• Barlow, Study of the Divina Commedia , p. 441, says:⁠— “The name of Florence has been variously explained. With the old chroniclers the prevalent opinion was, that it was derived from Fiorino , the Praetor of Metellus, who during the long siege of Fiesole by the Romans commanded an intrenched camp between the River and the Rock, and was here surprised and slain by the enemy. The meadows abounded in flowers, especially lilies, and the ancient ensign, a white lily on a red ground, subsequently reversed ( XVI 154), and similar to the form on the florin ( fiorino ), with the name given to the Duomo, St. Maria del Fiore, tend to show that the name was taken from the flowery mead, rather than from the name of a Roman praetor. Leonardo Aretino states that the name of the city originally was Fluentia , so called because situated between the Arno and the Mugnone: and that subsequently, from the flourishing state of the colony, it was called Florentia . Scipione Ammirato affirms that its name from the first was Florenzia . “The form and dimensions of the original city have not been very accurately recorded. In shape, probably, it resembled a Roman camp.