PART IV.

AN EPITOME OF ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY.

THE ancient Greeks and Romans were wholly unacquainted with the western hemisphere; and their knowledge of the eastern did not comprehend more than half of its surface. In Europe they knew little or nothing of Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, a region which they denominated Scandinavia, and which they thought consisted of a number of islands. Russia, which they called Sarmatia, was equally unknown to them. In Asia they knew nothing north of the Caspian, but comprehended all the country under the general name of Scythia. The Ganges was the extreme boundary of their knowledge eastward. In Africa they knew nothing beyond the Mountains of the Moon, and were accurately acquainted only with the immediate coast of the Mediterranean, and banks of the Nile. The greatest extent of the earth as known to the ancients was from E. to W., hence the term longitudo, length, was applied to measurement in this direction, and latitudo, breadth, to measurement from N. to S. figure of the earth were very defective. be a flat round surface, which was surrounded by the ocean, out of which the sun and stars regularly rose, and into which they again descended. They represented the vault of the sky as resting on the tops of the highest mountains.

EUROPA.

Their ideas respecting the Most of them imagined it to

INSULE BRITANNICA, the British Islands.

Before the subjuga

tion of England by the Romans it was irregularly divided amongst thirty tribes of barbarians, of whom the most considerable were the Belge in the west, the Brigantes in the north, the Silures in S. Wales, and the Iceni in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Islands.-Vectis, Is. of Wight; Cassiterrides, Scilly Islands and Land's End. Mona is the name given by Cæsar to the Is. of Man ; Tacitus applies the same term to Anglesea.

Rivers. -Taměsis, Thames; Sabrīna, Severn.

Towns. Londinium, London; a place of considerable commerce even in the time of Tacitus. Eborăcum, York, where the emperors Severus and Constantius Chlorus resided, and where they both died; Rutupiæ, Richborough, celebrated for its oysters and as the general

landing-place from Gaul; Camulodūnum, Maldon, the first Roman colony in Britain, and where the Romans were defeated by Boadicea; Venta (Belgarum), Winchester; Verolamium, St. Albans, the town of Cassivelaunus, taken by Cæsar; Aquæ Solis, Bath; Venta, Caister, near Norwich, the capital of the Iceni; Lindum, Lincoln; Deva, Chester; Danum, Doncaster; Pons Elii, Newcastle; Luguvallium, Carlisle

GALLIA corresponds to modern France, with the addition of the county of Nice, the western half of Switzerland, and such parts of Germany and the Netherlands as are S. and W. of the Rhine.

Mountains.-Vogěsus, Vosges; Cebenna, Cevennes.

Rivers. Garumna, Garonne; Liger, Loire; Sequăna, Seine; Mosa, Meuse; Mosella, Moselle; Rhenus, Rhine; Rhodănus, Rhone; Arar, Saone.

Gallia, when invaded by Cæsar, was inhabited by three great nations, the Belgæ, the Celta, and the Aquitani. The Celta were the most powerful, and gave name to the whole nation—the word Galli being the Latinized form of the native term, Gael. The Celtæ occupied the middle of the country, and were separated from their northern neighbours, the Belgæ, by the Seine, and from the Aquitani on the S. by the Garonne. Augustus subsequently made four divisions :-]. Gallia Belgica in the N. E.; 2. Gallia Lugdunensis, or Celtica, between Gallia Belgica and the Loire; 3. Aquitania, between the Loire and the Pyrenees; 4. Gallia Narbonensis, the S. W. district nearest to Italy. This, from having been the first province possessed by the Romans, was also called Gallia Provincia, from which the modern term Provence is derived. In the third and fourth centuries the four great divisions of Augustus were broken up into smaller ones. The country along the coast from the Loire to the Seine was called Armorica.

