the silva ciminia, the ciminian forest, was the unbroken primeval forest that separated ancient rome from etruria. according to the roman historian livy it was, in the 4th century bce, a feared, pathless wilderness in which few dared tread. the ciminian forest received its name from the monti cimini, which are still a densely wooded range of volcanic hills northwest of rome. they form the part of the forerange of the apennine main range that faces towards the tyrrhenian sea.