Villani's Chronicle Part 3

[Sidenote: Inf. iv. 122. Inf. i. 73-75. De Mon. ii. 3; Convivio iv. 5: 48.]

[Sidenote: De Mon. ii. 3: 62.]

[Sidenote: De Mon. ii. 3: 77-84.]

[Sidenote: Epist. vii. (3) 62, 63.]

[Sidenote: Par. xix. 131, 132.]

[Sidenote: Par. viii. 9.]

[Sidenote: Inf. v. 61, 62. Par. ix. 97, 98. Cf. De Monarchia ii. 3: 102-108. Convivio iv. 26: 59-70. Canzon. xii. 35, 36.]

aeneas again departed from the said destruction of Troy with Anchises, his father, and with Ascanius, his son, born of Creusa, daughter of the great King Priam, with a following of 3,300 men of the best people of Troy, and they embarked upon twenty-two s.h.i.+ps. This aeneas was of the royal race of the Trojans, in this wise: for Ansaracus, son of Trojus and brother of Ilius, of whom mention was made in the beginning, begat Danaus, and Danaus begat Anchises, and Anchises begat aeneas. This aeneas was a lord of great worth, wise and of great prowess, and very beautiful in person. When he departed from Troy with his following, with great lamentation, having lost Creusa, his wife, in the a.s.sault of the Greeks, he went first to the island of Ortygia, and made sacrifice to Apollo, the G.o.d of the sun, or rather idol, asking him for counsel and answer whither he should go; from the which he had answer and commandment to go into the land and country of Italy (whence at the first had come Darda.n.u.s and his forefathers to Troy), and to enter into Italy by the harbour or mouth of the river of Albola; and he said to him by the said oracle, that after many travails by sea, and battles in the said land of Italy, he should gain a wife and great lords.h.i.+p, and from his race should arise mighty kings and emperors, which should do very great and notable things. When aeneas heard this he was much encouraged by the fair response and promise, and straightway he put to sea with his following and s.h.i.+ps, and voyaging long time he met with many adventures, and came to many countries, and first to the country of Macedonia, where already were Helenus and the wife and son of Hector; and after their sorrowful meeting, remembering the ruin of Troy, they departed. And sailing over divers seas, now forwards, now backwards, now crossways, as being ignorant of the country of Italy, not having with them any great masters or pilots of the sea which could guide them, so that they sailed almost whithersoever fortune or the sea winds might lead them, at last they came to the island of Sicily which the poets called Trinacria, and landed where to-day is the city of Trapali, in which Anchises, his father, by reason of his great toils and his old age, pa.s.sed from this life, and in the said place was buried after their manner with great solemnities. And after the great mourning made by aeneas over his dear father, they departed thence to go into Italy; and by stress of storm the said s.h.i.+ps were divided, and part held one way, and part another. And one of the said s.h.i.+ps, with all on board, was lost in the sea, and the others came to the sh.o.r.es of Africa (neither knowing ought of the other), where the n.o.ble city of Carthage was a-building by the powerful and beautiful Queen Dido which had come thither from Sidonia, which is now called Suri [Tyre]; and the said aeneas and Ascanius, his son, and all his following in the twenty-one s.h.i.+ps which came to that port, were received by the said queen with great honour; above all, because the said queen was taken with great love for aeneas so soon as she beheld him, in such wise that aeneas for her sake abode there long time in such delight that he did not remember the commandment of the G.o.ds that he should go into Italy; and by a dream or vision, it was told him by the said G.o.ds that he should no longer abide in Africa. For the which thing suddenly with his following and s.h.i.+ps he departed from Carthage; and therefore the said Queen Dido by reason of her pa.s.sionate love slew herself with the sword of the said aeneas. And those who desire to know this story more fully may read it in the First and Second Books of the _aeneid_, written by the great poet Virgil.

-- 22.--_How aeneas came into Italy._

[Sidenote: Conv. iv. 26: 96.]

[Sidenote: Inf. ii. 13-15.]

[Sidenote: Par. xv. 25-30.]

[Sidenote: Inf. ii. 13-27.]

