Veii
Encyclopedia
Veii was, in ancient times, an important Etruria
n city 16 km (9.9 mi) NNW of Rome
, Italy
; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision
of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome
. Many sites associated with Veii, which were in the city-state of Veii, are also located in Formello
, another comune of the Province of Rome, immediately to the north. Formello is named after the drainage channels first created by the Veians.
Veii was the richest city of the Etruscan League
, on the southern border of Etruria. It was alternately at war and in alliance with Rome
for over 300 years. It eventually fell
to the Roman general Camillus
's army in 396 BC. Veii continued to be occupied after its capture by the Romans; Livia
had an estate there, according to Suetonius
. The city under Roman control, which soon assimilated to Rome, is termed "Roman Veii" as opposed to "Etruscan Veii" by scholarly literature. Under the empire the Romans called the city the Municipium Augustum Veiens. Veii is famous for its statuary including a statue of Tiberius
(now in the Vatican
), and the Apollo of Veii
(now in the National Etruscan Museum
). The city never recovered its wealth or its population after the Roman conquest. It was abandoned after ancient times, and everything of value or utility was removed by anyone with access to the site. Finally it was filled and smoothed for ploughland and was forgotten until its rediscovery in the 17th century by the antiquarian Raffaello Fabretti.
In the "Parco di Veio" adjacent to Isola Farnese, there are remnants of an apparent temple. Also tumuli
and tomb
s have been found cut into the rock. Tombs were cut into tuff but tumuli were not. The most famous is the Grotta Campana, uncovered in 1843, a chamber tomb
with the oldest known Etruscan fresco
es. There are additionally long tunnels leading into the mound of the city, which may corroborate Livy
's account of the Roman victory in the Battle of Veii
.
elevation of 190 ha (469.5 acre) at Isola Farnese (isola from the elevation, Farnese from the palace owned by the House of Farnese there), bordering the modern village to the north, between the Fosso Piordo to the west and south and the Fosso Valchetta (ancient Cremera
, which it joins to the east of the village) to the north and east. The Valchetta flows a few miles eastward to join the Tiber river on the south side of Labaro
along the Via Flaminia
. Overall, Veii might be considered to be on the right bank of the Tiber, though set back from it. Its entire territory covered the intervening distance; that is, the city-state of Veii was on the Tiber.
The site currently is mainly fields (undeveloped because privately owned) except for the excavations and visible tombs on the hills nearby. The agrarian aspect, however, is somewhat misleading. The entire plateau is covered with settlement and cemetery sites, most visible as discolorations in the soil seen in aerial or satellite photos, or visible outcroppings of walls of buildings or domes of tombs. These visible sites have received their own names. At its most urban, the city walls of Veii, of which small sections remain, bordered the two intersecting streams, using the streambeds as a ditch, with a wall across the plateau closing the triangle.
In ancient times the plateau was a defensible location between two stream beds and amply supplied with water. Its proximity to the Tiber and the trade route to the interior, which became the Via Flaminia, augmented its prosperity, but also placed it in competition with the city of Rome for the domination of Latium
.
. Where the northwest border is to be drawn is uncertain; probably as far west as the Monti Sabatini and Lake Bracciano
in the north and southward from there. The Romans placed wealthy villas in the region after the abandonment of Veii. In Etruscan times the ager Veiantanus shared the countryside with the Silva Ciminia
, the remnant of an ancient forest, of which the Romans stood in superstitious dread.
The ager Veiantanus remained for the most part agrarian until it became evident after World War II
that the city of Rome
was going to expand into and develop that area as a suburb. Moreover, a new method of ploughing was turning over the soil a meter deep, destroying all surface evidence. John Bryan Ward-Perkins
, then Director of the British School at Rome
, set into motion the South Etruria Survey (1954–1968), which cataloged all the visible antiquities in the ager Veientanus. It was published in 1968.
Nearly 30 years later, in 1997, the Italian government moved to protect a part of that area, creating the Veio Regional Natural Park of 14984 hectares (37,026.2 acre) between the Via Cassia
on the west, the Via Flaminia
on the east, the Via Campagnanese on the north and the city of Rome on the south. Within the park are the comuni of Campagnano di Roma
, Castelnuovo di Porto
, Formello
, Magliano Romano
, Mazzano Romano
, Morlupo
, Riano
, Sacrofano
and Municipio XX of the city of Rome
.
