Note 7 — Chapter II · ETNA.

Sir William Hamilton observes that history is silent regarding the first eruptions of Etna. It was in activity before the Trojan War, and even before the arrival of the "Sizilien" settlers. Diodorus and Thucydides notice the earliest recorded eruptions, those from 772 to 388 B.C., during which time the mountain was thrice in eruption. Later eruptions took place in the year 140, 135, 125, 122 B.C. In the year 44 B.C., in the reign of Julius Cæsar, there was a very violent outburst of volcanic activity.—Neuere Beobachtungen über die Vulkane Italiens und am Rhein, p. 173, Frankfurt (1784).