Primus ego in patriam mecum (modo vita supersit) Primus Idumæas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas; GEORG. III. 10. (Conf. Liv. XXIV. 10.) That it was not a place of any size in Virgil's time, may be collected from what the poet himself says of it. Urbem, quam dicunt Romam, Melibœe, putavi Sic canibus catulos similes, sic matribus hodos ECL. I. 20. Strabo classes it with Brixia, Bergamum, and Comum, (V. 213.) but Martial attaches to it the epithet "parva." Tantum magna suo debet Verona Catullo, XIV. EP. 193. Its vicinity to Cremona was an unhappy circumstance to Mantua; for as the territory of the former city was not found sufficient to contain the veteran soldiers of Augustus, amongst whom it had been d Cluverius applies to Mantua the little poem of Catullus, beginning with O Colonia, quæ cupis ponte ludere ligneo, &c. CARM. 17. and supposes that the bridge spoken of by the poet connected Mantua with the land on the side of Verona. This supposition would agree very well in other respects; but as it does not appear that Mantua was ever a colony, we must, with most of the commentators of Catullus, believe that Comum is the Colonia spoken of. See Vulpius on the passage. divided, the deficiency was supplied from the neighbouring lands of the latter;-a loss most feelingly deplored by Virgil, though he was fortunate enough to escape from the effects of this oppressive mea sure. Et qualem infelix amisit Mantua campum, Non liquidi gregibus fontes, non gramina deerunt: Exigua tantum gelidus ros nocte reponet. GEORG. II. 198. Vare, tuum nomen, superet modo Mantua nobis, ECL. IX. 27. Fortunate senex, ergo tua rura manebunt : ECL. I. 47. We are informed by the grammarian Donatus, in Mantua mittenda certavit pube Cremonæ : Tradition has long assigned to a small place, now named Pietola, the honour of representing this birthplace of Virgil; but as this opinion appears to derive no support from the passages in which the poet is supposed to speak of his farm, the prevailing notion e See Servius's commentary on the passage. among the learned seems to contradict the popular report which identifies Andes with Pietolaf. It should be observed, however, that Virgil's birthplace and his farm may not necessarily have been one and the same; in which case I know of no argument which can be objected to a local but very ancient and well established tradition. Below Mantua, and near the junction of the Mincio and the Po, a small place named Ostiglia is Hostilia. evidently the Hostilia Vicus spoken of by Pliny. (XXI. 12. and Tacit. Hist. II. 100. III. 9. Cassiod. Var. Ep. II. 31.) Verona. Verona is the last of the towns belonging to the Cenomani, which remains to be spoken of. The history of its foundation is somewhat uncertain, for Pliny (III. 19.) ascribes it to the Rhæti and Euganei, Alpine nations, of which I shall soon have occasion to speak; while Livy (V. 35.) as positively attributes it to the Cenomani. So also Justin (XX.) and Catullus, in a passage already quoted, calls Brixia the metropolis of Verona. (LXVI. 34.) It will be easy to reconcile these two opinions, by admitting that the Cenomani made this settlement in the territory formerly possessed by the Rhæti and Euganei. It was advantageously situated on the Athesis, l'Adige, the most considerable river of Italy after the Po. Tum Verona Athesi circumflua SIL. ITAL. VIII. 597. And under the Roman dominion it soon became a large and flourishing city. (Strab. V. 212.) It is f Maffei Verona Illust. t. ii. 1. Bonelli Mem. Mantov. I. 120. Viso Memorie Istoriche, I. 31. supposed to have been colonized by Pompeius Strabo, with other cities already mentioned. (Constant. Paneg. Ascon. Pedian. in Cic. Orat. in L. Pis.) Tacitus speaks of it in later times as a most opulent and important colony, the possession of which enabled Vespasian's party to begin offensive operations against the forces of Vitellius, and to strike a decisive blow. (Hist. III. 8.) The celebrity of Verona is farther established as being the birth-place of Catullus, Mantua Virgilio gaudet, Verona Catullo. OVID. AMOR. III. EL. 14. Tantum magna suo debet Verona Catullo, MART. XIV. EP. 193. and of Pliny the naturalist, who in his preface calls himself the countryman of Catullus 8. It was in the neighbourhood of Verona that the famous Rhætic wine, so highly commended by Virgil, was grown. et quo te carmine dicam, Rhætica? ne cellis ideo contende Falernis. GEORG. II. 94. (Cf. Plin. XIII. 1. and 6. Suet. Aug. 77. Strab. IV. 206.) We have now to speak of a mountainous tract of country situated to the north of the Cenomani, and extending from the lake of Como to the Adige. Without entering into a minute inquiry respecting the territory actually occupied by each tribe, it may 8 For a detailed history of Verona, as collected from inscriptions and other monu ments, see the work of the learned Scipio Maffei, entitled Verona Illustrata, 2 vol. fol. suffice to say, that the valleys into which this northern portion of Italy are divided, were anciently peopled by the Rhæti and Euganei. Of the former, we know that they constituted a numerous and powerful nation, reaching far on the northern side of the Alps, between the Helvetii and Vindelici. (Strab. IV. 206. Plin. III. 20. Ptol. p. 55.) Respecting their origin, we are taught by Livy (V. 35.) to consider them, like many other Alpine nations, as a remnant of the ancient Tuscans, who on the invasion of the Gauls left the plains to seek for shelter in the mountains, under the command of a chief named Rhætus, from whom they derived their new appellation. (Cf. Justin. XX. Plin. III. 20.) Livy seems to consider this account, as far as the Rhæti more especially are concerned, to be beyond doubt; and he adds as a proof of the fact, that the Rhæti, though rendered wild and savage by this change of soil and climate, retained enough of their former language, however altered and corrupted from the original dialect, to establish the identity of the two idioms h The Rhæti were able to preserve their independence till the reign of Augustus, when they were reduced by the Roman armies under the command of |