But The Most Direct And Unequivocal Testimony To The Power Of The Tuscans,
And That That Power Was Principally, If Not Entirely, Derived From Their
Maritime Skill And Commerce, Is To Be Found In Livy.
This historian informs
us, "that before the Roman empire, the Tuscan dominions extended very far
both by sea and land, even to the upper and lower sea, by which Italy is
surrounded, in form of an island.
Their very names are an argument for the
vast power of this people; for the Italian natives call the one the Tuscan
Sea, and the other the Adriatic, from Adria, a Tuscan colony. The Greeks
call them the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas. This people, in twelve cities,
inhabited the country extending to both seas; and by sending out colonies
equal in number to the mother cities, first on this side of the Apennines
towards the lower sea, and afterwards as many on the other side, possessed
all the country beyond the Po, even to the Alps, except the corner
belonging to the Venetians, who dwelt round a bay of the sea." Homer,
Heraclides, Aristides, and Diodorus Siculus, all concur in their
representations of the maritime power and commercial opulence of the
Tuscans at a very early period. Diodorus Siculus expressly says, that they
were masters of the sea; and Aristides, that the Indians were the most
powerful nation in the east, and the Tuscans in the west.
Of the Grecian colonies in the south of Italy, that of Tarentum was the
most celebrated for its commerce. Polybius expressly informs us, that
Tarentum, their principal city, was very prosperous and rich, long before
Rome made any figure, and that its prosperity and riches were entirely the
fruit of the extensive and lucrative trade they carried on, particularly
with Greece. The city of Tarentum stood on a peninsula, and the citadel,
which was very strong, was built on the narrowest and extremest part of it;
on the east was a small bay, on the west the main sea; the harbour is
represented by ancient historians as extremely large, beautiful and
commodious. Its vicinity to Greece, Sicily, and Africa, afforded it great
opportunities and facilities for commerce. The inhabitants are represented
by some authors as having been the inventors of a particular kind of ship,
which retained in some degree the form of a raft or float. Their
government, which at first was aristocratical, was afterwards changed to a
democracy; and it is to this popular form of government that their
prosperity and wealth are ascribed. The number of people in the whole state
amounted to 300,000; Tarentum had twelve other cities under its dominion.
Besides a considerable fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, they had constantly
on foot a very large army, principally of mercenaries. Eighteen years
before the first Punic war, the Romans had entered into a maritime treaty
with the Tarentines; according to this treaty, neither party were to
navigate beyond the Cape of Lacinia. Soon afterwards, however, the Roman
fleet accidentally appearing near Tarentum, the inhabitants took the alarm,
sunk four of the ships, killed or took prisoners the commander and some
other officers, sold the seamen for slaves, and behaved with great
insolence to the ambassador whom the Romans sent to remonstrate and demand
satisfaction. They were soon, however, obliged to submit to the superior
power of the Romans. In the second Punic war, it was finally subdued, and a
Roman colony planted there.
The Spinetes, Liburnians, and Locrians, were also celebrated for their
skill in naval affairs, and for their commerce, before Rome manifested the
slightest wish to distinguish herself in this manner. Indeed, the situation
of Italy naturally turned the attention of its inhabitants (especially of
those who were early civilized, as the Tuscans, or those who had emigrated
from a civilized country, as the nations in the south of Italy,) to naval
affairs and maritime commerce. Washed by three seas, the Adriatic on the
north-east, the Tyrrhenian on the west, and the Ionian on the south, Italy
enjoyed advantages possessed by few nations of antiquity. Of the first of
these seas, the Spinetes became masters, of the second the Tuscans, and of
the third the Tarentines. The Spinetes, were originally Pelasgi, who had
emigrated and settled by chance rather than design, on the south banks of
the Po. Spina, their capital, was situated on the north side of the
southernmost mouth of that river. We do not possess any particular account
of their commerce, but that it rendered them powerful and rich we are
assured; and their dominion over the Adriatic is a decisive proof of the
former, while their magnificent offerings to Delphos may as justly be
deemed a proof of the latter. Spina was strong both by nature and art, on
the sea side, but the reverse on the land side; so that at last it was
abandoned by its inhabitants not being able to withstand the attacks of
their neighbours, who were either jealous of their prosperity, or attracted
to the assault by the love of plunder. In the reign of Augustus it was
reduced to a small village; and the branch of the Po, on which it was
situated, had changed its course so much, that it was then upwards of
fifteen miles distant from the sea, on the shore of which it had been
built. The gradual alteration in the course of the river, it is probable,
contributed with the other cause already mentioned to reduce it to
comparative insignificance.
Opposite to the Spinetes across the Adriatic, on the coast of Dalmatia, the
Liburnians dwelt. In some respects their coast was preferable to that of
Italy for maritime affairs, as it is studded with islands, which afforded
shelter to ships, and likewise possessed many excellent harbours; but the
Liburnians, as well as most of the inhabitants of Illyria, were more eager
after piracy than commerce; and, as we shall afterwards see, carried their
piracies to such a daring and destructive extent, that the Romans were
compelled to attack them.
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