Towns. In Gallia Belgica :- Colonia Agrippina, Cologne, called after Agrippina, the mother of Nero, who was born here; Itius Portus, Wissant, where Cæsar embarked on his second expedition into Britain; Ulterior Portus, Calais; Augusta (Trevirorum), Treves, frequently the residence of the emperors. In Lugdunensis, or Celtica :Lugdunum, Lyons, the second city in Gaul, and the place where the governors of the whole country resided; Leutetia (Parisiorum), Paris; Bibracte, called afterwards Augustodunum, Autun, where the nobility of Gaul were instructed in literature; Alesia, Alise, memorable for the sieges it sustained against Cæsar. In Aquitania:-Burdigăla, Bordeaux, distinguished for its literature in the decline of the empire. In Narbonensis:-Narbo, Narbonne, the metropolis of all

Gaul; Tolosa, Toulouse, called also Palladia, from literature being there greatly cultivated; Nemausus, Nismes, a flourishing city; Massilia, Marseilles, noted for its learning and politeness of manners; Arelate, Arles, a favourite resort of the Romans, and styled Gallula Roma, the Rome of Gaul; Vienna, Vienne, the place to which Archelaus, surnamed Herod, was banished for his cruelties.

Tribes.-The Helvetii, a powerful race, frequently mentioned by Cæsar, occupied the district between Lacus Lemānus, L. of Geneva, and Lacus Brigantinus, L. of Constance; the Sequăni were to the W. of the Helvetii.

GERMANIA, bounded on the N. by Sinus Codanus, Baltic, W. by the Rhine, S. by the r. Danubius, Danube, E. by the r. Vistula.

The principal rivers besides those already named, are the Albis, Elbe, and Viadrus, Oder. In the south was the celebrated Hercynia Sylva, Hercynian Forest, which it took Cæsar nine days to cross, and which extended northwards to an unknown extent. The chief towns cannot be ascertained. The principal tribes inhabiting the country were, the Batavi, in Holland; the Frisii, in Friesland; the Chauci Minores and Majores (distinguished by Tacitus as the most noble and just of all the German nations,) in Oldenburg and Bremen; the Saxones, the ancestors of the English, at the mouth of the Elbe. The Cherusci were to the south of the Chauci; they, under the conduct of Arminius, defeated and slew three Roman legions, commanded by Varus, but were afterwards defeated by Germanicus; the Catti, a powerful nation, called by Cæsar Suevi, were situated in Hesse; the Hermandūri, in Franconia; Marcomanni, in Bohemia. The whole coast of the Baltic was occupied by various tribes of the Vindili, Vandals, the most celebrated of which were the Longobardi, who afterwards settled in Lombardy; the Burgundiones, who emigrated to Burgundy, and the Gothones, Goths. The Alemanni were not a single tribe but of a confederation (as the name All men indicates); they are first mentioned in the third century; from them Germany derived the appellation of Allemagne. The Franks were a Teutonic race, who, on the breaking up of the empire, invaded the northern parts of France; they are not mentioned in classical writers. The Salic law, which excludes females from the throne of France, was established by the Sali, the most powerful of the Frank tribes.

VINDELICIA, NORICUM, RHETIA, PANNONIA, and ILLYRICUM OCcupied the region south of the Danube, exclusive of Italy and Greece. Rivers. Ænus, the Inn; Savus, the Save.

Towns.-Augusta (Vindelicorum), Augsburg; Tridentum, Trent; Vindobona, Vienna.

HISPANIA consisted of the modern Spain and Portugal.

Mountains.-Pyrenæi, the Pyrenees; Iduběda, the summit of which gives rise to the Douro, Tagus, and Guadalaviar; Herminius, between the Tagus and Guadiana; Marianus, the Sierra Morena and Orospěda, the eastern extremity of the same range.

Rivers.-Durius, the Douro; Tagus; Anas, the Gaudiana; Bætis, the Guadalquiver; Ibērus, the Ebro; Minius, the Minho, so called from the vermilion found in its neighbourhood.

Capes. - Promontorium Artăbrum, C. Finisterre; Pr. Sacrum, C. St. Vincent, called by Strabo the most western part of the habitable globe; Calpe, the rock of Gibraltar, which, with Abyla on the African side, formed the Pillars of Hercules.

Divisions. Spain was at first divided into two provinces; Hispania Citerior, nearer, and Hispania Ulterior, further Spain. In the time of Augustus, Hither Spain was named Tarraconensis, from Tarraco, its capital; and Further Spain was divided into Botica and Lusitania.

Amongst the tribes were the Cantăbri, on the Bay of Biscay, a fierce and warlike race, subdued by Augustus, and the Celtiberi, in New Castile and Aragon, the most powerful of the native tribes, and remarkable as being the first mercenaries employed by the Romans.