When aeneas had departed from Africa, he again landed in Sicily, where he had buried his father Anchises, and in that place celebrated the anniversary of his father with great games and sacrifices; and they received great honour from Acestes, then king of Sicily, by reason of the ancient kins.h.i.+p with the Trojans, who were descendants of Sica.n.u.s of Fiesole. Then he departed from Sicily, and came into Italy, to the Gulf of Baiae, which to-day is called Mare Morto, to the headland of Miseno, very near where to-day is Naples; in which country there were many and great woods and forests, and aeneas, going through them, was led by the appointed guide, the Erythraean Sibyl, to behold h.e.l.l and the pains that are therein, and afterwards Limbo; and, according to what is related by Virgil in the Sixth Book of the _aeneid_, he there found and recognised the shades, or soul-images of his father, Anchises, and of Dido, and of many other departed souls. And by his said father were shown to him, or signified in a vision, all his descendants and their lords.h.i.+p, and they which were to build the great city of Rome. And it is said by many, that the place where he was led by the wise Sibyl was through the weird caverns of Monte Barbaro, which is above Pozzuolo, and which still to-day are strange and fearful to behold; and others believe and hold that, either by divine power or by magic arts, this was shown to aeneas in a vision of the spirit, to signify to him the great things which were to issue and come forth from his descendants. But however that may be, when he issued forth from h.e.l.l, he departed, and entered into a s.h.i.+p, and, following the sh.o.r.es until he came to the mouth of the river Tiber or Albola, he entered it, and came to sh.o.r.e, and by signs and auguries perceived that he had arrived in the country of Italy, which had been promised him by the G.o.ds; and with great festival and rejoicing they brought their labours by sea to an end, and began to build for themselves habitations, and to fortify themselves with ditches and palisades of the wood of their s.h.i.+ps. And this place afterwards became the city of Ostia; and these fortifications they built for fear of the country people, who, fearing them as strange folk and unused to their customs, held them as foes, and fought many battles against the Trojans to drive them from the country, in all of which the Trojans were victorious.

-- 23.--_How the King Latinus ruled over Italy, and how aeneas had his daughter to wife, and all his kingdom._

[Sidenote: Inf. xiv. 94-96. Par. xxii. 145, 146.]

[Sidenote: Cf. Par. xxi. 25-27.]

[Sidenote: Inf. iv. 125, 126. Purg. xvii. 34-39.]

[Sidenote: Par. vi. 35, 36.]

[Sidenote: Inf. i. 107, iv. 124.]

[Sidenote: Purg. xvii. 34-39. Inf. i. 108. Par. vi. 3. De Monarchia ii. 3: 108-117.]

In this country (whereof the capital was Laurentia, the remains of which may still be traced near to where Terracina now stands), the King Latinus reigned, which was of the seed of King Saturn, who came from Crete when he was driven thence by Jove his son, as we made mention afore. And this Saturn came into the country of Rome, which was then ruled by Ja.n.u.s of the seed of Noah; but the inhabitants were then very ignorant, and lived like beasts on fruits and acorns, and dwelt in caves of the earth. This Saturn, wise in learning and in manners, by his wisdom and counsel led the people to live like men, and caused them to cultivate lands, and plant vineyards, and build houses, and enclose towns and cities; and the said Saturn was the first to build the city of Sutri, called Saturna, and it was so called after his name; and in that country, by his care, grain was first sown, wherefore the dwellers therein held him for a G.o.d; and Ja.n.u.s himself, which was lord thereof, made him his partner, and gave him a share in the kingdom. This Saturn reigned thirty-four years in Italy, and after him reigned Picus his son thirty-one years; and after Picus reigned Faunus his son twenty-nine years, and was slain by his people.

