Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the city-state of Veii are in Formello, immediately to the north. Formello is named after the drainage channels that were first created by the Veians. Veii was the richest city of the Etruscan League. It was alternately at war and in alliance with the

Roman Kingdom The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wi ...

and later

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

for over 300 years. It eventually fell in the Battle of Veii to Roman general Camillus's army in 396 BC. Veii continued to be occupied after its capture by the Romans. The site is now a protected area, part of the Parco di Veio established by the regional authority of Lazio in 1997. Carte Falisques 450avJC

Site

City of Veii

The city of Veii lies mainly on a

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

plateau in area. The Valchetta flows a few miles eastward to join the

Tiber River The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...

on the south side of

Labaro Labaro is the 57th '' zona'' of Rome, identified by the initials Z. LVII. It is located 11 kilometres north of the city center, along the Via Flaminia, just outside the Grande Raccordo Anulare. History The zone takes its name from a curious e ...

along the

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' ( Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans ha ...

and Veii's territory included this area. Its proximity to the Tiber and the trade route to the interior, which became the Via Flaminia, augmented its prosperity. The Veiians were known to trade with nearby Greece, as well as with the Phoenicians that made up the Levant region. Many Grecian pottery shards have been found throughout the site, dating from as far back as the 8th century BC. Although the river brought wealth and affluence to Veii, it also placed it in competition with Rome for the domination of

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...

. The temple of Juno was the greatest and most honoured in the city.Plutarch: Camillus The largest visible monument is the sanctuary of Minerva from the 7th c. BC, situated along an important route just outside the city (at modern Portonaccio). Prior to their influx of wealth around the 7th century BC, the people of Veii preferred to worship their gods and goddesses in the open air. Early "temples" consisted of small shrines surrounded by foliage. Due to their affinity to the stars, many Veiians preferred to worship under the night sky. Once the city began to prosper, an official temple was built of wood and stone. The sanctuary was one of the oldest and most revered in Etruria, standing out for its sumptuous polychrome terracotta decorations, many of which can be seen today in the Villa Giulia. The sanctuary included the temple of Apollo of about 510 BC to which belonged the

Apollo of Veii The Apollo of Veii is a life-size painted terracotta Etruscan statue of Apollo (''Aplu''), designed to be placed at the highest part of a temple. The statue was discovered in the Portonaccio sanctuary of ancient Veii, Latium, in what is now ...

(now in the National Etruscan Museum). The impressive thermal baths and the forum built under

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

have been partially excavated in recent years. Many rich ''

Tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

'' and

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 interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...

s have been found. The most famous is the Grotta Campana uncovered in 1843, a chamber tomb with the oldest known Etruscan

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

es. There are also long tunnels leading into the plateau of the city, which may corroborate

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

's account of the Roman victory in the Battle of Veii. The 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.

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 in the Roman period. An archaeological site, Piazza d'Armi ("military square"), marks the location today.

Etruscan League

Despite the many mysteries surrounding the Etruscan League, it is well documented that the league was one of the most influential organizations in the Mediterranean. Because the Etruscan civilization was split into a federation of city-states, the league allowed the leaders of each to come together and discuss a variety of topics. Like

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

or the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, the statesmen would discuss issues regarding laws, taxes, and territorial disputes. Although little is known about the league itself, scholars have found that the city-states shared a common religion, as well as different variations of the same language. The leaders met on a yearly basis at the Fanum Volumnae Sanctuary near

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are comp ...

Art

Unlike the ever-iconic marble statues found throughout Rome, Veii's sculptures were made of

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terra ...

. Constricted to the natural materials surrounding the region, the majority of ceramic artifacts and statues were constructed of the clay that surrounded the rivers around the site. Most ceramic vessels were decorated with innate detail. Depictions of everyday life within the Etruscan community were very common. Many uncovered vases and bowls portray images of farmers harvesting crops and raising animals, as well as blacksmiths in the midst of working in a raging fire. Battle victories, as well as other accomplishments, were very popular subjects in funerary ceramics. As population and wealth flourished within the settlement, the use of bronze became more and more common. Although the people of Veii first used the metal for necessary items like horse bits and weapons, the material soon became popular among personal belongings such as large rectangular fans, jewelry, and mirrors.

Burial Practices

The use of burial and cremation altered depending on the stability of the settlement. In the early years, most citizens were cremated. As affluence increased, individuals were freer to bury their loved ones close by in order to visit them regularly. Burial sites dating back to the 9th century BC have been uncovered. As inhumation became more and more popular, the

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

became more and more intricate. Through the use of terracotta, local sculptors began using their talents to add adornments around the coffins, creating detailed accounts of the deceased's life, as well as the deities that meant the most to them. Tombs were commonly decorated with sentimental objects, as well as items they may need in the afterlife. During times of war or economic difficulty, the use of cremation rose. Unlike their ancestors, however, the people of Veii continued the tradition of burial by keeping the urns of their loved ones in miniature tombs. Like the sarcophagi, the urns were made of terracotta and depicted varying scenes important to the diseased individual. Items were still placed in the small tombs; however, the value of the objects steadily dropped as times of financial crisis continued.

