Preface Is to M f Hamilton that the Public is indebted for the fine Collection of de- ns from Etrufcan, Greek , and Roman Haßes j •which we this day prefent it with fe d by a mofl enlightened tafle in every branch o f the polite A rts, he has long made it a pleafure to colled thefe precious Monuments of the genius o f the Ancients, and lefs flattered with the advantage o f pojj'ejfing them, than with that of rendering them ufefulto to Men of Letters and hy their means to the World in general, be has been pleased to intrust them to us for their publication, exacting nothing from us , but perfection in the execution and fidelity in the drawing, and referring to himfelf the honour only, o f bringing them to light , under the Aufpices of a GREAT KING , to whom he has been attached from his infancy, by the ties of the moft profound refpeCl and the mofi fincere Gratitude ; and indeed, nothing could be more proper than to offer fuch a work to a Prince } who having ever been a lover of the liberal Arts from his mofi tender youth , has carried with him upon the throne , the tafle which he had for them ; without fuffering it as yet to be weakened by the toilfome cares of Government, to which he devotes himfelf entirely. To dedicate fuch a work to the King o f England, is to confecrate it to the utility of his Country , to that o f all Europe , to whom this Prince is dear by the gentlenefs of his manners, by the wifdom o f his view s, and by his love o f peace ; what do not the arts owe to him? what thanks are not due to him from litterature , which can only flourish under the shadow of that peace y -which vain Ambition and the immoderate defire of becoming powerful troubles but too often ? M ay his happy days ( filled with that folid glory, which fprings from the fublime char abler oj Benefactor to thofe whom fate has rendered his inferiors, though by Nature his equals, and that noble piety which rendered the two Antonines the delight of M ankind) be as lafling as his virtues and felicity , may his Augufi Nam e, like that o f T itus, become a Name of honour for all good Princes , may he neither acknowlegde or esteem any title more glorious than that o f Father o f his Country y nor a greater happinefs than that of uniting Moderation with Power , Equity with Strength , and the love o f public tranquillity , with the defire o f pouring bleffings upon thofe whom Providence has intrufied to his care: thefe prayers, rifing from the boforn o f my folitude which , thanks to the arts 5 is rendered eafy to me , are not thofe o f deceitful inter eft , or the infatiable defire of poffeffing riches and honours, but arife from my love to human Nature , and are confequences o f the wishes I form for the happinefs o f my Contemporaries . Our Readers without doubt will lofe much by M '\ Hamilton’s not having leifure from the occupations of his employment , to publish himfelf the Cabinet which he has formed with so much knowledge , this work in the hands of one fo much more capable than us o f understanding it’s merit, would have become as precious as the collection itfelf g™e birth to it , but fmce cares o f a fuperior nature have robbed us of a part of thofe hi would have taken in our enterprife, we shall endeavour to fupply that lofs as much as pojfible , and make it a rule , to explain with as much precifion as we are able, the ideas which he has been pleafed to communicate to us, we will add to them , thofe with which a long ftudy o f the Arts and of Antiquity have furnished us , thus guided by his counfels, affified by his lights, encouraged by the interest he is so good as to take in the fuccefs of our book, we will leave nothing negleCled which may conduce to bring it to the ut- mofl perfection in our power. For the refi , our views in the work which we undertake are not confined to a collection o f drawings, to the explanation o f the figures which they offer to the eye , and the expofition o f the beauties they prefent ; W e should then only have laboured to procure to our Readers, the pleafure o f the fight and to fatisfy their curiofity , and we should have done nothing or at leaf very little} towards the advancement o f the A rts. Our end has certainly been to shew a confiderable colleClion o f exquifite Models , but we likewife have propofed to ourfelves to haften the progrefs of the Arts by difclofing their true and firft principles . and it is in this refpeCl that the nature o f our work may be confidered as abfolutely new , for no one , has yet undertaken to fearchout what fyftem the Ancients followed to give their Vafes , that elegance which all the World acknowledge to be in them , to difcover rules the obfervation o f which conduCl infallibly to their imitation , and in short to of- fign exaCl meafures for fixing their proportions , in order , that the Artift who would invent in the fame ftile , or only copy the Monuments which appeared to him worthy o f being copied , may do so with as much truth and precifion , as i f he had the Originals themfelves in his poffe/fion . It is by this means , that the prefent work may contribute to the advancement o f the Arts , and make the mafter-pieces o f Antiquity that are worthy our imitation underftood as they deferve to