the country of the Latini, a division of ancient Italy, on the eastern shore of the Tuscan Sea. The etymology of the word is very doubtful. The Romans, accepting the old myth, that Saturn hid himself there when dethroned by his son, derived it from *latos*. Another tradition derived it from the same source, either because the first inhabitants lived or hid themselves in caves, or because the whole country was hidden or sheltered from the rest of Italy by the barrier of the Apennines. A modern etymon, connecting Latium with *latu*, broad, is untenable from the difference in quantity of the roots of the two words. The probability is, that Latium, like most ancient countries, took its name from its inhabitants, and did not give name to them, and that it means nothing else than the land of the Latins. In the classics, the name is used in two widely different senses,—1st, In the early history of Rome it indicates strictly the country of the Latini; 2d, In the later history of Rome it is applied to all the territory stretching from the Tiber to the Campanian frontier, and from the Tuscan Sea inland to Samnium and the Sabini. The original Latium, or *Latium Antiquum*, was bounded on the N. by the Tiber, on the E. by the Apennines, on the W. by the Tuscan Sea. On the S. the boundary was somewhat vaguely fixed; but the whole of the marshy district known as the "Ager Pomptinus," as far S. as the Prom. Circum, seems to have belonged to the Latins from a very early period. The southern frontier was a kind of debatable land, occupied at one time by the Latins, and at another by the Volsci; and the border towns, whose origin was perfectly well known, are often mentioned indifferently as Latin or Volscian. A similar state of things reigned on the N. frontier of Latium, where it marched with Sabinium. The whole extent of ancient Latium was very inconsiderable. From Ostia to the Prom. Circum the coast-line only measured 60 English miles; the greatest length of the country did not exceed 64 miles, while its greatest breadth was about 28. When the league known as the "Forsus Cassianum" was formed between the Romans and the Latins soon after the beginning of the fifth century B.C., the cities which went to form the Latin nation were the following:—Ardea, Aricia, Bubentum, Corniculum, Carventum, Circeii, Corioli, Corbio, Cora, Fortunium, Gabii, Labicum, Lanuvium, Lavinium, Laurentum, Nomentum, Norba, Praeneste, Pedum, Querquetulum, Satricum, Scapta, Setia, Tellene, Tibur, Tusculum, Toleria, Triernum, Velitrae. This is the list as preserved by Dionysius. Pliny increases the number from 29 to 53, all of which had perished long before his day, without leaving a trace behind; besides 31 others, which in various degrees of prosperity or decay were still extant. These thirty-one were Algidum, Alba Longa, Antium, Apiola, Ardea, Aricia, Artona, Aurunca, Bovillae, Circeii, Cora, Corbio, Fabium, Fienluca, Forum Appii, Gabii, Labicum, Lanuvium, Laurentum, Lavinium, Mugilis, Nomentum, Norba, Ostia, Praeneste, Setia, Suessa Pometia, Tibur, Troia, Tusculum Ulubra, and Velitrae. Probably there never was a spot on the earth's surface on which so many cities were crowded into so small a space as in ancient Latium. Yet the existence of all these cities is matter of authentic history. Latium Novum comprised, in addition to the whole of the ancient Latium, the country of the Equi, Volsci, Hernici, and Aurunci, or Ausonians. Its northern frontier remained unchanged; on the E. and S. it was extended as far as the Marsi, Samnium, and Campania. The Liris was vaguely used as the line of demarcation between Latium and Campania. At some points, however, Latium did not reach that river, at others it went beyond it. The Volscian country, when incorporated with Latium, comprised a large tract on both banks of the Liris, with the whole mountain district round Arpinum and Atina on the Samnite frontier. Under Augustus, Latium and Campania formed together the first of the eleven regions into which Italy was distributed for purposes of government. The physical geography of Latium is given under ITALY, CAMPAIGNA DI ROMA, and PAPAL STATES.