The circumstances of the Pelasgic migration are differently related by the several historians, but the fact is asserted by all.[1] These Tyrrhenians brought with them the knowledge of letters and the arts, and the united people attained a high degree of power and civilization, long before the name of Rome was known beyond the precincts of Latium.

They possessed a strong naval force, which was chiefly employed in piratical expeditions, and they claimed the sovereignty of the western seas.

The first sea-fight recorded in history was fought between the fugitive Phocians,[2] and the allied fleets of the Tyrrhenians and the Carthaginians (B.C.

539.) 16.

To commerce and navigation the Etruscans were indebted for their opulence and consequent magnificence; their destruction was owing to the defects of their political system.