be ; for we believe it will be readily acknowledged that it is not fujficient to have a general idea o f the Vafes o f the Ancients, as they are given us in the Books o f the Count de Caylus and Father Montfaulcon . Thefe works at the utmoft only shew what members the Ancients employed in the compofition of their Vafes , but do not indicate their relative proportions, and one should Succeed as ill in copying them after thefe vague notions, as one should do in attempting to imitate Greek Architecture with fuccefs , without having firft ftudied it’s propor tions . We should think that we had not advanced one fiep forwarder if the Monuments we publish were to the Artifis merely the objects of fruitlefs admiration , but shall think we have gone fomething farther i f it should prove that we revive an ancient art , and explain its firfi rudiments and the fuc ceffive difcovery of it’s fundamental M axim s, and if there should refult from that part o f our work which relates to the forms , fuch a theory , that to reduce it to practice nothing more will be neceffary than that facility of exe cution which labour and experience give to the hand of the meanefi A rtifi. In every A rt good models give birth to ideas , by exciting the imagination, theory furnishes the means o f expreffing thofe ideas, practice puts thefe means in execution and this lafi part, which is always the mofi common, is dlfo the eafiefi . I f we complete our defign we shall have done what is infifled upon by Longinus , who thinks with reafon , that when one treat* o f an A rt the principal point confifis in shewing how and by what means 3 what we teach 7 may be acquired. \The greatefi part of the Vafes that will be found in this ColleClion are ornamented with paintings the fubjecls o f which are taken from the Hifiory , the Mythology and the Religious, C ivil, or Political cufioms of the Ancientsy which render them very interefiing to the learned : 'The compofition of thefe paintings, the manner o f treating the figures , the elegance of the attitudes , the beauty in the expreffion and the fingularity of the outline , make them very valuable for Painters , Sculptors , and Lovers of defign . The fmallefi circumfiance may I ike wife interefi the Antiquarians , and it is for their fake that we have endeavoured not to omit any , perfuaded that they will acquit tbemfelves better than us of the numerous dijfertations, that may be made upon fuch fubjecls, we have taken the utmofi care not to preclude them from the merit or pleafure o f fuch performances they are not Dijfertations therefore , but Remarks upon the ob je els that prefent tbemfelves that we purpofi to give our Readers, nor mufi it be expelled that we shall difplay our erudition upon the Antiquities we exhibit . and i f fometimes we fpeak our fentiments upon fome of thefe pieces , and fupport thofe fentiments with what appofite Paffa ges of Authors, or infpettion of Medals, Statues, Bus reliefs or antique Pa- W furnished us , % our Readers to believe , that we have not the preemption to decide , and that our opinions are to ourfelves even , only doubts which we fubmit to the lights of the more learned. Our principal view shall be to follow the fteps of the human M ind in the purfuit o f thofe Arts which embellish Society and render life more agreable , we shall endeavour to shew what the system o f the Ancients has been , in almoft all the Arts which have any affinity with Defign , we shall offer reflexions which the beautiful Monuments difcovered under the ashes of Vefuvius and preferved at Portici have given birth to , but at the fa - me time we give notice, that if we fpeak of forne of the Monuments which compofe this fuperb and truly Royal Cabinet ; it is without pretending to de- fcribe them , and that we shall take the objecls o f our citations from that part o f the collection only , which is already engraved , published, and made known to the World by the munificence of his Sicilian Majefly ; And is con- fequently become the common property of all the learned . It is perhaps to this rich collection , to the ideas with which it has furnished us , to the comparifons which it has enabled us to make, that we owe the mofl valuable part o f our work, and the place from whence we write is perhaps alfo, that o f all Europe , the mofl proper to favour our intention of treating o f thefe matters ; for what place can be found where ideas are more continually produced , nourished, and ftrengthened by the prefence o f the objeCls , and where is the collection comparable to that of the King of the “Two Sicilies ? When we fpeak o f the mafter-pieces of Antiquity which we make pu blic we shall only mention the thoughts they have produced , and if by mifi take we should fay more than we demonstrate , as we should advance more than there is in the things themfelves , we might be reproached with jufli- ce of having faid more than we ought, and of having lofl fight o f the fub- jcct which ought to have been our guide in order to give ourfelves up to vain inquiries and fubflitute our ideas in the place of things, and our opinions inflead of truth. After having explained in general the end we propofe to ourfelves , it will not be improper here to give our