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UMBRIA ('Opj3pucrl)
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See also:UMBRIA ('Opj3pucrl) , the name of an See also:ancient and a See also:modern See also:district of See also:Italy. 1. The ancient district was bounded in the See also:period of the See also:Roman supremacy by the Ager Gallicus (in a See also:line with See also:RaVenna) on the N., by See also:Etruria (the 'Fiber) on the W., by the See also:Sabine territory on the S. and by See also:Picenum on the E. The Via See also:Flaminia passed up through it from See also:Ocriculum to See also:Ariminum; along it See also:lay the important towns of Narnia (See also:Narni) See also:Carsulae, See also:Mevania (Bevagna), See also:Forum Flaminii, Nuceria Camellaria (Nocera) and Forum Sempronii; and on the Adriatic See also:coast Fanum Fortunae (See also:Fan()) and See also:Pisaurum (See also:Pesaro). To the See also:east lay Interamna (See also:Terni), Spoletium (See also:Spoleto), Fulginium (See also:Foligno—on a See also:branch of the Via Flaminia which See also:left the See also:main road at Varina and rejoined it at Forum Flaminii) and the important See also:town of Camerinum on the See also:side of the See also:Apennines towards Picenum. On the side towards Etruria lay See also:Ameria (Amelia) and Tuder (See also:Todi), both on the See also:direct road from See also:Rome to Perusia,' See also:Iguvium, which occupied a very advantageous position See also:close to the main pass through the Apennines, and See also:Hispellum (See also:Spello). Not far off was Assisium (See also:Assisi), whilst far to the See also:north in the mountains lay Sarsina. Under the See also:empire it formed the See also:sixth region of Italy. In earlier times it embraced a far larger See also:area. See also:Herodotus (iv. 49) describes it as extending to the See also:Alps, and the aepioSos ascribed to Scylax (a See also:treatise which embodies material of the 4th See also:century B.c. or earlier) makes Umbria conterminous with Samnium. Furthermore, See also:place-names of undoubted Umbrian origin abound in Etruria and are also found in the Po valley. Thus in the See also:early days of See also:Italian See also:history Umbria may be taken as having extended over the greater See also:part of See also:northern and central Italy. The name Umbria is derived from the Umbri, one of the See also:chief constituent See also:stocks of the Italian nation. The origin and ethnic See also:affinities of the Umbrians are still in some degree a See also:matter of dispute, but their See also:language proves them to have been an See also:Aryan See also:people closely allied with the Oscans and in a remoter degree with the Latins. Archaeological considerations further show with approximate certainty that the Umbri are to be identified with the creators of the See also:Terramara (q.v.), and probably also of the See also:Villanova (q.v.), culture in northern and central Italy, who at the beginning of the See also:Bronze See also:Age displaced the See also:original Ligurian See also:population by an invasion from the north-east. From the See also:time and starting-point of their migrations, as well as from their type of culture, it may be provisionally inferred that the Umbrians were cognate with the See also:Achaeans of prehistoric See also:Greece. See also:Pliny's statement (iii. 13, 19) that they were the most ancient See also:race of Italy may certainly be rejected. The See also:process by which the Umbrians were deprived of their predominance in upper and central Italy and restricted to their confines of historic times cannot be traced in any detail. A tradition declares that their easternmost territory in the region of See also:Ancona was wrested from them by the Picentes, a branch of the Sabine stock. It may also be conjectured that they were partly displaced in the valley of the Po by the Gaulish tribes which began to pour across the Alps from about Soo B.C. But their chief enemies were undoubtedly the Etruscans. These invaders, whose encroachments can be determined by archaeological See also:evidence as proceeding from the western seaboard towards the north and east, and as lasting from about 700 to 500 B.C., eventually drove the Umbrians into that upland See also:tract athwart the Apennines to which the name of Umbria belonged in See also:historical times. In the course of this struggle the Etruscans are said to have captured 300 Umbrian towns. Nevertheless the Umbrian See also:element of population does not seem to have been eradicated in the conquered districts. See also:Strabo records a tradition that the Umbrians recovered their ground in the See also:plain of the Po at the expense of the Etruscans, and states that the colonies subsequently founded in this region by the See also:Romans contained large Umbrian contingents. In Etruria proper the persistence of the Umbrian stock is indicated by the survival of numerous Umbrian place-names, and by the See also:record of Umbrian soldiers taking part in See also:Etruscan enterprises, e.g. the 1 The geographers make this road go See also:round by Vettona (mod. See also:Bet tuna) between Tuder and Perusia, instead of following the more direct modern line. attack on See also:Cumae in 524 B.c.