brians, whose country was adjacent to that of the Sabines
and Latins.
S ection VI.—0 / the Language and National Relations o f
the Umbrians.
The history Of the Umbrian race and' of their lahguâgé has
been thought one of the riiost difficult subjects connected with
the Italian antiquities.* All natiohs Whose origin has: been
lost iff the obscurity of the first ages, h a v e 'been set dowri es
either 'Cel ts-Or Scythians, and^accorditigly the Umbrians have
generally been represented as a Celtic nation.f The authority-
adduced in support Of this opinion is that of Bocchus.J Solinus
informs usThat Bocchus, a writer who has been several times
cited by Pliny, reported the Umbri to have been descended
from the ancient Gauls ; and a similar account of tHeir origin
has been adopted, either from the same or from different "testimony,
by Serving, Isidore,; and other writers of a late period.§
A vague report o f this kind, collected by such a writerW Boc-
chus, can be of little Weight, if we conSidër’that the opinion
which it maintains was either wholly unknown td'Strabo and
Pliny; or discredited by them. This at least1 We seèm fto be
justified'in inferring from thëir never having noticed5 it.
The history of the Umbrian race must have-remained for evef
unknown^ had it n o r received illustration frómrélicg of ancient
writing, in which'specimens of the Umbrian- language^re preserved.
I t Would seem .that there are sufficient remains of this
description to renderiifrvery probable; that the reiatiOfit of the
language, and with theni'óf the people who “formerly spoke it,
may be satisfactorily determined. Inscriptions hàvë'bëên * §
* “ Scrivere sa la provenienza degli Umbri è amco più malagevole che su quella
degli Etruschi. Non vi è altro di certo in tal questione, se non l ’antiçhità del nome
Umbro in Italia, e la oscura: voce ch’ei fosser gente scampata da un diluridje da unA
innndazione, memoria che ciservarono nel ndmé Ofiêptoi” This passage is, sn&
ficient to prove the, complete incompetency of Lanzi to any investigation that requires
critical judgment.’
+ Ftèret js»r l’Ancienne Population de l’Italie, Mém., dés Inscr.
X. For an account of Cornelius Bocchus, see Yossiifs de Hist Lat. p. 699.
§ As the Scholiast to Lycophron, v.1-360. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq.ffib; ii. c. 4
Solin. ad Plin. c. viii. Servius ad Æneid. xii: Isidor. Orig. viii. c. -â.
found in various parts of ancient Umbria; but by far the most
extensive and important are, as it is well known, the celebrated
Iguvine or Eugubian tables, which were discovered in the year
1444, in the ruins of a temple at the'fqot of the Apennines,
between Ugubbio and Cortona, in the duchy of Urbino. This
was within the territory of Umbria. The tables contain inscriptions
of considerable extent: there can be no room for
doubt that these;ate in the;Uxnbrian language:* they were
publishqd/at length by Dempster;,in his,great work entitled
“Etruria Eegalis$and they have employedvat- different times
the laborious, study of Italian antiquarians, am^g^hom Pas-
,tSefi and Lanzi, are,;the niost distinguish©^, |^ y these v^riters,
however, very little;,w.as done tpwards thev^^ljlci^atipn of
^©.inscriptions/;;The Gerpmn ji^vestigafors who Eave of late
years undertaken jtbe tp.sk, have ujor©y ^upcessful. , Dr.
Lepsius;haS; lately- given a full account ,pf remains in a
work “ De T.abulis Ei%ubinis.”f Five of the seven1 inscriptions
are iniTuscan letters, and the two others,,whiGl^ gi-p,the longest, I
in Latin. TheTbscan cMracters, which,.f^^p^;|^|oins,thave
. nob %eiUfilbwh ere found in ins.crq^pns in thp§I&brian language,,
are written from right to left. It wa^'^^^ppose^ - ,by
Passer] that the-in'sctiptions in Tuscan letters are tin; a different
language vf#m that which is'written on the :tabj©% ija Latin
characters ; but- this - opinion was rej ected by Lanzi:,who
observed, that the same -proper names^^bp|i% in both kinds;
and on a later, examination it has been prpypd that .the. same
language has been expressed in both characters with, scarcely
any difference that , caff even be supposed, ;tp;,be a variety of
dialect. The Tuscan inscriptions? were thonghtpl Dr. Lep-
sius and others to be. more anci§uj'«;than t|ie Lgtin; but to this
Opinion it,has beeivjo^jected, -thgtbq.th chai’actt^^^^^used
coevally, as it appearsfrorp coias-.^ ThqinscriptiolJ mayhpp
been written at different time^and by diy^^ttqn^a^ts»^ut
* Lanzi bays, <*Io le chianio Umbre dal lubgo del ritrovamdnto.” v There can
be no doubt'of the ficfysince inscriptions apparently'ik thet^ame language, as well
as coins, have been fqund< in many places within the Umhrian'C^mtVv. ^ They are
not Tuscan or Latin, and ntost he considered as^Umbrian,.,.,' ,■
f See,.also Dr. Grotefend?s work, entitled “ ffudimenta Lingu® Dmbric® ex
Inscriptionibus Antiquis enodata.”
+ Lanzi, Saggio di Lingua Etrusca.
VOL. III. Q