The two sons of Faunus were Lavinus and Latinus. This Lavinus built the city of Lavina. And Lavinus reigned but a short time; and when he was dead the kingdom was left to Latinus, which changed the name of the city of Lavina to Laurentia, because on the chief tower thereof there grew a great laurel tree. The said Latinus reigned thirty-two years, and was very wise; and he much bettered the Latin tongue. This King Latinus had only one most beautiful daughter called Lavinia, who by her mother had been promised in marriage to a king of Tuscany, named Turnus, of the city of Ardea, now Cortona. Tuscany was the name of the country and province, because there were the first sacrifices offered to the G.o.ds, with the fumes of incense called _tuscio_. aeneas having arrived in the country, sought peace with the King Latinus, and that he might dwell there; by the said Latinus he was received graciously, and not only had leave of him to inhabit the country, but also had the promise of his daughter Lavinia to wife, since the command of the G.o.ds was that they should marry her to a stranger, and not to a man of the country. For which cause, and to secure the heritage of King Latinus, great battles arose, for a long time, between aeneas and Turnus and them of Laurentia, and the said Turnus slew in battle the great and strong giant, Pallas, son of Evander, king of the seven hills, where to-day is Rome, who had come in aid of aeneas; and on the same account died, by the hand of aeneas, the virgin Camilla, who was marvellous in arms. In the end, aeneas, being victor in the last battle, and Turnus being slain by his hand, took Lavinia to wife, who loved aeneas much, and aeneas her; and he had the half of the kingdom of King Latinus. And, after the death of King Latinus, who lived but a short time longer, aeneas was lord over all.

[Sidenote: Inf. ii. 13.]

[Sidenote: Par. vi. 40-42. Convivio iv. 5: 80-97.]

-- 24.--_How Julius Ascanius, son of aeneas, was king after him, and of the kings and lords who descended from him._ -- 25.--_How Silvius, second son of aeneas, was king after Ascanius, and how from him descended the kings of the Latins, of Alba, and of Rome._ -- 26.--_How Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome._ -- 27.--_How Numa Pompilius was king of the Romans after the death of Romulus._ -- 28.--_How there were in Rome seven kings one after the other down to Tarquin, and how in his time they lost the lords.h.i.+p._

-- 29.--_How Rome was ruled for a long time by the government of the consuls and senators, until Julius Caesar became Emperor._

[Sidenote: Par. vi. 79-81. Convivio iv. 5: 16-29. De Monarchia ii. 9: 99-105; and ii. 12. Epist. vii. (3) 64-73.]

After that the kings had been driven out, and the government of Rome was left to the consuls and senators, the said King Tarquin and his son, with the aid of King Porsenna of Tuscany, who reigned in the city of Chiusi [Clusium], made great war upon the Romans, but in the end the victory remained with the Romans. And afterwards the Republic of Rome was ruled and governed for 450 years by consuls and senators, and at times by dictators, whose authority endured for five years; and they were, so to speak, emperors, for that which they commanded must of necessity be done; and other divers offices, such as tribunes of the people, and praetors, and censors, and chiliarchs. And in this time there were in Rome many changes, and wars, and battles, not only with their neighbours, but with all the nations of the world; the which Romans by force of arms, and virtue and the wisdom of good citizens, ruled over well-nigh all the provinces and realms and dominions in the world, and gained sovereignty over them, and made them tributary, with the greatest battles, and with slaughter of many nations of the world, and of the Romans themselves, in divers times, well-nigh innumerable to relate. And also among the citizens themselves, by reason of envy against the rulers, and strifes between magnates and them of the people; and on the cessation of foreign wars, there arose much fighting and slaughter ofttimes among the citizens; and, in addition to this, from time to time intolerable pestilences arose among the Romans. And this government endured until the great battles of Julius Caesar against Pompey, and then against his sons, in which Caesar was victorious; then the said Caesar did away with the office of consuls and of dictators, and he first was called Emperor. And after him Octavia.n.u.s Augustus, who ruled in peace, after many battles, over the whole world, at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, 700 years after the foundation of Rome; and thus it is seen that Rome was governed by kings for 254 years, and by consuls 450 years, as we have aforesaid, and it is told more at length by t.i.tus Livius and many other authors.