), the finds are localized to the plateau, but appear to be associated with independent settlements, each with its own cemetery. Occupation gradually intensified in the 8th (remainder of Villanovan) and 7th (Orientalizing Period
) centuries BC, when the site assumed an urban appearance with city blocks in a grid pattern arranged around a central square containing a water cistern. This evidence suggests that the city of Veii was shaped into its classical form in the 7th century BC by a population, presumably Etruscan, first settling there in the 10th century BC.
The population of the early Veii practiced both inhumation and cremation within the same family. The proportion was 50% in the 9th century BC, after a predomination of cremation (90%) earlier. In the 8th century inhumation rose to 70%, which may be attributable to an influence from Latium
, where inhumation prevailed in the 9th century BC.
During the 9th and 8th centuries BC the population density and grave goods were on the increase: more and wealthier people and also more of a disparity in wealth; i.e., the rise of a richer class. In the 8th century BC the potter's wheel and writing were introduced from Greece. During the entire period the settlements translocated around the plateau; however, a settlement (Casale del Fosso) maintained a cemetery to the north of the plateau continuously from the late 9th century BC to the early 6th century BC.
In the 8th century BC during the reign of Rome's
first king, Romulus
, the Fidenates
and the Veientes were defeated in a war with Rome.
Plutarch
, Life of Romulus, says of them:
This passage corresponds well with the archaeology of Veii: spaciousness and wealth. The historical evidence for Rome and archaeological for Veii indicates they were both formed by conurbation of distinct settlements in that century. Plutarch says that the first Rome "contained no more than a thousand houses," while the population of the plateau at Veii is estimated to have been stable at about 1000.
Fidenae and Veii were again defeated by Rome in the 7th century BC during the reign of Rome's third king Tullus Hostilius
.
In the 6th century BC Rome's sixth king Servius Tullius
warred against Veii (after the expiry of an earlier truce) and the Etruscans. He is said to have shown valour in the campaign, and to have routed a great army of the enemy. The war helped him to cement his position at Rome.
In 509 BC, after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the family of Tarquinius Superbus went into exile in Caere
in Etruria. Tarquin sought to regain the throne, at first by the Tarquinian conspiracy
and, when that failed, by force of arms. He convinced the cities of Tarquinii and Veii to support him, and led their armies against Rome in the Battle of Silva Arsia
. The Roman army was victorious, and it is recorded by Livy
that although the forces of Tarquinii fought well on the right wing, initially pushing back the Roman left wing, the Veientes on the left wing faltered and fled the battle, because they were accustomed to defeat at the hands of the Romans. After the loss of the battle the forces of Veii returned home. Livy
writes that later in 509 BC, consul Publius Valerius Publicola
returned to fight the Veientes. It is unclear whether this was continuing from the Battle of Silva Arsia, or was some fresh dispute. It is also unclear what happened in this dispute.
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
n city 16 km (9.9 mi) NNW of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision
Administrative subdivision of Rome
The administrative subdivision of Rome consists of the 19 sub-municipalities of Rome's municipality. Originally, the city was divided into 20 sub-municipalities, but the XIV, what is now the Comune di Fiumicino, voted some years ago to become a full municipality itself and eventually detached from...
of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome
Province of Rome
The Province of Rome , is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. The province can be viewed as the extended metropolitan area of the city of Rome, although in its more peripheral portions, especially to the north, it comprises towns surrounded by rural landscape.-Geography:The Province of Rome...
. Many sites associated with Veii, which were in the city-state of Veii, are also located in Formello
Formello
Formello is a town and comune in the province of Rome. It is located southwest of the Monti Sabatini, within the Regional Park of Veii. The communal territory is mostly composed by tuff, and is intensively cultivated. This town is known to be one of the few to have a football club in Serie A: S.S....
, another comune of the Province of Rome, immediately to the north. Formello is named after the drainage channels first created by the Veians.
Veii was the richest city of the Etruscan League
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
, on the southern border of Etruria. It was alternately at war and in alliance with Rome
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
for over 300 years. It eventually fell
Battle of Veii
The Battle of Veii, also known as the Siege of Veii is a battle of ancient Rome, approximately dated at 406 BC. The main source about it is Livy's Ab Urbe Condita....
to the Roman general Camillus
Marcus Furius Camillus
Marcus Furius Camillus was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome....
's army in 396 BC. Veii continued to be occupied after its capture by the Romans; Livia
Livia
Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
had an estate there, according to Suetonius
Lives of the Twelve Caesars
De vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius,...
