Volci
Encyclopedia
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...
city (in Etruscan, Velch or Velx, depending on the romanization
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...
used) in the Province of Viterbo
Province of Viterbo
The Province of Viterbo is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. It is bordered to the north by the Province of Grosseto and Siena, by the north-east with the Province of Terni and Rieti, in the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and south by the Province of Rome.It...
, north to 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...
.
The Vulci were a tribe or people as well as a city. They were one of the legendary twelve peoples of Etruscan civilization
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...
, who formed into the Etruscan League, a confederacy of self-interest.
This league splintered apart when opposed by the central government of the Roman Republic
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...
, and the Etruscans were soon assimilated. Volci was abandoned. Apart from its being a tourist attraction, there is no "modern Volci".
Geography
Velch was located near the coast of the Tyrrhenian SeaTyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
about 80 km northwest of Rome, on the Fiora
Fiora
The Fiora is a river in northern Lazio and southern Tuscany, which springs from the southern flank of the Monte Amiata, near Santa Fiora. After crossing the Lazio Maremma, it flows in the north-western part of the province of Viterbo before getting into the Tyrrhenian Sea near Montalto di Castro....
river, between Montalto di Castro
Montalto di Castro
Montalto di Castro is a comune in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Lazio, located about 90 km northwest of Rome and about 40 km west of Viterbo.It is home to a large power plant managed by ENEL.-External links:*...
and Canino
Canino
Canino is a town and comune of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in the internal part of Maremma Laziale. It is 15 km W of Valentano and 44 km NW of Viterbo....
. The site is not currently inhabited. The cemeteries and ruins of the city remain.
The circuit of the walls measures about 6.5 km, and scanty traces of them and of Roman buildings within them still exist. The Ponte della Badia over the Fiora, a bridge with a main arch of 20 m span, 30 m above the stream, is also Roman. An aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
passes over it.
The former wealth of the town is mainly proved by the discoveries made in its extensive necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
from 1828 onwards - Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
vases, bronzes and other remains - many of which are 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...
. By 1856 over 15,000 tombs had, it was calculated, been opened. These were entirely subterranean, and little is now to be seen on the site but a great tumulus
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...
, the Cuccumella, and a few smaller ones. Many of the tombs date from the 8th century BC
8th century BC
The 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC.-Overview:The 8th century BC was a period of great changes in civilizations. In Egypt, the 23rd and 24th dynasties led to rule from Nubia in the 25th Dynasty...
.
The 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 from the François tomb
François Tomb
The François Tomb is an important painted Etruscan tomb from the Ponte Rotto Necropolis in the Etruscan city of Vulci, in what is now central Italy. It was discovered in 1857 by Alessandro François and Adolphe Noël des Verges. It dates to the last quarter of the fourth century BC...
, discovered in 1857, illustrating Greek and Etruscan myth
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
s, are now in the Museo Torlonia at 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...
.
Pre-history
A derivation of the name from Indo-European *welk- ("wet, damp"), remains unconvincing. It would not be a Hellenization and there is no evidence of an Italic intrusion before the Roman conquest, nor were Indo-Europeans likely to have been in the area before Etruscan civilization. Currently we do not know enough Etruscan to say what the name might mean in Etruscan.History
Beginning to expand in the 8th century BC, Vulci reached a floruit in the 6th century BC. It came to command Orbetello, Saturnia, Pescia, Sovana, Castro, Pitigliano and Marsiliana. It was a maritime power, with a geography similar to that of Rome; that is, located some miles up a river, but close enough to the sea to be a major maritime power. Many Greeks came to live there.The port of Volci was at Regae. The origin of the name is not known. An Indo-European root can be found, but, if valid, it is most likely an Italic name assigned by the Romans who conquered the place. Or, it could be a Latinization of an Etruscan name.
Originally the Etruscans were co-founders of Rome and continued to dominate it. Vulci had some influence on early Rome, as 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...
and the Vibenna
Caelius Vibenna
Caelius Vibenna, Caelius Vibenna, Caelius Vibenna, (Etruscan Caile Vipina, was a noble Etruscan who lived c.900BC and brother of Aulus Vibenna (Etruscan Avile Vipina).Upon arriving at Rome, Vibenna aided Romulus in his wars against Titus Tatius. He and his brother Aulus are also recorded as having...
brothers (Caile and Avle Vipinas) were from Vulci. At Vulci he was a private citizen, Macstarna. Their names and representations appear on a fresco in the François Tomb
François Tomb
The François Tomb is an important painted Etruscan tomb from the Ponte Rotto Necropolis in the Etruscan city of Vulci, in what is now central Italy. It was discovered in 1857 by Alessandro François and Adolphe Noël des Verges. It dates to the last quarter of the fourth century BC...
.
After the population of Rome had become predominantly Italic, the Etruscan
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...
kings were overthrown and the Romans fought a long war to reduce Etruria
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...
to their dominion. Tiberius Coruncanius
Tiberius Coruncanius
Tiberius Coruncanius was Roman consul, and military commander in 280 BC – 279 BC, who was known for his military contests with Pyrrhus...
triumphed over the people of Vulsinii
Bolsena
Bolsena is a town and comune of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km north-west of Viterbo...
and Volci in 280 BC. and the colony of Cosa
Cosa
Cosa was a Latin colonia founded under Roman influence in southwestern Tuscany in 273 BC, perhaps on land confiscated from the Etruscans...
was founded in their territory. The Romans took the coast from them, cutting the base of their power. This seems to have led to the decline and eventual abandonment of the city.
Volci does not seem to have been of great importance in the remaining Roman period, even though the Romans pushed the Via Aurelia
Via Aurelia
The Via Aurelia was a Roman road in Italy constructed around the year 241 BC. The project was undertaken by C. Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor...
through it in 240 BC. A surviving milestone gives the distance to Rome as 70 milia passuum.
Later it became an episcopal see
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
.
Other
The Etruscan goddess Turan was the patroness of Volci.The area also houses a mithraeum
Mithraeum
A Mithraeum is a place of worship for the followers of the mystery religion of Mithraism.The Mithraeum was either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural...
.