But note that the great power of the Romans was not alone in themselves, save in so far that they were at the head and leaders; but first all the Tuscans and then all the Italians followed them in their wars and in their battles, and were all called Romans. But we will now leave the order of the history of the Romans and of the Emperors, save in so far as it shall pertain to our matter, returning to our subject of the building of Florence, which we promised to narrate. And we have made this long exordium, forasmuch as it was necessary to show how the origin of the Roman builders of Florence (as hereafter will be narrated) was derived from the n.o.ble Trojans; and the origin and beginning of the Trojans was from Darda.n.u.s, son of Atlas, of the city of Fiesole, as we have briefly recounted; and afterwards from the descendants of the n.o.ble Romans, and of the Fiesolans, by the force of the Romans a people was founded called Florentines.

-- 30.--_How a conspiracy was formed in Rome by Catiline and his followers._

[Sidenote: 680 A.U.C.]

[Sidenote: Convivio iv. 5: 172-176.]

At the time when Rome was still ruled by the government of consuls, in the year 680 from the foundation of the said city, Mark Tully Cicero and Caius Antony being consuls, and Rome in great and happy state and lords.h.i.+p, Catiline, a very n.o.ble citizen, descended by birth from the royal house of Tarquin, being a man of dissolute life but brave and daring in arms and a fine orator, but not wise, being envious of the good and rich and wise men who ruled the city, their lords.h.i.+p not being pleasing to him, formed a conspiracy with many other n.o.bles and other followers disposed to evil-doing, and purposed to slay the consuls and part of the senators, and to destroy their office, and to overrun the city, robbing and setting fire to many parts thereof, and to make himself ruler thereof; and this he would have done had it not been warded off by the wit and foresight of the wise consul, Mark Tully. So he defended the city from such ruin, and found out the said conspiracy and treason; but because of the greatness and power of the said Catiline, and because Tully was a new citizen in Rome, his father having come from Capua or from some other town of the Campagna, he did not dare to have Catiline seized or to bring him to justice, as his misdeeds required; but by his great wit and fine speech he caused him to depart from the city; but many of his fellow-conspirators and companions, from among the greatest citizens, and even of the order of senators, who abode still in Rome after Catiline's departure, he caused to be seized, and to be strangled in prison, so that they died, as the great scholar, Sall.u.s.t, relates in due order.

-- 31.--_How Catiline caused the city of Fiesole to rebel against the city of Rome._

Catiline having departed from Rome, with part of his followers came into Tuscany, where Manlius, one of his princ.i.p.al fellow-conspirators, who was captain, had gathered his people in the ancient city of Fiesole, and Catiline being come thither, he caused the said city to rebel against the lords.h.i.+p of the Romans, a.s.sembling all the rebels and exiles from Rome and from many other provinces, with lewd folk disposed for war and for ill-doing, and he began fierce war with the Romans. The Romans, hearing this, decreed that Caius Antony, the consul, and Publius Petreius, with an army of horse and many foot, should march into Tuscany against the city of Fiesole and against Catiline; and they sent by them letters and messengers to Quintus Metellus, who was returning from France with a great host of the Romans, that he should likewise come with his force from the other side to the siege of Fiesole, and to pursue Catiline and his followers.

-- 32.--_How Catiline and his followers were discomfited by the Romans in the plain of Piceno._