Towns. Tarraco, Tarragona; Carthago Nova, Carthagena; Toletum, Toledo; Saguntum, Murviedro, (mures veteri, old walls,) the destruction of which by Hannibal gave rise to the second Punic war; Numantia, near the source of the Douro, which, for 14 years, resisted the Roman arms; Gades, Cadiz, a great commercial city, founded by the Phoenicians; Portus Calle, at the mouth of the Douro, of which Portugal" is the corrupt pronunciation.

ITALIA took its name from a native prince called Itălus.

Seas and Gulfs.-- Hadriaticum Mare, G. of Venice; Tarentīnus Sinus, G. of Taranto; Siculum, or Etruscum Fretum, St. of Messina ; Tyrrhenum, or Infĕrum Mare, a name applied to that part of the Mediterranean that waters its west coast.

Mountains. The Alpine range in the neighbourhood of the sea was named Alpis Maritima, further north Alpis Cottia, then A. Graia and A. Pennina, Little and Great St. Bernard; Alpes Rhoticæ, in Rhoetia; and Alpes Carnica, or Juliæ, on the borders of Noricum. Apennines retain their ancient name.

The

Rivers. - Padus, or Eridanus, the Po; Tiběris, the Tiber; Athesis, the Adige; and the small but celebrated Rubico, Fiumicino.

Divisions. The northern part between the Alps and the Rubicon was regarded in the time of the republic only as a colony; it consisted

of the provinces of Gallia Cisalpina, Liguria, which skirts Ligusticus Sinus, Gulf of Genoa; and Venetia, at the head of the Gulf of Venice. Gallia Cisalpina was further divided into two parts by the Padus, Po; the northernmost was called Gallia Transpadāna, and the other Gallia Cispadana.

The towns in Gallia Cisalpina were Mediolanum, Milan, a large and flourishing city; Placentia, Placenza, where Hannibal first defeated the Romans; Cremona, which suffered severely in the civil wars of Antony and Augustus, and of Vitellius and Vespasian; Mantua, the birthplace of Virgil; Verona, the birth-place of Catullus and the elder Pliny; Patavium, Padua, the birth-place of Livy; Hadria, which gave name to the Adriatic; Felsina, afterwards Bononia, Ravenna, celebrated for a port and arsenal made here by Augustus, afterwards for its having been the residence of the emperors of the west, when Rome was possessed by the barbarians; Genua, Genoa, an extremely ancient place; Augusta (Taurinorum), Turin, taken and plundered by Hannibal, on his descent into Italy.

The principal countries in Central Italy were, Florentia, Florence, the capital, Etruria or Tuscia, Umbria, Picenum, Sabinum, Latium, Campania, and Samnium. The principal towns in Etruria were Veii, the ancient rival of Rome, captured by Camillus, after a siege of ten years; Pisæ, Pisa; Perusia, Perugia, near the lake Thrasimene, where Hannibal obtained his third victory over the Romans. In Umbria was Spoletium, Spoleto, where Hannibal was repulsed. In Picenum was Ancōna, receiving its name from the elbow like flexure of the coast on which it is situated. Sabinum was the native territory of the Sabines, the old enemy of the Romans; in it was Cures, Correse, the native city of Numa, from which the Romans received the name of Quirites; southeast of Cures was Horace's Sabine farm. Latium was the most important division of Italy. On the Tiber, fifteen miles from its mouth, was Rome; the seven hills on which it was built were Mons Capitolīnus, on which stood the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus; Mons Palatinus, containing the palace of Augustus; Mons Aventinus, Mous Coelius, Mons Esquilīnus, Mons Viminālis and Mons Quirinālis.

On the coast, at the mouth of the Tiber, stood Ostia, the port of ancient Rome, built by Ancus Martius; south of this was Lavinium, built by Æneas, and called after his wife Lavinia; and still further south, also on the sea-coast, was Antium, Torre d'Anzo, the capital of the Volsci, at one time the most powerful people of Latium. Alba Longa was the capital of Latium, under Ascanius and his successors. In Campania was situated the Falernian district, producing the best wine of Italy; and Mount Vesuvius, with the ill-fated cities Hercu