Text, translated from the 1595 Latin, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1603L, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Spanish/Latin & 1624 Latin Parergon/1641 Spanish [but text in Latin] editions:
208.1. {1595L{TVSCIA OR ETRVRIA {1608/1612I has instead{LA TOSCANA}1608/1612I instead}{1602G instead{Tuscia}1602G instead}.
208.2. This country {1606E only{in its length [in fact: width]}1606E only} is bordered by two rivers; the Tiber in the East and the Macra {1606E only{(or Magra)}1606E only} in the West. {not in 1606E{In the North it has the Apennine mountain range}not in 1606E}. In the South it has its Tuscan sea {1606E only{(Mare Tuscum or Tyrrhenum, now mar Tosco)}1606E only}. For although it was larger before the Roman Empire [was established], as Livius and Polybius testify, and [once] extended its boundaries beyond the Apennine mountains all the way to Atria {1606E only{(Atri)}1606E only} from which the Adriatic sea {1606E only{(Hadriaticus sinus, the bay of Hadria, Golfo di Venetia)}1606E only} took its name, yet afterwards, [its inhabitants] being expelled from there by the Gauls, it was contained within these boundaries. Of the eleven provinces into which all of Italy was divided by Augustus, as Plinius reports, this was the seventh. The Origines, a book written by {1606E instead{commonly attributed to}1606E instead} Cato, divide this country into the Maritima, {not in 1602G{(that part which is by Vopiscus in the life of Aurelianus said to be fertile and full of woods)}not in 1602G}, the Transciminia {1606E only{beyond mount Ciminus (Monte viterbo)}1606E only} and the Lartheniana, {1606E only{named like that after the city of Larthenium}1606E only}.
208.3. {not in 1602G{Iornandes and}not in 1602G} Ammianus {1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S have instead{Marcellinus}1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S instead [which amounts to the same]} in his 27th {1606E has instead{26th}1606E} book mention Annonaria Etruria {1624LPrergon/1641S instead{Annonariæ Tusciæ}1624LParergon/1641S}, near the town of Pistorium {1606E only{(Pistoia)}1606E only}. {not in 1602G{Moreover, Lib. de Limitibus mentions Vrbicaria. Was this not near the city of Rome?}not in 1602G}. Dionysius Halicarnassæus writes {1606E & 1608/1612I only{in his sixth book}1606E & 1608/1612I only} that it was divided into twelve dukedoms. Livius in his first book calls them six people {1606E only{(populos, hundreds, tribes)}1606E only}, {not in 1602G{to whom it seems that Vergilius referred, where he writes like this: Gens illi triplex, populi sub gente quaterni}not in 1602G}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] three nations great Etruria possesses, and each nation comprised four tribes}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. From which one common king was chosen, and each people sent several of their sergeants to attend on him. {not in 1602G{Servius calls them Lucumones in the second book of [Vergilius'] Georgicks, and thinks the word to refer to kings}not in 1602G}.
208.4. {1606E only{Yet Festus says that they are men called like this because of their madness, rendering all places where they come unlucky and unfortunate}1606E only}. In the Origines just mentioned, they are called twelve settlements, and they are listed in the following order: Ianiculum, Arinianum on the Tiber, Phesulæ, and another Arinianum upon [the] Arno, Phregenæ, Volce, Volaterra, Cariara, also called Luna upon the shore, Ogygianum, Aretium, Rosellæ and Volsinium within the land. Volaterranus lists them with these names and in this order: Luna, Pisæ, Populonia, Volaterra, Agyllina, Fesulæ, Russellana, Aretium, Perugia, Clusium, Faleria and Vulsinia {1608/1612I only{or Bolsena}1608/1612I only}. An ancient monument [made] of stone, yet still extant at Vulsinium {1606E & 1608/1612I only{(Bolsena)}1606E & 1608/1612I only}, as Onyphrius claims, makes mention of fifteen settlements {1606E only{or hundreds}1606E only}in Etruria.
208.5. The country has received various names. For from Plinius we learn that it was first named VMBRIA, for he confirms that the Vmbri were expelled from here by the Pelasgi, and after that it was called PELASGIA. These [in turn] were expelled by the Lydi, as the same Plinius as well as Trogus testify, after whose king Tyrrhenus it was [now] called TYRRHENIA, as Paterculus, Halicarnassæus, Strabo and Livius have left on record. Soon after that, because of their ceremony of sacrificing, it was called in the Greek language TVSCIA {1608/1612I only{now Toscane}1608/1612I only}. It was also called, as the same Halicarnassæus writes, RASENA, after a certain duke of the nation. In Myrsilus, if I am not mistaken, it is corruptly written [as] Razenua. Moreover, it was called COMARA and SALEVMBRONE, if we believe the unreliable {1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S only{Pseudo}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S only}Berosus, Annius and other writers of a similarly deceptive nature.
208.6. The Phocenses, as Herodotus writes in Clio, once possessed it. The fragment of Antoninus near the river Arno mentions the Phocenses, and lake Phocensis. {not in 1602G{Halicarnassæus also, in his first book, says that the Siculi inhabited it before the arrival of the Pelasgi}not in 1602G}.
208.7. {in 1595L only, the following text is put after § 13, in 1602G after § 10{The nature of the soil is very fertile for all manner of things, yes, particularly for vines, as Halicarnassæus has written. The large, excellent plains, divided into several [parts by] hilly areas and mountains, are well manured and very fruitful, as Diodorus testifies. It is very woody, provides good pasturage, and is well watered by many pleasant streams, as Plutarchus claims. Martianus {1608/1612I instead{Marlianus}1608/1612I instead} says that for the fertility of its soil, it was ever renowned and in high esteem, which fertility is of great significance for attracting people to indulge in pleasure and easy living. For they are, as the same Halicarnassæus writes, very refined in their apparel and dainty in their eating habits, {not in 1602G{both at home and in garrisons.
