ALP 



fi»i^gc{ls, it figiiilks ry.untiins nlounJing hi pajliire. Fefliis 

 is of opinion tint the apjicllation was bi)n-owed from alius, 

 pronounced by the Subines alptis, and lignifying "Mhile, be- 

 caufe thele mountains wi"re always covered w.th fiiow. 

 Otliers, recuiring to a fabulous relation, derive it from a 

 peifon of the name of Albion, the fon of Neptune, who is 

 faid to have been killed by Hercules, in difputing his pa(l"ige 

 over thefe mountains. But the firll etymology, adopted by 

 llldore, (Orig. lib. iii.) and Servius, (in Virgil, Mn. lib. iii.) 

 n the moll probable. The word nlj> fignified, among the 

 imcicnt Scythians and Scandinavians, both a mountain and 

 a mountain fpirit ; it being a pcrfuafion among them, that 

 nioii'itains and rocks were inhabited by Dxmons. Accord- 

 ingly the Edda of Iceland, (Myth. 15.) mentions good and 

 evil Alps. 



This chain of mountains, commencing in the Vada 

 Sibatia or Savona, and terminating near the Sinus Flanaticus 

 or Flanonicus, now the Golfo di Canaro or Carnero, in the 

 bay of Venice, and the fpringsof the river Colapis or Kulpe, 

 or reaching from the river Varus to the river Arfa, in Ilhia, has 

 many irregulai- windings, fo that its extent has not been ac- 

 curately and uniformly afcertained ; fome of the ancient 

 ivriters making it 800, and others no more than zfo miles. 

 Its whole range may be more juilly computed at about 550 

 Briiilh miles ; and may be conlidered as extending in a kind 

 of icmicircular form, from the gulf of Genoa, through 

 Swifferbnd, which contains its central and more lofty parts, 

 and terminating in the Carnic Alps, on the north of the 

 Adriatic fea. It lias been divided, both by ancient and 

 modern geographers, into different portions, and thefe have 

 been diilinguiflied by different appellations. 



The Markinu Alp-, Alpes MariliniiC or Lillore/t of Pto- 

 lemy, arife from the gulf of Genoa, and reach from Vada 

 ■or Vado, in Nice, to the fprings of the Var, or to thofe 

 of the Po. Some reckon'their commencement at Monaco, 

 on the Mediterranean, and trace them in their progreis from 

 fouth to north, between ancient Gtiul to the weft, and 

 Genoa to the eaft, through the eaftcrn part of the country 

 of Nice, and between that and the marquifate of Saluzzo 

 to their termination at Mount Viio between Dauphine and 

 Piedmont. Upon the fummit of this ridge trophies were 

 erefted in honour of Auguftus, at a place called Tro- 

 pcea, {vxct called Tui-bia. The ancient capital of the Ma- 

 ritime Alps was Embrun, and the inhabitants of thisdillricl 

 obtained from Nero, A.D. 63, the rights of Latium, that 

 is, the rights and privileges which the Latins enjoyed 

 when they were only allies and not citizens of Rome. Tiie 

 iiigheft chain of thefe Alps, through which is the remark- 

 -aole pafiTage, called the Colde Tende, forms the exterior 

 boundary of the counti-y of Nice. 



The next high ridge, called Alpes CotUte or Coltanic, now 

 Mont Genevre, in which is the fpringof the river Durance, 

 extends from the fprings of the Var to the city of Suza, or 

 from Mount Vifo to Mount Cenis, and feparates Dauphine 

 from Piedmont ; having the Alpn Marilimx to the fonth, and 

 the Alpes Cram to the north or nortluvell. In the time of 

 the Romans a petty prince called Cultra pofleffed an inde- 

 pendent territory in this part of the Alps ; and in order to 

 maintain his independence paid court to Auguftus, and en- 

 gaged his proteftion. With this view he traverfed thefe 

 mountains, and formed commodious paflTes for the Roman 

 troops. The territory of Cottius, a prince who redded at 

 Suza, and whofe name was given to this ridge, confifted, ac- 

 cording to Pliny, of two independent cantons. Hence the 

 palTage of the Alps, which led from Briancjon to Suza, was 

 particularly denominated in the Theodofian table Catt'ta. M. 

