94 M. L. ROUSE; B.L., ON THE PEDIGREE OF THE NATIONS. 



Sorrento, on the other. These dominions may be divided into 

 three great districts, Circumpadane Etruriain the north, Etruria 

 Proper in the centre, and Campanian Etruria in the south ; and 

 in each of these districts there were twelve principal cities or 

 states, which formed a confederacy for mutual protection. But 

 through the attacks of the Gauls in the north and of the 

 Sabines, Samnites, and Greeks in the south, the Etruscans 

 became confined within the limits of Etruria Proper. 



" Here, however, they continued long to flourish. They were 

 a highly civilised people ; and from them the Ptomans borrowed 

 many of their religious and political institutions."* To this 

 abstract from Smith's shorter classical dictionary, one might 

 add that the Etruscans were noted for their beautiful designs 

 on pottery, and that the first Etruscan, king of Ptonief 

 carried out a grand piece of engineering there — the making of 

 the great drain — which has stood until this day. 



Besides the name that it bears itself, we find at least two 

 local names in Etruria enwrapping the primeval patronymic 

 Tyras : for in the Hirpinian territory, just to the east of 

 Vesuvius, stood in early classic times the town of Taurasia,J 

 and in the midst of Etruria Proper stretched for '16 miles 

 each way the great lake Trasumenus.§ 



Again we find among the Taurini — a Ligurian tribe, as both 

 Strabo and Pliny distinctly say — the city of Turin, whicli under 

 the emperors was called Augusta Taurinorum, but more 

 anciently Taurasia. Now mountain tribes are the most 

 tenacious of their nationality ; they appear to prize indepen- 

 dence more than do dwellers upon plains, while their lands are 

 less coveted by conquerors : hence they often remain unmixed 

 in race and continue to use their own pristine language and 

 customs, while their former countrymen of the plain have 

 exchanged theirs for a richer but more anomalous medley of 

 tongues, and for customs more refined, but sometimes less 

 innocent. For illustrations of this, our minds turn to the 

 Highland Gaels, the Welsh, and the l^asques, who have all 

 retained their languages and many of their customs through the 

 lapse of many ages. We have just had an indication that the 

 Taurini long maintained their identity as part of the race of 

 the Tyrasena : let us now turn westward to other mountaineers. 

 And first, the name Paeti reminds us of the Pasena, with whom 



* Smitli's /S'?>?. Class. Dict.^ Etruria." t Tar(j[uii]iiis Priscus. 



\ The inofleni village Taura.'ii records its name. 

 ^ Now called Trasimeiio. 