Now when Catiline heard that the Romans were coming to besiege him in the city of Fiesole, and that Antony and Petreius were already with their host in the plain of Fiesole, upon the bank of the river Arno, and how that Metellus was already in Lombardy with his host of three legions which were coming from France, and the succour which he was expecting from his allies which had remained in Rome had failed him, he took counsel not to shut himself up in the city of Fiesole, but to go into France; and therefore he departed from that city with his people and with a lord of Fiesole who was called Fiesola.n.u.s, and he had his horses' shoes reversed, to the end that when they departed the hoofprints of the horses might show as if folk had entered into Fiesole, and not sallied forth thence, to cause the Romans to tarry near the city, that he might depart thence the more safely. And having departed by night, to avoid Metellus, he did not hold the direct road through the mountains which we call the Alps of Bologna, but took the plain by the side of the mountains, and came where to-day is the city of Pistoia, in the place called Campo Piceno, that was below where to-day is the fortress of Piteccio, purposing to cross the Apennine mountains by that way, and descend thence into Lombardy; but Antony and Petreius, hearing of his departure, straightway followed after him with their host along the plain, so that they overtook him in the said place, and Metellus, on the other side, set guards at the pa.s.ses of the mountains, to the end he might not pa.s.s thereby. Catiline, seeing himself to be thus straitened, and that he could not avoid the battle, gave himself and his followers to the chances of combat with great courage and boldness, in the which battle there was great slaughter of Romans from the city and of rebel Romans and of Fiesolans; at the end of which fierce battle Catiline was defeated and slain in that place of Piceno with all his followers; and the field remained to the Romans, but with such dolorous victory that the said two consuls, with twenty horse, who alone escaped, did not care to return to Rome. The which thing could not gain credence with the Romans till the senators sent thither to learn the truth; and, this known, there was the greatest sorrow thereat in Rome. And he who desires to see this history more fully, let him read the book of Sall.u.s.t called _Catilinarius_. The injured and wounded of Catiline's people who had escaped death in the battle, albeit they were but few, withdrew where is to-day the city of Pistoia, and there in vile habitations became the first inhabitants thereof, whilst their wounds were healing. And afterwards, by reason of the good situation and fruitful soil, the inhabitants thereof increased, which afterwards built the city of Pistoia, and by reason of the great mortality and pestilence which was near that place, both of their people and of the Romans, they gave it the name of Pistoia; and therefore it is not to be marvelled at if the Pistoians have been and are a fierce and cruel people in war among themselves and against others, being descended from the race of Catiline and from the remnants of such people as his, discomfited and wounded in battle.

-- 33.--_How Metellus with his troops made war upon the Fiesolans._

After that Metellus, who was in Lombardy near the mountains of the Apennine Alps in the country of Modena, heard of the defeat and death of Catiline, straightway he came with his host to the place where the battle had been, and having seen the slain, through amazement at the strange and great mortality he was afeared, marvelling within himself as at a thing impossible. But afterwards he and his followers equally despoiled the camp of the Romans from the city and that of the enemy, seizing that which they found there; and this done he came towards Fiesole to besiege the city. The Fiesolans vigorously took to arms, and sallied forth from the city to the plain, fighting with Metellus and with his host, and by force thrust him back, and drove him to the other side of the Arno with great hurt to his people, who with his followers encamped upon the hills, or upon the banks of the river; the Fiesolans with their host drew off from the other bank of the river Arno towards Fiesole.

-- 34.--_How Metellus and Fiorinus discomfited the Fiesolans._

The night following, Metellus ordered and commanded that part of his host should pa.s.s the river Arno, at a distance from the host of the Fiesolans, and should place themselves in ambush between the city of Fiesole and the host of the Fiesolans, and of that company he made captain Fiorinus, a n.o.ble citizen of Rome of the race of the Fracchi or Floracchi, who was his praetor, which is as much as to say marshal of his host; and Fiorinus, as he was commanded by the consul, so he did. In the morning, at the break of day, Metellus armed with all his people pa.s.sing over the river Arno, began the battle against the Fiesolans, and the Fiesolans, vigorously defending the ford of the river, sustained the battle in the river Arno. Fiorinus, who was with his people in ambush, when he saw the battle begun, sallied forth boldly in the rear of the Fiesolans, who were fighting in the river against Metellus. The Fiesolans, surprised by the ambush, seeing themselves suddenly a.s.sailed by Fiorinus in the rear and by Metellus in front, put to confusion, threw down their arms and fled discomfited towards the city of Fiesole, wherefore many of them were slain and taken.

-- 35.--_How the Romans besieged Fiesole the first time, and how Fiorinus was slain._