Etruscan Language

Despite having discovered over 10,000 scripts written in the Etruscan language, very little information is known about it today. Many historians and linguists believe its roots involve a combination of Greek and Latin, but specific Etruscan influences have created a seemingly indecipherable code that experts have yet to figure out. Varying examples of Etruscan script have been uncovered all over the ancient world. Although linguists have been able to solve a handful of words, the full extent of the texts remains a mystery. Some experts suggest that the texts may contain the answers to questions pertaining to the creation of the Etruscan civilization, their country of origin, as well as their defeat during the Battle of Veii. Without being able to understand the ancient scripts fully, archaeologists are forced to hypothesize about the civilization through the use of Roman interpretation. The lack of first-hand accounts leaves the truth about Etruscan culture and events open to personal opinion.

History

Early history

The earliest evidence of occupation by demographic analysis, including that of the cemeteries, dates from the 10th century BC in the Late Bronze Age. Small settlements were scattered over a wider area than the plateau, and the population of the plateau at Veii is estimated to have been stable at about 1,000. In the 9th century BC, the Early Iron Age (

Villanovan culture The Villanovan culture (c. 900–700 BC), regarded as the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, was the earliest Iron Age culture of Italy. It directly followed the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture which branched off from the Urnfiel ...

), 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 ( Orientalising Period) centuries BC, by conurbation of the settlements as the site assumed an urban appearance with city blocks in a grid pattern arranged around a central square containing a water cistern. That 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. During the settlement's early years, many homes were built in spherical shapes out of wood over a shallow trench and topped with a thatched roof. Up until the 7th century BC Veii had to depend on itself for the majority of its resources and goods. Many artisans found work in the textile industry, creating intricate wool designs for clothes and blankets. Further supporting their self-sufficiency, many yarn spools and loom weights have been discovered in the area. 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

, 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: the rise of a wealthier class. In the 8th century BC, both 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.

Conflict with Rome

The documented history of Veii, like that of all Italian cities in their early centuries, is sparse and unreliable. According to Livy (writing 700 years later) the Fidenates and the Veientes were

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community *''The Defeated ''The Defeated'', al ...

in a war with Rome during the reign of Rome's mythical first king,

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these ...

, in the 8th century BC.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

(writing even later in the 1st C. AD) says of them:

The first (to oppose Romulus) were the Veientes, a people of Tuscany (the site is now in
Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
), who had large possessions, and dwelt in a spacious city; they took occasion to commence a war, by claiming Fidenae as belonging to them....

Fidenae and Veii were said to have again been

by Rome in the 7th century BC during the reign of Rome's third king

Tullus Hostilius Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who according to the Roman Historian Livy, bel ...

. In the 6th century BC Rome's sixth king

Servius Tullius Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned from 578 to 535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, ...

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 (also Caisra and Cisra) 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, t ...

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 Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage statu ...

and Veii to support him, and led their armies against Rome in the

Battle of Silva Arsia The Battle of Silva Arsia was a battle in 509 BC between the republican forces of ancient Rome and Etruscan forces of Tarquinii and Veii led by the deposed Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The battle took place near the Silva Arsia (the Ar ...

. The Roman army was victorious, and it is recorded by

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.

writes that later in 509 BC, consul Publius Valerius Publicola returned to fight the Veientes. In the 5th century BC, the Fabians, an aristocratic Roman family, moved into an Etruscan town just outside of Fidenae. Due to the sudden increase of wealth in the community, many Etruscan citizens began to worry about the impending fall of the economy. Soon, battles broke out on both sides, eventually leading to war. The sequence of events following the initial conflicts is widely considered to be a legend; it is said that the Veiian warriors murdered 300 Fabii, leaving all but one dead in order to insight fear in the rest of the community. The most famous king of Veii was Lars Tolumnus whose family was part of the Veientine aristocracy and who instigated a war with Rome in 438 BC. The nearby

Roman colony A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term '' colony''. Character ...

