Machiavel has explained, at least as a philosopher, the origin of Florence, which insensibly descended, for the benefit of trade, from the rock of Faesulae to the banks of the Arno (Istoria Florentina, tom. i. l. ii. p. 36; Londra, 1747). The triumvirs sent a colony to Florence, which, under Tiberius (Tacitus Annals i. 79), deserved the reputation and name of a fourishing city. See Culver. Ital. Antiq. tom. i. p. 507, etc.