 d'Anville, Holftenius, and others, aie of opinion, that it 



ALP 



was by this part of the Alps Hannibal entered Italy. Some 

 have thouglit that one part of his arn-.y paffed over the 

 Cottian, and another over the Graian Alps. It has been 

 faid that he cut a paffage through the fohd rock ', and if 

 Livy may be credited, be heated the rock by a fierce fire, 

 and then poured a great quantity of vinegar upon it, which 

 penetrating into the iiffures, produced by the iiitenfe heat of 

 the lire, calcined and foftensd it. But this relation, al- 

 thouglv Pliny (lib. xxiii. c. i.) takes notice of this quality 

 of vinegar, is rejeiSled by many authors as fidlltious. Poly- 

 bius does not mention it. The capital of the Cottian Alps 

 was Suza ; and this territory was added by Nero, about the 

 year of Chrift 63, to the deraefncs of the Roman empire. 



To the north of the Alpes Collix were the Alpes Graut of 

 the ancients, fo called by Pliny and Nepos, as it has been 

 fald, from the palFage of Hercules in his return fi-om Spain ; 

 which is rejected by Livy (lib. v. c. 33.) as fabulous : thefe 

 are now denominated the Little St. Bernard, and commenc- 

 ing at Mount Cenis, v/here the Cottia: end, and running 

 between Savoy and the Tarentefe to the weft, and Pied- 

 mont and the duchy of Aolla to the eaft, terminate in Great 

 St. Bernard. 



The Alpts Penn:nx lay to the north-eaft of the Graia:, 

 between the Velagri to the north, and the Salaili to the 

 fouth. Some have fought the etymology of the epithet in the 

 name Poem, Carthaginians, pretending that Hannibal palTed 

 into Italy by this mountain. But both the etymology f.-nd 

 the faft are equally erroneous. The appellation r,nnin.t 

 formed {mm pen, head or high, fignifies the height of thefe,. 

 mountains ; and the paffage of Plannibal was probably over 

 that part of the Alps, denominated Cottian. The Alpes Peu- 

 ninae confifted of the prefent Great St. Bernard, Mont Blanc, 

 and the grand chain that extends on the fouth of the Rhone 

 to the north of the modern Piedmont, and reached from 

 weft to eaft from St. Bernard to Adula or St. Gothard, 

 feparatlng between the Velefe to the north, and the Mila- 

 ncfe to the fouth : and the eaftcrn part of this ridge was 

 denominated the Lepontine Alps, from the appellation of a 

 people who inhabit the country where the rivers Rhone and 

 Tefino originate. From the Alpes Penninx proceed the 

 Alpes Rhit.'tcic, which extend through the Grifons and the 

 Tyrol, to the fprl:igs of the river Piave, of which a part 

 called Alpes Tridcntiiu are fituattd to the north of Trent. 

 With the Rheticx are connefted the Alpes Norie/e, to the 

 eaft of the former, fituate about the fource of the river Taja- 

 mento ; a;id joining to the Alpes Carnica: or Caniiaii^, ex- 

 tending to the fprings of the Save ; and moreover, thefe 

 terminate in the Alpes JulU, which reach to the fource of 

 the Kulpe. Thefe laft derive their name from Julius C.tfar, 

 who formed a defign, executed after his death by Auguf- 

 tus, of opening a road over this mountain into lllvria, 

 which is feparated by it from Venice. This part of the 

 Alps is alio called Alpes Veiieti, and Alpes Pnnnonict. 

 Some authors have extended the Alps to the north of Dal- 

 matia, and even through Macedonia into Romania, and as 

 far as the coall of the Black Sea. 



The principal paflagcs of the Alps, of which the Romans 

 availed thenifelves, when they were iole mafters of Italv, as 

 they are recounted by Martiniere, are the following. The 

 Krft was through the maritime Alps along the fea coaft ; 

 the fecond by the Grecian Alps, by which, according to 

 Pliny, Hercules entered into Italy, and which, as Ctelius 

 Antipater, cited by Livy, lays, was the track of Hannibal : the 

 third by the Cottian Alps, by Embrun, Brian^on and Suza, 

 which, fome fay, was Hannibal's courfe : the fourth, more 

 generally purfued by modern travellers, through the valley 

 of Maurienne, by Suza and Turin : the fifth by the Pen- 



ciuE 