208.8. Besides necessary things they carry with them, even when they go to war, various fine things, most intricately wrought, only for [their] pleasure and delight. Eustathius calls it a robbing, cruel and uncivil nation. Eusebius in his 2nd book de præparati. Evang. says that they are much given to necromancy. They are {1601L and later have instead{Arnobius in his 7th book {1606E only{contra Gentes}1606E only} calls them}1601L and later instead} the mother and nurse of superstition}not in 1602G}. They were always considered [as being] very religious, and they were the first that invented sacrifices, divinations and sooth-saying. It is from them that the Romans took over these vain and superstitious manners, as also the Sella curulis {1606E only{(coach of estate)}1606E only}, paludamenta [cloaks of war], trabea {1606E only{(the rich robe)}1606E only}, toga pretexta [tunic with edge], toga picta [checkered tunic], fasces [bundle of rods as expression of official power], secures {1606E only{(hatchets)}1606E only}, litui [soothsayers mace], apparitores [civil servants], {1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon only{curules}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon only} [ceremonial rulers seat], annuli {1606E only{(rings)}1606E only}, {1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S only{phaleras}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S only} [medals], music [and] ludiones {1606E only{(whifflers)}1606E only}. Finally, all their ornaments of triumph & robes of the consuls, {not in 1602G{or rather (if I may use the words of Florus) all the bravery and badges with which the honourable estate of the empire was graced and decorated.
208.9. Cassiodorus in the 15th section of his 7th book {1609/1612S/L{of Variar}1609/1612S/L} attributes to them the invention of casting and making statues of brass}not in 1602G}. It is from here that [the custom] arose that the Romans first committed their children to the Etrusci to be educated and brought up as afterwards they did with the Greeks, as you may read in Livius, Strabo and Diodorus Siculus}1602G ends here}. That the flute (tibia) was the invention of the Tyrrheni, with which they not only fought, but also whipped their servants, yes, and for cooking, is cited by Iulius Pollux from Aristoteles. About them Plutarchus writes in the 8th book of his Convival. that by an ancient statute they used to disperse their covers and blankets when they arose from their beds in the morning. Also, taking their pots from the fire, they leave no trace of them in the ashes, but always rake them outside. They never tolerate any swallows to come inside their house. They do not want to cross a broom. They keep nobody inside their house who has crooked nails on his fingers.
208.10. Yet Thimon, in the 12th book of Athenæus' {1606E only{Deipnosophiston}1606E only} attributes to them a voluptuous and licentious life style and reports their conversation to be none of the best. You will see many examples of this if you take any pleasure in such stories. Similar things you may read in his 4th book. But I cannot omit this single thing which Heraclides tells in his Politics, namely that if any man is so deeply in debt that he is not able to [re]pay, boys will follow him, holding up to him in mockery an empty purse, I do not know why}in 1595L after paragraph 13, not in 1602G}.
208.11. The Etrusci have for a long time been considered very wealthy. They were very powerful, both on sea and on land, and in war equal in strength to the Romans. Livius, (supported by Diodorus) says it is the richest province of all Italy, both in terms of men, arms and money. {1601L, not in 1602G{Plutarchus says in the life of Camillus that this country extended from the Alps {1606E only{on the North side as high as the Hadriatic sea}1606E only}, [and] to the {1606E only{South as low as}1606E only} the Mediterranean sea}1601L, not in 1602G}. That there were 300 cities of the Vmbri captured by the Tusci we find on record, says Plinius.
208.12. Such was the wealth and power of Etruria that it not only spread over the land, but also over the sea, all along [the coast] from one end of Italy to the other {1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S only{from the Alps to the straight of Sicily}1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S only}. Livius and Plinius confirm that Mantua and Atri were settlements of the Tusci. Pomponius and Paterculus say the same about Capua, as also about Nola, [and] although Solinus attributes this to the Tyrians {1601L, not in 1602G & 1608/1612I{(where I think the copy is corrupt, and for Tyrius, I suppose, there should have been written Tyrrhenis)}1601L, not in 1602G & 1608/1612I}, [yet] Trogus {not in 1602G{and Silius Italicus}not in 1602G} claim[s] that it was first built and populated by the Chaldicenses.
208.13. {not in 1602G{Yes, Plutarchus, in his treatise on famous women, and again in his Greek questions says that these Etrusci in old times possessed Lemnos {1606E only{(Stalamine)}1606E only}, and Imbrus}not in 1602G} {1606E only{(Lembro)}1606E only}, certain islands {1606E only{in the archipelago or Ægean sea}1606E only}.
208.14. Tuscus vicus, a street in Rome, Tusculum and Tusculanum in Latium {1606E only{(Campagna di Roma)}1606E only} took their names from here. [Then] mare Tuscum, also called mare Inferum, Notium, Tyrrhenum and Liburnum {1606E only{(the lower sea or South sea, as related to the Hadriatic sea which is called mare Superum or upper sea, North of this country)}1606E only}, as we find in Plinius and Cicero.
208.15. Near Puteoli {1606E only{(Pozzole)}1606E only}, as Dion has recorded, there is a sea creek called Tyrrhenus sinus, {1606E only{the bay of Tuscany}1606E only}. But there are also other Tusci, different from these, in Sarmatia, as Ptolemæus notes, as also another Tyrrhen, on the islands belonging to Attica, if you are willing to believe Myrsilus Lesbius}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S end here, 1602G continues with § 7}.