the COETTHUS of Virgil, one of the oldest and most powerful cities of the Etrurian Dodecapolis, was situated on the top of a lofty hill about half-way between the Tiber and its tributary the Clanis. From its position it was regarded as impregnable by the successive conquerors of Italy who passed through the rich territory which surrounds it; and to this fact may be attributed the comparative rarity with which the name of Cortona is found in the ancient classics. The origin of the city is due to the Umbrians, from whose hands it passed into those of the Pelasgi, when that people began to extend its conquests in Etruria. Towards the close of the fourth century B.C., Cortona was still one of the most important cities in that part of Italy, both in political influence and in population. When it received the Roman yoke is not known, but it was probably before the invasion of Hannibal, who laid waste the adjoining country before the battle of Trasymene. It was only once colonized from Rome, apparently about the end of the second century B.C.; but as the colony was never renewed, the city fell into decay, and is not mentioned among the other colonies of the Roman empire either by Pliny or by Ptolemy. In its subsequent history the most interesting fact is, that it was one of the first bishoprics of the early Christian church.

On the site of the ancient Cortona, a modern city of the same name has been built, which is also the see of a bishop. Its present population is about 5000. The town derives its chief interest from the very valuable remains of antiquity dug up from the ruins of the ancient city. The most interesting of these are the fragments of the Cyclopean walls, one portion of which, 120 feet in length and of admirable workmanship, is in a high state of preservation. Some bronzes of exquisite beauty have also been unearthed; among them the celebrated bronze lamp, which is held by connoisseurs to be one of the finest specimens of ancient Etruscan art that has ever been discovered. (See Dennis's *Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria*, p. 442.) Cortona contains a number of handsome churches, some of which are adorned with valuable paintings of the early masters. Of these the finest is the cathedral, which among other curiosities contains the great sarcophagus, in which the local antiquaries, eager to identify everything with Hannibal's invasion, maintain (without any good foundation) that the bones of the unfortunate consul Flaminius were deposited after the battle of the Trasymene Lake.