. The city under Roman control, which soon assimilated to Rome, is termed "Roman Veii" as opposed to "Etruscan Veii" by scholarly literature. Under the empire the Romans called the city the Municipium Augustum Veiens. Veii is famous for its statuary including a statue of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
(now in the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
), and the Apollo of Veii
Apollo of Veii
The Apollo of Veii is an over-life-size painted terracotta Etruscan statue of Apollo . Originally at Veii, it dates from c. 550 - 520 BC ans was sculpted in the in the so-called "international" Ionic or late-archaic Etruscan style...
(now in the National Etruscan Museum
National Etruscan Museum
The National Etruscan Museum is a museum of the Etruscan civilization housed in the Villa Giulia in Rome, Italy.-History:The villa was built by the popes and remained their property until 1870 when, in the wake of the Risorgimento and the demise of the Papal States, it became the property of the...
). The city never recovered its wealth or its population after the Roman conquest. It was abandoned after ancient times, and everything of value or utility was removed by anyone with access to the site. Finally it was filled and smoothed for ploughland and was forgotten until its rediscovery in the 17th century by the antiquarian Raffaello Fabretti.
In the "Parco di Veio" adjacent to Isola Farnese, there are remnants of an apparent temple. Also tumuli
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
and tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
s have been found cut into the rock. Tombs were cut into tuff but tumuli were not. The most famous is the Grotta Campana, uncovered in 1843, a chamber tomb
Chamber tomb
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interree than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one...
with the oldest known Etruscan fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es. There are additionally long tunnels leading into the mound of the city, which may corroborate Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
's account of the Roman victory in the Battle of Veii
Battle of Veii
The Battle of Veii, also known as the Siege of Veii is a battle of ancient Rome, approximately dated at 406 BC. The main source about it is Livy's Ab Urbe Condita....
.
The walled city of Veii
The site of Veii has long been identified as a tuffTuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
elevation of 190 ha (469.5 acre) at Isola Farnese (isola from the elevation, Farnese from the palace owned by the House of Farnese there), bordering the modern village to the north, between the Fosso Piordo to the west and south and the Fosso Valchetta (ancient Cremera
Cremera
Cremera is a 36.7 km Italian stream in Lazio which runs past Sacrofano, Formello, and Campagnano di Roma before falling into the Tiber about 10 km north of Rome...
, which it joins to the east of the village) to the north and east. The Valchetta flows a few miles eastward to join the Tiber river on the south side of Labaro
Labaro
Labaro is a suburb of Rome located 11 kilometres north of its center along the Via Flaminia, just outside of the Grande Raccordo Anulare highway, and adiacent to Prima Porta. It has a population of c. 16,000....
along the Via Flaminia
Via Flaminia
The Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
. Overall, Veii might be considered to be on the right bank of the Tiber, though set back from it. Its entire territory covered the intervening distance; that is, the city-state of Veii was on the Tiber.
The site currently is mainly fields (undeveloped because privately owned) except for the excavations and visible tombs on the hills nearby. The agrarian aspect, however, is somewhat misleading. The entire plateau is covered with settlement and cemetery sites, most visible as discolorations in the soil seen in aerial or satellite photos, or visible outcroppings of walls of buildings or domes of tombs. These visible sites have received their own names. At its most urban, the city walls of Veii, of which small sections remain, bordered the two intersecting streams, using the streambeds as a ditch, with a wall across the plateau closing the triangle.
In ancient times the plateau was a defensible location between two stream beds and amply supplied with water. Its proximity to the Tiber and the trade route to the interior, which became the Via Flaminia, augmented its prosperity, but also placed it in competition with the city of Rome for the domination of Latium
Latium
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...
.
Piazza d'Armi
Every Etruscan stronghold was built on an elevation and Veii was no exception. Its arx, or citadel, was placed on a bluff delineated by cliffs within the angle of confluence of the two streams, nearly separated from the main ridge by a gully through which ran a road, of Roman construction in the Roman period. An archaeological site, Piazza d'Armi ("military square"), marks the location today. A rejected alternative mentioned in the older texts is the outcrop on which the castle is located, outside of and some distance from the walls, and of lower elevation.The ager Veientanus
The territory of a city-state anywhere within the Roman domain was in Roman legal terminology called its ager; for example, the ager Romanus. The law made a number of fine distinctions, but by ager it meant primarily ager publicus, "public territory", the land belonging to the state, which in those times was primarily agricultural (ager is "field"). The ager Veientanus, as the Romans called the territory of Veii, covered the entire region between the right bank of the lower Tiber river and the coast; that is, all of southern EtruriaEtruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
. Where the northwest border is to be drawn is uncertain; probably as far west as the Monti Sabatini and Lake Bracciano
Lake Bracciano
Lake Bracciano is a lake of volcanic origin in the Italian region of Lazio, northwest of Rome. It is the second largest lake in the region and one of the major lakes of Italy...
in the north and southward from there. The Romans placed wealthy villas in the region after the abandonment of Veii. In Etruscan times the ager Veiantanus shared the countryside with the Silva Ciminia
Silva Ciminia
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...