reafons for what we have propo- fed . W e have obferved that the Ancients , more fond of variety in the forms of their vafes than in thofe o f their Architecture , have diver fifed them almofl to infinity , and that while thofe of our invention are confined to about thirty , they shew us almofl as many different forms as vafes . It is not however that our Artifls are wanting in the defire of diflinguishmg themfelves , nor is it that they do not feek to invent fomething new , at a time when novelty alone fupplies the place of intrinfic merit . their inte- reft , their reputation , the confideration that any new difcovery procures them , all induce them to fearch for novelty which is fure to be rewarded provided it is but agreeable j for every body feeks for it , every one buys i t , and opulence is eager to pay largely for it , why then this barrenefs , this poverty , why the small degree of elegance that we are able to give them ? I do not carry my enthufiafm for Antiquity so far as to fufpeCl that this proceeds from a total want of genius in our Artifls or that they are much inferior in that ref peel to the Ancients . I rather imagine that this dif ference between us and them proceeds from the difference between the point from which we have flarted : tafle being in reality founded much more upon our fentiments, than upon our knowledge , and all men being born with fenfibility, as their tafle may be perverted by bad models that have been flron- gly recommended to them in their youth, so it may be brought to perfection by the habit o f hearing only good ones praifed . In the beginning of the A rts, they worked after nature only, and after her they eflablished known principles, which being taken from the nature of the things themfelves led infallibly to the perfection of the A rt . 'This is not a fyflem founded upon prejudice and we shall often have occafion to demonfirate it evidently . Not to dwell too long upon this fubjeCl we shall only fa y , that if what we advance was a mere fuppofition , and if the Ancients worked at random , how would it be pof- fible that in this infinite number of forms which they have left us , we should find a connected arrangement o f things, and a proportion o f parts which indicate that they have conducted themfelves by the fame maxims ? in whate ver tim e, and by what hands foever they have been put into praClice, then ce it proceed that the Art ifs freed from the tyranny of fucch rules as fetter the imagination , and guided by principles fruitful in confequences , h t their genius take its flight , and the nature o f genius being to feek untrodden paths, became Creators . They taught him who began to learn an A r t, rather what could he done, than what had been done, m that they conduced them- fiv e s very differently from what we do in thefe days . From our method of working merely by example one would imagine that learning an art is ony learning the praBife of the mafler who teaches us , in this manner we confound the principles with the praBice o f the A rt , which is only the means , o f arriving at i t . From thence arifes that prejudiced in favor of toe know ledge o f a man in whom they have put their confidence , young difciples fo - low blindly his method by which they judge of every thing they fee ; the ma xims o f their Mafiers become fchackles to them from which they can never free themfehes, and contented with their ideas as with their manner; they do not give themfehes the trouble to fearchout the reafons which have engaged the inventors to prefer the ways they have followed , to thofe which it appears they might have followed. In the comprehenfion however of thefe reafons confifts the true knowledge o f the theory , without which the A rt is no more than a mechanical operation , and the Artifi confounds himfelf with the Mechanic. It would render than an important fervice to the A r t* , should we offer them at the fame time both certain principles and good models to follow . As to the lafl part, we think we may w arrant that this book will anf- wer , and as to what regards the principles we shall endeavour to eflablish them , the monuments themfehes will ferve as examples to confirm what we shall fay , the public may judge by them whether we have not attained the end which we propofed to ourfelves ?; for we repeat it again, both with regard to the Paintings, as well as to the forms, we have made it a law to ourfelves to be as exaB as pofifible : therefore even though we should not fucceed fo well as we could wish in our enterprifie , one objeB o f which is the fearch after the principles praBiced by the Ancients , yet will it not be wholly ufelefs , fince even fuppofing our reafonings are not good , the models which we offer cannot fail of being thought excellent . Moreover the ideas which are difperfed throughout this book will always ferve to shew young Artifls that it is not by keeping themfehes fervilely attached to the method o f their Mafiers ; nor even by imitating thofe who furpafe them that they can rife above mediocrity , but that it is by elevating themfehes to the cofitutive principles o f the A rt itfelf , by penetrating to the very fource from whence thefe principles flow , that is the philofophical contem plation M o n o f the nature of nghit , inventors, to fee from thence as from a heigh all the fteps A rt has made down to 'our tim e, that they can arrive at fuch a degee of knowledge « to be able to enlarge the narrow bounds which without genius cannot be pajj'ed, and which flopping all others, ceafes to be an obflacle to great Men only. From all that we have already faid upon this flub je Cl it refults, that it is for thofe who cultivate Litterature , for the Lovers of Antiquity , for all the Artifls , in short that it is for men of tafle that we write . 