s, extending from the Ligurian
sea to Mount Vesulus, _Veso_; the Collian, Graian, Penine, Rhoetian,
Tridentine, Carnic, and Julian Alps, which nearly complete the
crescent; the Euganean, Venetian, and Pannonian Alps, that extend the
chain to the east.

4. The political divisions of Italy have been frequently altered, but
it may be considered as naturally divided into Northern, Central, and
Southern Italy.

The principal divisions of Northern Italy were Ligu'ria and Cisalpine
Gaul.

5. Only one half of Liguria was accounted part of Italy; the remainder
was included in Gaul. The Ligurians originally possessed the entire
line of sea-coast from the Pyrennees to the Tiber, and the mountainous
district now called _Piedmont_; but before the historic age a great
part of their territory was wrested from them by the Iberians, the
Celts, and the Tuscans, until their limits were contracted nearly to
those of the present district attached to Genoa. Their chief cities
were Genua, _Genoa_; Nicoe'a, _Nice_, founded by a colony from
Marseilles; and As'ta, _Asti_. The Ligurians were one of the last
Italian states conquered by the Romans; on account of their inveterate
hostility, they are grossly maligned by the historians of the
victorious people, and described as ignorant, treacherous, and
deceitful; but the Greek writers have given a different and more
impartial account; they assure us that the Ligurians were eminent for
boldness and dexterity, and at the same time patient and contented.

6. Cisalpine Gaul extended from Liguria to the Adriatic or Upper Sea,
and nearly coincides with the modern district of Lombardy. The country
is a continuous plain divided by the Pa'dus, _Po_, into two parts; the
northern, Gallia Transpada'na, was inhabited by the tribes of the
Tauri'ni, In'subres, and Cenoma'nni; the southern, Gallia Cispada'na,
was possessed by the Boi'i, Leno'nes, and Lingo'nes. 7. These plains
were originally inhabited by a portion of the Etrurian or Tuscan
nation, once the most powerful in Italy; but at an uncertain period a
vast horde of Celtic Gauls forced the passage of the Alps and spread
themselves over the country, which thence received their name.

8. It was sometimes called Gallia Toga'ta, because the invaders
conformed to Italian customs, and wore the toga. Cisalpine Gaul was
not accounted part of Italy in the republican age; its southern
boundary, the river Rubicon, being esteemed by the Romans the limit of
their