The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south 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 whic ...

, bounded by the Aurunci and

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from Norba and Cora in the north to

Antium Antium was an Ancient history, ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), then it was the main stronghold of the Volsci people unti ...

in the south. Rivals of Rome for several hundred years, their territories were taken over by and assimilated into the growing republic by 304 BC. Rome's first emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

was of Volscian descent.

Description by the ancient geographers

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

says that the Volsci formed a sovereign state near the site of Rome. It was placed in the Pomentine plain, between the Latins and the Pontine marshes, which took their name from the plain. The Volsci were divided in Antiates Volsci (capital Antium) on the Tyrrhenian coast, and Ecetran Volsci ( Ecetra) in the hinterland.

Language

The Volsci spoke Volscian, a

Sabellic The Osco-Umbrian, Sabellic or Sabellian languages are an extinct group of Italic languages, the Indo-European languages that were spoken in central and southern Italy by the Osco-Umbrians before being replaced by Latin, as the power of ancient Rom ...

Italic language, which was closely related to Oscan and Umbrian, and more distantly to

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. In the Volscian territory lay the little town of Velitrae (modern

Velletri Velletri (; ; ) is an Italian ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring communes are Rocca di Papa, Lar ...

), home of the ancestors of

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

. From this town comes an inscription dating probably from early in the 3rd century BC; it is cut upon a small bronze plate (now in the Naples Museum), which must have once been fixed to some votive object, and dedicated to the god Declunus (or the goddess Decluna).

Conflict with ancient Rome

The Volsci were among the most dangerous enemies of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, and frequently allied with the Aequi, whereas their neighbors, the Hernici, were allied with Rome after 486 BC. According to the semi-legendary history of early Rome, its seventh and last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was the first to go to war against the Volsci, commencing two centuries of conflict between the two states.

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 i ...

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'' 6.6; 6.9; 8.1 Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, the legendary Roman warrior, earned his

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

after capturing the Volscian town of Corioli in 493 BC. The reputed rise and fall of this Roman hero is chronicled in

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

's ''

Parallel Lives * Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero ...

'', which served as the basis for the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play, '' Coriolanus''. However, if

's account of the war between Rome and Clusium is accurate, it would seem that the relationship between Rome and the Volsci was not always hostile. Livy writes that at the approach of the Clusian army in 508 BC, with the prospect of a siege, the

Roman senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

arranged for the purchase of grain from the Volsci to feed the lower classes of Rome.

Prominent Volsci

* Camilla in

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

, a Volscian Warrior Maiden (like the legendary Amazons). * Attius Tullus Aufidius, leader of the Volsci during the Roman–Volscian wars.

Prominent Romans of Volscian ancestry

, first Roman emperor. *

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...

, Roman emperor from 249 to 251.

Roman Gentes of Volscian origin

* Balventia gens * Messia gens * Octavia gens * Pomptina gens * Publicia gens