'There are few Men of Letters or Antiquarians who would not be deflrous o f feeing fuch a collection executed with care and precifion , and let them compare this Cabinet with that o f the Cardinal Gualtieri mentioned in the Supplement of Antiquity explained } by Father Montfaulcon and with all thofe which have been as yet printed . I f it should not ferve as a model to thofe which may hereafter be printed we fatter ourfelves it may ferve at leafl as an example, and if the example should be found good, one flop will have been made towards perfection. We think well enough of Mankind to believe that thofe vobo poff'efs rare Monuments of this nature will be deflrous of communicating them, and that independently of many other m otives they will be engaged to do so, from the gratitude which they ought to have for the pleafure M \ Hamilton procures them by the confidence he has been pleafed to honour us with ; moreover this will be of greater advantage than we can exprefs, for whatever Father Montfaulcon may think , collections of this kind are very fcarce even in Italy and are hardly of any utility to the Artifls , becaufe thofe who poff'efs them will not venture their vafes into the hands o f thofe, who from awkwardnefs or heedlefsnefs, would not take as much care of them as their fragility requires , and it is natural for the poffejfor of a fine piece to apprehend the lofs of it . Thus defigners cannot have their juft proportions , being fear- cely allowed time fujftcient to take a slight idea o f their forms . As to the Paintings they would require fill more time to be feen and Drawn with precifion . In this manner thefe collections lofe the greatef part o f their me- fit, remaining {as one may fay ) buried in Cabinets and become rather Monuments of the luxury of the poJJ'eJJors , than of utility to the progrefs of the Arts . Thofe who colleCl Prints and Drawings will undoubtedly be pleafed to find copies here of the mofl ancient defigns extant , and the only pieces ^ of this fort ‘which can he offered to their curioflty, tn this view these paintings ought to have a place at the head o f all collections o f Prints and Drawings . It is true that we fee at Rome , and Naples , admirable remains of the Painting and Sculpture of the Ancients , but it is upon their vafes only that we fee the traces of their defign , and it is well known with what care Raphael , Julio Romano , Giovanni da Udine , and Pouffin , ftudied after thefe fort of Monuments; where is then the Sculptor, the Painter, or the Artift , that will not have a pleafure in fludying mo dels which ferved as Maflers to thofe o f whom they efteem it an honour to be difciples ? W e think alfo, that we make an agreable prefent to our Manufacturers o f earthern ware and China , and to thofe who make vafes in fllver , copper , glafs , marble &c. Having employed much more time in working than in reflexion , and being befldes in great want o f models , they will be very glad to find here more than two hundred forms , the great eft part of which , are abfolutely new to them ; there, as in a plentiful fir earn , they may draw ideas which their ability and tafle will know how to improve to their advantage , and to that of the Public . The fource likewife from whence they will draw thofe ideas is the pur eft . O f all the countries in Europe Campania is that in which the greateft quantity o f antique vafes are found , and it is for this reafon, that it has been fufpeCled that the principal manufactures of them , were at Nola , which is at the foot of Vefuvius , at Capua , famous for its delights which detained Hannibal , and at Campana , which is in the neighbourhood of Cuma and Pozzuoli; this country having been likewife that which the Romans had chofen for the fituation o f their houfes o f pleafure , it is natural to think that they had there colleCled whatever was mofl elegant , left finished , and mofl precious, o f every kind . The flngular beauty o f thofe vafes of which we offer the defigns , leads one to this opinion , and what ought to confirm it ft ill more , is that the inhabitants of this country , have fiill preferved the Left forms in their vafes . Few Strangers come to Naples, without being ftruck with the diverflty and elegance of the mofl ordinary vafes for common ufes . Which proceeds , no doubt , from the beautiful forms o f the ancient va fes which are dug up every day , and which in all probability^ were met with flill more frequently formerly than at prefent . 