Fidenae Fidenae ( grc, Φιδῆναι) was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the '' Via Salaria'', which ran between Rome and the Tiber. Its inhabitants were known as Fidenates. As the Tiber was the border between Etr ...

revolted against Rome and allied itself with Veii, giving Tolumnus control of the Fidenate army. The Romans sent four envoys to demand an explanation but they were murdered. Rome declared war against Veii and sent Lucius Sergius with an army who won the battle but the Roman losses were so high that a state of emergency was declared. A subsequent fiercely-fought battle with Veii in 437 BC reinforced by a contingent from

Falerii Falerii (now Fabrica di Roma) was a city in southern Etruria, 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Rome, 34 km (21 mi) from Veii (a major Etruscan city-state near the River Tiber) and about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) west of the ancient Via Flaminia. It was the main ...

was indecisive until the tribune Aulus Cornelius Cossus unhorsed Tolumnus and killed him with his spear. In 406 BC, Rome declared war against Veii, still powerful and well-fortified, and her allies Falerii and

Capena Capena (until 1933 called Leprignano) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio region (central Italy). The town has borrowed its modern name from a pre-Roman and Roman settlement that was to its north. Geography Cape ...

which required the Romans to commence a siege lasting many years. As Plutarch says:

Veii had been the capital of Etruria, not inferior to Rome, either in number of arms or multitude of soldiers, so that relying on her wealth and luxury, and priding herself upon her refinement and sumptuousness, she had engaged in many honourable contests with the Romans for glory and empire .......... as the city was furnished with all sorts of weapons, offensive and defensive, likewise with corn and all manner of provisions, they cheerfully endured a siege

After ten years, in 396 BC, the Romans appointed Camillus as ''

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...

''. After defeating both Falerii and Capena at Nepete, Camillus commanded the final strike against Veii. He dug into the soft tuff rock below the walls whilst distracting the Veiians with attacks on the walls and infiltrated the city's drainage system to emerge in the citadel, leading to their defeat. Not interested in surrender but only in Veii's complete destruction, the Romans slaughtered the entire adult male population and made slaves of all the women and children. The plunder was very rich and extensive including the statue of Juno taken to Rome. Camillus supported the patricians in opposing the plebeian plan to populate Veii with half of the city of Rome designed to resolve poverty and space issues. Camillus deliberately protracted the project until its abandonment.

Roman and later history

The city was soon assimilated under Roman control and is termed "Roman Veii" as opposed to "Etruscan Veii" by scholarly literature. Under the empire the Romans called the city the ''Municipium Augustum Veiens''. The city never recovered its former wealth or its population after the Roman conquest. Nevertheless, after Rome's defeat in the

battle of the Allia The Battle of the Allia was a battle fought between the Senones – a Gallic tribe led by Brennus, who had invaded Northern Italy – and the Roman Republic. The battle was fought at the confluence of the Tiber and Allia rivers, 11 Roman ...

, many Roman soldiers fled there, and a project was proposed for abandoning Rome for Veii; this project was successfully opposed by Camillus. The Romans built wealthy villas in the region and

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14. Livia was the ...

had an estate there, according to

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τ� ...

. Veii was eventually abandoned after Roman 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 Raphael Fabretti (1618 – 7 January 1700) was an Italian antiquarian. Born at Urbino in the Marche, he studied law at Cagli and Urbino, where he took his doctorate at the age of eighteen. While in Rome he attracted the notice of Cardinal Lorenz ...

Ager Veientanus

The territory of a city-state anywhere within the Roman domain was, in Roman legal terminology, an ''ager''. 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'' (i.e. of Veii) covered the entire region between the right bank of the lower

Tiber river The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...

and the coast; that is all of southern

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscans. Thei ...

. The northwest border was probably as far west as the

Monti Sabatini The Monti Sabatini is a geologic region in Lazio, central Italy, a remnant of intense volcanism which started ca. 600,000 years ago, mainly with pyroclastic and maar forming eruptions which continued until 100,000 years ago. The moun ...

and

Lake Bracciano Lake Bracciano ( it, Lago di 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 (second only to Lake Bolsena) and one of the major lakes of Italy. It has a circu ...

in the north. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

that the city of

was going to expand into and develop that area as a suburb. Moreover, a new method of ploughing was turning over the soil a metre deep, destroying all surface evidence. John Bryan Ward-Perkins, then Director of the

British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

, 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 between the Via Cassia on the west, the

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 is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about northwest of Rome. It was first mentioned in 1076, having been carved out of the great estate assembled on the Roman p ...

, Castelnuovo di Porto, Formello,

Magliano Romano Magliano Romano is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about north of Rome. Magliano Romano borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Campagnano di Roma, Castelnuovo di Porto, ...

Mazzano Romano Mazzano Romano is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about north of Rome. Mazzano Romano borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Campagnano di Roma, Castel Sant'Elia, Faler ...

, Morlupo, Riano,

Sacrofano Sacrofano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 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

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Official website

Parco di Veio
{{authority control Etruscan cities Former populated places in Italy Archaeological sites in Rome National museums of Italy