The Fiesolans being discomfited and driven back from the sh.o.r.es of Arno, Fiorinus the praetor, with the host of the Romans, encamped beyond the river Arno towards Fiesole, where were two little villages, one of which was called Villa Arnina, and the other Camarte [Casa Martis], that is campo or _Domus Martis_, where the Fiesolans on a certain day in the week held a market in all commodities for their towns and the region round about. The consul made a decree with Fiorinus that no one should sell or buy bread or wine or other things which might be of use to the troops save in the field where Fiorinus was stationed. After this the consul Quintus Metellus sent incontinent to Rome that they should send him men-at-arms to besiege the city of Fiesole, for the which cause the senators made a decree that Julius Caesar, and Cicero, and Macrinus, with several legions of soldiers, should come to the siege and destruction of Fiesole; which, being come, besieged the said city. Caesar encamped on the hill which rose above the city; Macrinus on the next hill or mountain, and Cicero on the other side; and thus they remained for six years besieging the said city, having through long siege and through hunger almost destroyed it. And likewise those in the host, by reason of the long sojourn and their many privations being diminished and enfeebled, departed from the siege, and returned to Rome, save Fiorinus, who remained at the siege with his followers in the plain where he had at first encamped, and surrounded himself with moats and palisades, after the manner of ramparts, or fortifications, and kept the Fiesolans in great straits; and thus he warred upon them long time, till his folk felt secure, and held their foes for nought. Then the Fiesolans having recovered breath somewhat, and mindful of the ill which Fiorinus had done and was doing to them, suddenly, and as if in despair, advanced by night with ladders and with engines to attack the camp or fortification of Fiorinus, and he and his people with but few guards and while they slept, not being on their guard against the Fiesolans, were surprised; and Fiorinus and his wife and his children were slain, and all his host in that place well-nigh destroyed, for few thereof escaped; and the said fortress and ramparts were destroyed, and burnt and done away with by the Fiesolans.

-- 36.--_How, because of the death of Fiorinus, the Romans returned to the siege of Fiesole._

When the news was known at Rome, the consuls and senators and all the commonwealth being grieved at the misadventure which had befallen the good leader Fiorinus, straightway took counsel that this should be avenged, and that a very great host should return once more to destroy the city of Fiesole, for the which were chosen these leaders: Count Rainaldus, Cicero, Teberinus Macrinus, Albinus, Gneus Pompey, Caesar, and Camertino Sezio, Conte Tudedino, that is Count of Todi, which was with Julius Caesar, and of his chivalry. This man pitched his camp near to Camarti, nearly where to-day is Florence; Caesar pitched his camp upon the hill which rose above the city, which is to-day called Mount Cecero, but formerly was called Mount Caesar, after his name, or after the name of Cicero; but rather it is held to be after Caesar, inasmuch as he was the greatest leader in the host. Rainaldus pitched his camp upon the hill over against the city on the other side of the Mugnone, and after his name it is so called until this day; Macrinus encamped on the hill still called after him; Camertinus in the region which is still called Camerata after his name. And all the other aforesaid lords, each one for himself pitched his camp around the city, some on the hills and some in the plain; but no other than these aforesaid have left their names to be a memorial of them. These lords, with their followers in great numbers, both horse and foot, besieging the city, arrayed and prepared themselves to make yet greater war upon the city than at the first; but by reason of the strength of the city the Romans wrought in vain, and many of them being dead by reason of the long siege and excessive toil, those great lords and consuls and senators well-nigh all returned to Rome; only Caesar with his followers abode still at the siege. And during that sojourn he commanded his soldiers to go to the village of Camarti, nigh to the river Arno, and there to build a council house wherein he might hold his council, and might leave it for a memorial of himself. This building in our vernacular we have named Parlagio [Parliament house]. And it was round and was right marvellously vaulted, and had an open s.p.a.ce in the midst; and then began seats in steps all around; and from step to step, built upon, vaulting, they rose, widening up to the very top, and the height thereof was more than sixty cubits, and it had two doors; and therein a.s.sembled the people to hold council, and from grade to grade the folk were seated, the most n.o.ble above, and then descending according to the dignity of the people; and it was so fas.h.i.+oned that all in the Parliament might see one another by face, and that all might hear distinctly that which one was saying; and it held commodiously an infinite mult.i.tude of people, and its name, rightly speaking, was Parlatorio [speaking place]. This was afterwards destroyed in the time of Totila, but in our days the foundations may yet be seen, and part of the vaulting near to the church of S. Simone in Florence, and reaching to the beginning of the square of Santa Croce; and part of the palaces of the Peruzzi are built thereupon, and the street which is called Anguillaia, which goes to Santa Croce, goes almost through the midst of the said Parliament house.