'The fragility of thefe vafes being a hindrance to their exportation , very few are to be feen in foreingn countries, by which the very fource of good models is m a man ner cut off from the Artifls . .All thefe confiderations shew the importance of the work which we publish , but they shew f ill more how much gratitude is due to M r. Hamilton . His love for the Arts has magnified in his eyes the difficulty of the carrying the vafes fife to his own country , which more than any other confederation has determined him to allow his collection to be engraved at Naples . By this means, the Artifls of every country will have thefe fine forms under their eyes , almofl as well as if they were in the very Cabinet which contains the originals , and had the liberty of difpofing of them at pleafure . We hope that the Artifls thus enlightened in the true principles of their A rt , will foon annihilate thofe Got hick forms which habit alone renders fupportable ; and we shall have gained our end if a t the fam e time that we make our book agreable , we can render it ufeful , by engaging thofe who work for the Public to ferve it better , without any additional expence / which is very poffible , for as it cofls as much to raife a bad Edifice , as a good one 5 so no greater labour is required in making a fine vafe than an awkwardone , for the expence is in the tafle of the Artifls and not in the materials. I f our book should prove ufeful , we beg the Public may look upon it as a monument of the gratitude we owe it , for the kind reception it has been pleafed to give to our I aft work . The eafe which that has procured us , has furnished us the means for this undertaking, the execution of which is a pledge to the Public of the manner in which we shall fulfill the project we have undertaken o f writing the ancient and modern Hiftory of Sicily , and of collecting in it all the Monuments of the Ancients , and every thing rnoft remarkable in that charming country , where the Arts have flourished with so much fplendour , where Science and Litterature have been cultivated by the greatefl Men , where are flill to be difcovered the precious traces of that genius, which equalled it to Greece in ids befl times , and which by the advantages of it’s foil m i fitmtionU fill tU moft H «U r country in Europe. N. B. n 1 ] 1 r The Perfons who from regard to me have been pleafod to undertake the Translation o f this W ork, have attended more to Clearnefs and Precifion than to Elegance o f expreffwn; and as Their defign was, to render it more umverfol and more known, they imagined, that intended for the advancement of the Arts which require being treated fimply , it was fofficient to render the Ideas o f the Text in the moft litteral manner that the English Language would allow: the Author himfelf has not undertaken to compofe a brilliant , but a ufefull boo tv, and has bestowed more thought upon the fobjedl of his W riting, than the manner o f Writing ; This is contrary to the common praHice, but it has ap peared to him that upon this occafion , the method he has chofen to follow, though ( by much the moft troublefome ) is not the worft. Elis tafte for Antiquity , and fince it muft be own'd , the fituation of his fortune and ne- cefftty which in this world caufes so many Metamorphofes , have drawn him into this undertaking, which has carry d him much farther than he could have imagined : therefore he may be pardon'd for being the Author of four Volumes in Folio , fince he has been forced into i t . Refolved to Adi in the heft manner the Part which neceffity has Allotted him , he has fpaied neithei care, pains , nor expence to give fatisfadlion to his readers . VVhen he fa w , the hundred thoufand Charadlers caft on purpofe to compofe thefe prefent Sheets come from Venice , he was frighten’d to think of the few good things and the immenfe quantity of bad ones, which thefe Charadlers might bring to light , he forefaw with G rief, that, do what he would , he should still be Obliged to make them fay fomethings that he W ill hereafter be fiorry for having W rote; he propofed then to himfelf to diminish their number as much as poffible : he is fo re, that if it depended upon good will , he should have render’d his book excellent , if it is but Middling , his good Intention ought to procure him the Indulgence o f the Public , however he only asks that indulgence from his readers , that he would have for them , had they been the W riters, and he the Reader ; for if they tired him , he should not be angry with them, but content himfelf with not reading them; neverthelefs he would luy their hook, hecaufe if it was not good, one might at leaf look upon it as a Very Curious CoMlion of Prints and Antique Defigns . my Defigners» and Engravers, to whom / have already great obligations will fee thofe Obli gations increas'd % should their talents caufe the follys o f the Author to be forgotten : and after all, there will be no great harm done, either to him or to thofe who will have purchafed his work , which confulering the number of Plates it contains and the manner in which they are executed , is certainly very cheap, « Naples April 30^ 1755. D’Hancarville, C H A P T E R i . Of the Origin of the Etrufcans, and of their Letters. H e firfl rife o f Ancient Nations is generally fabulous , uncertain , or totally unknown . One may fay that , like the fources o f thofe R insers , which their fmallnefs or too great diflance bide from our refear- cbes , the Origins of Nations are concealed from us , either by the weaknefs of their firfl Principles , or perhaps , that } having been feperated from us by too long an interval o f time } they became lofl amidfl the chaos of Events , and so afford our curiofity , no means o f difcovering , from whence they came , «or when they began to appear in the W orld: thus in the chain o f continual vi- cifftudes and revolutions , to which all human things are JubjeB, £oor, low, jVfcriow been often feen to elevate them felves upon the ruins of others , who from their Power and credit frem d , as if they would always maintain the Empire o f which they were in poffeffion ; wbilfi thofe again in their turn fall into a State of humiliation , which in the time of their Grandeur. they were very far from forefeeing ; This was the cafe oj the Etrufcans , and of the Romans who fucceeded them ; from the bofom of a little Town ( which did not even exifl , when Etruria was in it s fplendour) a Power fprung forth , which Good ConduB in Profperity , Patience in Adverfity and Firmnefs in both , raifed upon the ruins of all other Nations ; yet Rome after having fubdued the mofr Valiant People , after having given the law to the greatefl part of the known World , after having feen Kings making their Court to her for the rank even o f fimple Citizens , ended , by falling again into an annihilation common to all things , which are def ined to exifi only for a limited time ; tho they may as it were feem to efrablish and augment them felves , the nearer they approach their decay and ruin. A t this very moment in which J am writing, what remains are there o f the Etrufcans and the Romans , who one after the other pofsefs’d the Empire of Italy ? Ruins frattered here and there, fad remnants which frarcely tracing the tranfitory pajjage o f their power and o f their tafle for the Arts , are only known to a frnall number of the curious, and Hiflories , unknown or indifferent to one part of Mankind and uncer tain to the other . So that i f we have a little more knowledge of the origin of the Romans , it is becaufe they were a new people , in comparifon o f the Etrufcans , of whofe commencements we are ignorant , nor do we know the time when they came to inhabit the Country , that from them deriv'd the name of Etruria or Tufcany : however , we cannot doubt but that Rich , induflrious , and powerfull , they mufl have held for a long time the helm of the Affairs of Italy , which they occupied (i) almoft M j , after baling extended their Colonies even into the Alps ; ?where they gave inhabitants to that wild Country , ?which the Rbetims Cultiva ted . I f we may truft to Herodotus (2) and Strabo , (3) the Etrufcans were call'd Tbyrrenians by the Greeks , after the name of Thyrrenus Son o f Athys , King o f the Lydians , under whofe conduit they landed in Italy . Neverthelefs Xantus of Lydia , whom Denys o f Halicarnajf'us looks upon as a man well verfed both in the ancient bifiory and that of his own time , far from relating this fact like Herodotus and Strabo , ajjures on the contrary , that the Sons of Athys efiablished tbemfehes in Afia , where they gave their Name to the Lydians and Torybians ; but he neither fays ( as remarks Denys ) „ that ‘Thyrrenus was chief of the Lydians, (4) nor that any „ Colony of Mmnians had gone to efiablish itself in Aufonia , nor in short „ that there was any Thyrrenian Colony which bore the name of Lydians . Hellanicus (5) affirmed that the Pelafgians and the Tbyrrenians were only one and the Same people , whom diverfe circumfiances caus d to be made Known under two different denominations ; the Opinion o f this Author Seems to be confirm'd by Sophocles , who calls them Thyrrenian Pelafgians , and by Thucydides , who makes the Pelafgians establisd in Thrace , defeend from the race of theft Tbyrrenians formerly inhabitants of Lemnos and Athens : it is thus, that the compound names of Celtlberians and AngloSaxons inform us from whence thefe people came , and out of what Nations they were formed. The Ombres or Ombrians believed tbemfehes older than the Deluge o f Ogyges, (6) and it is almoft certain, in fpite of their wars with the Etrufcans , that they had one common Origin : This great Antiquity has made fome Authors imagine, that thefe two People were Indigenous , or natives o f the Country they inhabited; (7) but what is certain , is that the Reign of Janus one of their befi Princes, is the Oldefl Epoque the Romans knew. Denys of Halicarnaffus (8) after having obferved that, the Law s, the Cuftoms , and the Religion o f the Etrufcans , had a greater affinity with thofe thofe of the Pelafgiane , than thof the , that, thefe people -fa «» -7 Ancient , had neater e.thcr the.r Lanouare or manners , any thing in common m th Strangers , fays he 7 faw w r * »» ™/o» , ™h? they may not have taken the name of Thynenians from the Greeks , either , * having inhabited Towers , or , ?as having had Thynenus for one of their Kings . In the midfl of this diverfity o f Opinions , fome o f the Learned , ^ ^ *V the ceUr Irated M ajocchi , (9) founding their authority upon a Pajfage o f S0- Jinus conjeClured , that , f£