ITALIC RACES. 201
. CHAPTER IV.
OF THE POPULATION . OF ITALY.
SrctsisCin I .— General Observations,
Ttaly? before it was' subdued-by, the:,arms of Rome, bad been
for ages divided^hetweeri a variety of separate .nations, who
differed? fromleach' pt%r in manners and | in the degrees,, of
civilization which they h^d severally attained. They.Were
-nlfecndistinguished jfy .their* languag^. and by traditions preserved
-among -them respecting their -origin. , ,-Such traditions
instances of a period when the tribég; to
which? theyVbetprfgedVentered Italy from other, countries. The
-lastl recordèd? immigration; before; .the extension . of the Roman
arms, was that of ther Gauls into thé, Cisalpine: cpuntry,
which'may be saidr to fall within the period of history; and
■thë. reality' of, the, event is confirmed b y the,|adj that people
of thé same-race were.«well known beyond? the Alps.s The
arrivahof Relasgi in the northern, and.of Oenotrians;,im the
southern districts, testified .by thKtraditionsor by .the .mythical
-genealogies öf the Greeks, is supposed ter have been, supported
by indications;o£ affinity with the people of Thessaly and the
Peïopbnnesus. ? ■ The om g in g the Etruscans frqman eastern
..©ountry is-not positively asserted by;; ancient*f t®cjeg; but
in {ibis instance we dö;,not find a-; similar confirmation, and
many modern writefs^follow the opinion of Dionysius the
Halicarnassian, and look upon the Etruscans, as an indigenous
people of Italy • Or. its northern borders, .
Several learned men in ancient Rome, among whom the principal
were,-\Cato, Varro,.-Cincius, Fabius Maximus, Valerius
Antias, Licinius Macer, occupied theniselves in exploring the