, the remnant of an ancient forest, of which the Romans stood in superstitious dread.
The ager Veiantanus remained for the most part agrarian until it became evident after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
that the city of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
was going to expand into and develop that area as a suburb. Moreover, a new method of ploughing was turning over the soil a meter deep, destroying all surface evidence. John Bryan Ward-Perkins
John Bryan Ward-Perkins
John Bryan Ward-Perkins CMG, CBE, FBA was a British Classical architectural historian and archaeologist, and director of the British School at Rome.-Background:...
, then Director of the British School at Rome
British School at Rome
The British School at Rome was established in 1901 and granted a Royal Charter in 1912 as an educational institute in the fields of archaeology, literature, music, and history of Rome and Italy of every period, and for the study of the fine arts and architecture...
, set into motion the South Etruria Survey (1954–1968), which cataloged all the visible antiquities in the ager Veientanus. It was published in 1968.
Nearly 30 years later, in 1997, the Italian government moved to protect a part of that area, creating the Veio Regional Natural Park of 14984 hectares (37,026.2 acre) between the Via Cassia
Via Cassia
The Via Cassia was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii traversed Etruria...
on the west, the Via Flaminia
Via Flaminia
The Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
on the east, the Via Campagnanese on the north and the city of Rome on the south. Within the park are the comuni of Campagnano di Roma
Campagnano di Roma
Campagnano di Roma is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km northwest of Rome. It was first mentioned in 1076, having been carved out of the great estate assembled on the Roman pattern by Pope Adrian I, ca...
, Castelnuovo di Porto
Castelnuovo di Porto
Castelnuovo di Porto is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 25 km north of Rome....
, Formello
Formello
Formello is a town and comune in the province of Rome. It is located southwest of the Monti Sabatini, within the Regional Park of Veii. The communal territory is mostly composed by tuff, and is intensively cultivated. This town is known to be one of the few to have a football club in Serie A: S.S....
, Magliano Romano
Magliano Romano
Magliano Romano is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km north of Rome.Magliano Romano borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Campagnano di Roma, Castelnuovo di Porto, Mazzano Romano, Morlupo, Rignano Flaminio, Sacrofano....
, Mazzano Romano
Mazzano Romano
Mazzano Romano is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km north of Rome.Mazzano Romano borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Campagnano di Roma, Castel Sant'Elia, Faleria, Magliano Romano, Nepi.It was first mentioned in 945, one of the...
, Morlupo
Morlupo
Morlupo is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km north of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,230 and an area of 23.9 km²....
, Riano
Riano
Riano is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium. It is located about 20 km north of Rome, in the Tiber River valley, not far from Veio....
, Sacrofano
Sacrofano
Sacrofano is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 25 km north of Rome. Located near the Monti Sabatini, at the feet of an extinct volcano, it is included in the Regional Park of Veii....
and Municipio XX of the city of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
Growth of the city in prehistoric times
The settlement and growth of the city by conurbation can be traced through demographic analysis of the cemeteries and settlements on and around the plateau. The earliest evidence of occupation dates from the 10th century BC in the Late Bronze Age. Small settlements were scattered over a wider area than the plateau. In the 9th century BC, the Early Iron Age (Villanovan cultureVillanovan culture
The Villanovan culture was the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly following the Bronze Age Terramare culture and giving way in the 7th century BC to an increasingly orientalizing culture influenced by Greek traders, which was followed without a severe break by the...
), the finds are localized to the plateau, but appear to be associated with independent settlements, each with its own cemetery. Occupation gradually intensified in the 8th (remainder of Villanovan) and 7th (Orientalizing Period
Orientalizing Period
In the history of ancient Greece, the Orientalizing period is the cultural and art historical period informed by the art of Anatolia, Syria, Assyria, Phoenicia and Egypt, which started during the later part of the 7th century BCE. It encompasses a new, Orientalizing style, spurred by a period of...
) centuries BC, when the site assumed an urban appearance with city blocks in a grid pattern arranged around a central square containing a water cistern. This evidence suggests that the city of Veii was shaped into its classical form in the 7th century BC by a population, presumably Etruscan, first settling there in the 10th century BC.
