ibes, which, before the historic age, coalesced into one people. The
Etruscans appear to have been Celts who descended from the Alps; the
Tyrrhenians were undoubtedly a part of the Pelas'gi who originally
possessed the south-east of Europe. The circumstances of the
Pelasgic migration are differently related by the several historians,
but the fact is asserted by all.[1] These Tyrrhenians brought with
them the knowledge of letters and the arts, and the united people
attained a high degree of power and civilization, long before the name
of Rome was known beyond the precincts of Latium. They possessed a
strong naval force, which was chiefly employed in piratical
expeditions, and they claimed the sovereignty of the western seas. The
first sea-fight recorded in history was fought between the fugitive
Phocians,[2] and the allied fleets of the Tyrrhenians and the
Carthaginians (B.C. 539.)

16. To commerce and navigation the Etruscans were indebted for their
opulence and consequent magnificence; their destruction was owing to
the defects of their political system. There were twelve Tuscan cities
united in a federative alliance. Between the Mac'ra and Arnus were,
Pi'sae, _Pisa_; Floren'tia, _Florence_; and Fae'sulae: between the Arnus
and the Tiber, Volate'rrae, _Volterra_; Volsin'ii, _Bolsena_; Clu'sium,
_Chiusi_; Arre'tium, _Arrezzo_; Corto'na; Peru'sia, _Perugia_, (near
which is the Thrasamene lake); Fale'rii, and Ve'ii.

17. Each of these cities was ruled by a chief magistrate called
_lu'cumo_, chosen for life; he possessed regal power, and is
frequently called a king by the Roman historians. In enterprises
undertaken by the whole body, the supreme command was committed to one
of the twelve _lucumones_, and he received a lictor from each city.
But from the time that Roman history begins to assume a regular form,
the Tuscan cities stand isolated, uniting only transiently and
casually; we do not, however, find any traces of intestine wars
between the several states.

18. The Etrurian form of government was aristocratical, and the
condition of the people appears to have been miserable in the extreme;
they were treated as slaves destitute of political rights, and
compelled to labour solely for the benefit of their taskmasters. A
revolution at a late period took place at Volsin'ii, and the exclusive
privileges of the nobility abolished after a fierce and bloody
struggle; it is remarkable that this town, in which the people had