` Indeed it is not unlikely that the bulk of the population in Etruria continued to be of Umbrian origin, and that the Romanization of this See also:country was facilitated by the partial absorption of the Etruscan conquerors into the Umbrian multitude. Against the Romans the Umbrians never fought any See also:wars of importance, a fact which may be explained partly by the remoteness of their position, but chiefly by the See also:common hostility of the two nations to the Etruscans. After the downfall of the Etruscan See also:power they made a belated See also:attempt to aid their Samnite kinsmen in their decisive struggle against Rome (308 B.C.); but their communications with Samnium were impeded by the See also:foundation of a Roman fortress at Narnia (298 B.c.), and at the See also:great See also:battle of See also:Sentinum (295 B.c.), which was fought in their own territory, the Umbrians are not reported to have See also:lent the See also:Samnites any substantial help. It is perhaps on See also:account of this defection that in 200 B.C. they received from the Romans a portion of the Ager Gallicus reconquered from the Senonian Gauls. They offered no opposition to the construction of the Via Flaminia through the See also:heart of their country, and in the Second Punic See also:War withheld all assistance from See also:Hannibal. In the Social War (9o–89 B.c.), they joined the rebels tardily and were among the first to make their See also:peace with Rome. Henceforth the Umbrians no longer played an See also:independent part in Italian history. The material prosperity of Umbria, in spite of its unfavourable position for commercial intercourse, was relatively great, owing to the fertility of the numerous small valleys which intersect the Apennine See also:system in this region. The chief products of the See also:soil were See also:olives, vines and spelt; the uplands harboured the choicest boars of Italy. In Pliny's time there still existed in Umbria 49 independent communities, and the abundance of See also:inscriptions and the high proportion of recruits furnished to the imperial See also:army attest its continued populousness. Among its most famous natives were the poets See also:Plautus (b. at Sarsina) and See also:Propertius (b. at Assisi). Of the Umbrians' See also:political and municipal organization little is known. In addition to the See also:city (tota) they seem to have had a larger territorial See also:division in the tribus (trifu, See also:ace.) as we gather from See also:Livy (xxxi. 2, " per Umbriam quam tribum Sapiniam vocant " ; cf. xxxiii. 37) and from the Eugubine Tables (" trifor Tarsinates," vi. B. 54). Ancient authors describe the Umbrians as leading effeminate lives, and as closely resembling their Etruscan enemies in their habits (See also:Theopompus, Fragm. 142; Pseudo-See also:Scymnus, 366–368). It is almost certain that each race influenced and modified the other to a large extent. There is conclusive See also:proof of strong Etruscan influences in Umbria. For instance, they undoubtedly borrowed their See also:alphabet and the See also:art of See also:writing from the Etruscans. Their writing ran from right to left. The alphabet consisted of nineteen letters. It had no See also:separate symbols for 0, G, Q; the aspirates and X were wanting; on the other See also:hand, it possessed forms for Z and V, and had likewise the Etruscan f (8). It also had a See also:symbol See also:peculiar to itself for expressing the See also:sound of palatal k when followed by either e or i. The fact that it is only in towns on the side next Etruria, e.g. Tuder and Iguviuln, that a coinage is found indicates that they borrowed the art of minting from that See also:quarter. The Umbrians counted their See also:day from See also:noon to noon. But whether they borrowed this likewise from the Etruscans we do not know (Pliny ii. 77). In their measuring of See also:land they employed the mesas, a measure common to them and the Oscans (See also:Frontinus, De Limit. p. 30), 31 of which went to the Roman jugerum.
See Strabo bk. v.; T. E. Peet, The See also: O. B. C.) 2. The modern territorial division is situated in the See also:middle of the See also:peninsula, between See also:Tuscany and the See also:Marches on the N. and E., and Rome and the Abruzzi on the S. and W., and comprising the one See also:province of See also:Perugia, with an area of 3748 sq. m.; pop. (19o1), 675,352. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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