The population of the early Veii practiced both inhumation and cremation within the same family. The proportion was 50% in the 9th century BC, after a predomination of cremation (90%) earlier. In the 8th century inhumation rose to 70%, which may be attributable to an influence from Latium
Latium
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...
, where inhumation prevailed in the 9th century BC.
During the 9th and 8th centuries BC the population density and grave goods were on the increase: more and wealthier people and also more of a disparity in wealth; i.e., the rise of a richer class. In the 8th century BC the potter's wheel and writing were introduced from Greece. During the entire period the settlements translocated around the plateau; however, a settlement (Casale del Fosso) maintained a cemetery to the north of the plateau continuously from the late 9th century BC to the early 6th century BC.
Legendary and early history
The legendary history of Veii begins in the 8th century BC, in the same century as Rome's and in connection with Rome.In the 8th century BC during the reign of Rome's
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
first king, Romulus
Romulus
- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...
, the Fidenates
Fidenae
Fidenae, or Fidenes, home of the Fidenates, was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the Via Salaria, which ran between it and the Tiber. As the Tiber was the border between Etruria and Latium, the left-bank settlement of Fidenae represented an extension of Etruscan...
and the Veientes were defeated in a war with Rome.
Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, Life of Romulus, says of them:
The first (to oppose Romulus) were the Veientes, a people of Tuscany (the site is now in Lazio), who had large possessions, and dwelt in a spacious city; they took occasion to commence a war, by claiming Fidenae as belonging to them ....
This passage corresponds well with the archaeology of Veii: spaciousness and wealth. The historical evidence for Rome and archaeological for Veii indicates they were both formed by conurbation of distinct settlements in that century. Plutarch says that the first Rome "contained no more than a thousand houses," while the population of the plateau at Veii is estimated to have been stable at about 1000.
Fidenae and Veii were again defeated by Rome in the 7th century BC during the reign of Rome's third king Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius was the legendary third of the Kings of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius, and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius...
.
In the 6th century BC Rome's sixth king Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of ancient Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned 578-535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's first Etruscan king, who was assassinated in 579 BC...
warred against Veii (after the expiry of an earlier truce) and the Etruscans. He is said to have shown valour in the campaign, and to have routed a great army of the enemy. The war helped him to cement his position at Rome.
In 509 BC, after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the family of Tarquinius Superbus went into exile in Caere
Caere
Caere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of Southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50-60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra and to the Greeks as Agylla...
in Etruria. Tarquin sought to regain the throne, at first by the Tarquinian conspiracy
Tarquinian conspiracy
The Tarquinian conspiracy was a conspiracy amongst a number of senators and leading men of ancient Rome in 509 BC to reinstate the monarchy, and to put Lucius Tarquinius Superbus back on the throne. The conspirators were discovered and executed...
and, when that failed, by force of arms. He convinced the cities of Tarquinii and Veii to support him, and led their armies against Rome in the Battle of Silva Arsia
Battle of Silva Arsia
The Battle of Silva Arsia was a battle in 509 BC between the republican forces of ancient Rome on the one hand, and Etruscan forces of Tarquinii and Veii led by the deposed Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus on the other...
. The Roman army was victorious, and it is recorded by Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
that although the forces of Tarquinii fought well on the right wing, initially pushing back the Roman left wing, the Veientes on the left wing faltered and fled the battle, because they were accustomed to defeat at the hands of the Romans. After the loss of the battle the forces of Veii returned home. Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
writes that later in 509 BC, consul Publius Valerius Publicola
Publius Valerius Publicola
Publius Valerius Publicola was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of the Roman Republic...
returned to fight the Veientes. It is unclear whether this was continuing from the Battle of Silva Arsia, or was some fresh dispute. It is also unclear what happened in this dispute.
See also
- Apollo of VeiiApollo of VeiiThe Apollo of Veii is an over-life-size painted terracotta Etruscan statue of Apollo . Originally at Veii, it dates from c. 550 - 520 BC ans was sculpted in the in the so-called "international" Ionic or late-archaic Etruscan style...
- Etruscan CivilizationEtruscan civilizationEtruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
- Lars TolumniusLars TolumniusLars Tolumnius was the most famous king of the wealthy Etruscan city-state of Veii, roughly ten miles northwest of Rome, best remembered for initiating the conflict with the fledgling Roman Republic that ended with Veii's destruction...
- Portonaccio (Veio)
- Roman RepublicRoman RepublicThe Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
- Silva CiminiaSilva CiminiaThe 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...
- Roman-Etruscan WarsRoman-Etruscan WarsThe Roman-Etruscan Wars were a series of wars fought between ancient Rome and the Etruscans, from the earliest stages of the history of Rome....