UMBRO
UMBRO (
Ombrone), a river of Etruria, and next to the Arnus the most considerable in that country.
It rises in the hills between
Siena and
Arezzo, and
[p. 2.1318]has a course of above 50 miles in a SSW. direction till it flows into the Tyrrhenian sea, about 16 miles N. of the promontory of
Monte Argentaro. Pliny terms it a navigable river ( “navigiorum capax” ), and Rutilius describes it as forming at its mouth a tranquil and secure port. (
Plin. Nat. 3.5. s. 8; Rutil.
Itin. 1.337--340.)
It flows near the modern city of
Grosseto, and within a few miles of the ruins of Rusellae.
The name of Umbro is considered to be connected with the Umbrians, who held this part of Italy previous to its conquest by the Etruscans: and according to Pliny, the coast district extending from its mouth to Telamon, was still known as the “tractus Umbriae.” (Plin.
l.c.)
[
E.H.B]
