two hundred years before Rome grew to any great strength, they
had lost their supremacy in the province now known as Lombardy, of which
the French had possessed themselves. For that people, whether driven by
necessity, or attracted by the excellence of the fruits, and still more
of the wine of Italy, came there under their chief, Bellovesus; and
after defeating and expelling the inhabitants of the country, settled
themselves therein, and there built many cities; calling the district
Gallia, after the name they then bore: and this territory they retained
until they were subdued by the Romans.

These Etruscans, therefore, living with one another on a footing of
complete equality, when they sought to extend their power, followed that
first method of which I have just now spoken. Their State was made up of
twelve cities, among which were Chiusi, Veii, Friuli, Arezzo, Volterra,
and the like, and their government was conducted in the form of a
league. They could not, however, extend their conquests beyond Italy;
while even within the limits of Italy, much territory remained
unoccupied by them for reasons presently to be noticed.

The second method is to provide yourself with allies or companions,
taking heed, however, to retain in your own hands the chief command,
the seat of government, and the titular supremacy. This was the method
followed by the Romans.

The third method is to hold other States in direct subjection to you,
and not merely associated with you as companions; and this was the plan
pursued by the Spartans and Athenians.

Of these three methods, the last is wholly useless, as was seen in the
case of the two States named, which came to ruin from no other cause
than that they had acquired a dominion greater than they could maintain.
For to undertake to govern cities by force, especially such cities as
have been used to live in freedom, is a difficult and arduous task, in
which you never can succeed without an army and that a great one. But to
have such an army you must needs have associates who will help to
swell the numbers of your own citizens. And because Athens and Sparta
neglected this precaution, whatever they did was done in vain; whereas
Rome, which offers an instance of the second of the methods we are
considering, by attending to this precaution reached a power that had no
limit. And as she alone has lived in this way, so she alone has attained
to this pitch of power. For joining with herself many S