesses other interesting anti- 

 quities ; as the ruins of a temple, dedicated to Rome 

 and Augustus, an emperor who long resisted that tri- 

 bute of adulation. Its architecture exhibits the most 

 delicate proportions of the Corinthian order ; and an 

 inscription, testifying its original object, is still legible 

 between the architrave and the cornice over the porti- 

 co. The inhabitants of the city, however, believe that 

 the temple was built for the worship of .Pallas: and 

 popular names are, besides, given to different antiqui- 

 ties, which tend to involve their foundation and uses in 

 much perplexity. Such are the ruins called the Palace 

 of Julia, and the Tower of Orlando. A beautiful mo- 

 numental arch, simply a memorial of conjugal affection 

 by a surviving widow, appears here in good preserva- 

 tion. Pola is supposed to have become a Roman colo- 

 ny in the time of Augustus : it was destroyed first by 

 Attila, and afterwards by the Venetians. One of the 

 Kovigno. more flourishing towns of Istria, is the seaport Rovigno, 

 occupying a peninsula on the west coast, which is hand- 

 gome and well built. The materials of the various edi- 

 fices are taken from neighbouring quarries, the same 



that supply what are required for the structures of Ve Ijtrft. 

 nice. The cathedral is a slpacious and elegant edifice ** "V"^ 

 of Gothic architecture, occupying tha highest part of 

 the city, with a lofty tower. Rovigno contains about 

 10,000 inhabitants. The ancient Parentium, now Pa- Parenio. 

 renzo, was famous for a temple dedicated to Neptune, 

 the foundations anil basement of which are still visible. 

 Otho, emperor of Germany, is said to have taken its 

 materials for building the cathedral, which contain? 

 many curious pieces of Mosaic. A small town, called 

 Pirano, stands in a picturesque situation, on a peninsu- Pitano. 

 la between the Gulf of Lagona and that of Trieste, and 

 which is conjectured to belong to the age of Attila. In 

 the church is an ancient vase, converted to a* font, which 

 is sculptured with a cupidan or dolphin. There are 

 several other towns in Istria besides what are now 

 mentioned. Most of those on the sea-coast are unheal- 

 thy, and, long ago, that of Citta Nova was represented Gitta Nova, 

 as almost quite desolate from so disastrous a cause. 



The principal exports of this country are marble, 

 timber, fish, salt, oil, and wine. 



Formerly, the population of Istria was computed at population. 

 100,000 souls ; but this seems to have been only the 

 Venetian part, and it is not unlikely that the inhabit- 

 ants of the whole at present exceed double that num- 

 ber. 



The history of Istria, which can be obtained only History, 

 from meagre materials, ascends to a very early Uate. 

 It is considered to have been one of the Illyrian pro- 

 vinces, but its ancient dimensions are not clearly ascer- 

 tained. The Colchians, on returning from their cele- 

 brated expedition, are supposed to have established 

 themselves here; and when the country was conquer- 

 ed by the Romans, they found the worship of Isis es- 

 tablished in it. Istria, when united to the empire, sha- 

 red in its diversified fortunes ; but its history is so much 

 interwoven with that of the neighbouring regions, that 

 the same observation may be applied to both. We 

 learn that Crispus, the son of the Emperor Constan- 

 tine, having been banished to Pola on an accusation of 

 an incestuous passion for his step-mother Fausta, was 

 compelled to swallow poison. The inhabitants, be 

 lieving him innocent, decreed magnificent obsequies to 

 his memory, and Fausta soon became the victim of her 

 own dissolute conduct. The monuments yet seen in 

 Istria testify the advanced state of the arts ; but the 

 decline of the empire admitted new and more barba 

 rous invaders. This country at length fell under the 

 dominion of the Venetians, and more recently it has 

 had some participation in the troubles which agitated 

 Europe towards the close of the preceding cetury. Lat. 

 440 45' 4-5" 50' N. Long. 13 35' 14 20' E. (c) 



ITALY. 



History. 1 nE ea rfy history of Italy, like that of most other na- 

 ""V"*' tions, is rendered obscure and uncertain by the want 

 of authentic records of its ancient inhabitants ; and the 

 fabulous legends invented by the vanity of their more 

 distinguished descendants. Hence the fictions of the 

 vfiyages of ./Eneas, Antenor, and Diomede, which, 

 though probably contrived by the Grecians in order 

 to impress the world with the idea that the arts and 

 policy of the Etruscans and other Italian nations, were 

 derived from their early colonies, were eagerly adopt- 

 ed by the Romans themselves, desirous to throw the 



splendid veil of fable over the comparative meanness History, 

 and obscurity of their origin. From whatever source, ^^y^r 

 however, the original population of Italy was derived, 

 the earliest accounts of its inhabitants present us with 

 a picture but little differing in its features from that of 

 human nature in its savage state among other nations 

 of ancient or modern times. But while the surface of 

 Italy exhibits almost every degree of physical va- 

 riety, a similar diversity seems, from the most remote 

 period, to have prevailed among its natives. So strik- 

 ing, indeed, was the difference between the rude and 



