The truth appears to be that Florence was originally founded by Etruscans from Fiesole, who came down from their mountain to the plain by the Arno for commercial purposes. This Etruscan colony was probably destroyed during the wars between Marius and Sulla, and a Roman military colony established here–probably in the time of Sulla, and augmented later by Cæsar and by Augustus. It has, indeed, been urged of late that the old Florentine story has some truth in it, and that Cæsar, not only in legend but in fact, may be[7]regarded as the true first founder of Florence. Thus the Roman colony of Florentia gradually grew into a little city–come una altra piccola Roma, declares her patriotic chronicler. It had its capitol and its forum in the centre of the city, where the Mercato Vecchio once stood; it had an amphitheatre outside the walls, somewhere near where the Borgo dei Greci and the Piazza Peruzzi are to-day. It had baths and temples, though doubtless on a small scale. It had the shape and form of a Roman camp, which (together with the Roman walls in which it was inclosed) it may be said to have retained down to the middle of the twelfth century, in spite of legendary demolitions by Attila and Totila, and equally legendary reconstructions by Charlemagne. Above all, it had a grand temple to Mars, which almost certainly occupied the site of the present Baptistery, if not actually identical with it. Giovanni Villani tells us–and we shall have to return to his statement–that the wonderful octagonal building, now known as the Baptistery or the Church of St John, was consecrated as a temple by the Romans in honour of Mars, for their victory over the Fiesolans, and that Mars was the patron of the Florentines as long as paganism lasted. Round the equestrian statue that was supposed to have once stood in the midst of this temple, numberless legends have gathered. Dante refers to it again and again. In Santa Maria Novella you shall see how a great painter of the early Renaissance, Filippino Lippi, conceived of his city's first patron. When Florence changed him for the Baptist, and the people of Mars became the sheepfold of St John, this statue was removed from the temple and set upon a tower by the side of the Arno:– 事实上，佛罗伦萨最初是由来自菲耶索莱的伊特鲁里亚人建立的，他们出于商业目的从山上来到阿尔诺河边上的平原。这个伊特鲁里亚人的殖民地很可能在马里乌斯与苏拉之间的战争中被摧毁，而后这里大概在苏拉时代建立起一个罗马军事殖民地，后续由凯撒和奥古斯都扩大。的确，最近有人主张佛罗伦萨的古老故事有一定真实性：不仅在传说中，而且在事实上，凯撒都可被视为佛罗伦萨真正的首创者。因此，罗马殖民地佛罗伦萨逐渐发展成为一个小城市，爱国编年史家称其为小罗马。佛罗伦萨的国会大厦和论坛都座落在旧市场（Mercato Vecchio）曾经位于的城市中心。在城墙外有一个圆形剧场，大约是在今天的希腊村庄（Borgo dei Greci）和佩鲁兹广场（Piazza Peruzzi ）附近。城内有浴室和寺庙，尽管规模很小。整个城市具有罗马阵营的形状和形式，尽管经历了传奇性的阿提拉和托蒂拉的拆除和查理曼大帝的重建，这座城市连同包围它的罗马城墙一直保持到十二世纪中叶。除了上述，佛罗伦萨有一座朝拜战神玛尔斯的宏伟神殿，几乎可以肯定它占据了现在的洗礼池所在地，即使实际上二者并不完全相同。乔瓦尼·比利亚尼告诉我们（我们将不得不回到他的论点），这座壮丽的八角形建筑（现称为洗礼池或圣约翰教堂）被罗马人奉为纪念战神玛尔斯的圣殿，不仅因为罗马人战胜了菲索兰人，而且只要异教持续，战神玛尔斯就是佛罗伦萨的守护神。在原本应该屹立在这座寺庙中间的骑马雕像周围，聚集了无数的传说。但丁一遍又一遍地提到这座寺庙。在新圣母玛利亚教堂（Santa Maria Novella），你将看到文艺复兴早期的伟大画家菲利皮诺·利皮（Filippino Lippi）如何构想这座城市的第一位赞助人。当佛罗伦萨变为一座浸信会城市，并且原本信奉战神玛尔斯的人民落入圣约翰的羊圈时，这座骑马雕像被从圣殿中移走，并安置在阿尔诺旁边的一座塔上：