Volsinii
Encyclopedia
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...
, one situated on the shore of Lacus Volsiniensis (modern Lago di Bolsena), and the other on the Via Clodia
Via Clodia
Via Clodia was an ancient high-road of Italy. Its course, for the first 11 miles, was the same as that of the Via Cassia; it then diverged to the north in a northwest direction and ran on the west side of the Lacus Sabatinus, past Forum Clodii and Blera...
, between Clusium
Clusium
Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan...
(Chiusi
Chiusi
Chiusi is a town and comune in province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy.-History:It was one of the more powerful among the Etruscan 12‑city confederation...
) and Forum Cassii
Forum Cassii
Forum Cassii was an ancient town of Etruria, in what is now central Italy, situated on the Via Cassia, with the formation of which, from its name, it was certainly connected...
(Vetralla
Vetralla
Vetralla is a town and comune in the Province of Viterbo, in central Italy, 11 km to the south of that city, located on a shoulder of Monte Fogliano.-History:...
). One was 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...
and was destroyed by the Romans in 264 BC at the conclusion of an attempted revolution by its slaves. The second was founded by the Romans using the remainder of the Etruscan population rescued from the razed city.
Modern Bolsena
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...
, 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...
descends from the Roman city. The location of the Etruscan city is debated. Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
is a strong candidate. Bolsena is about 14 km (8.7 mi) from Orvieto. The region in which Bolsena is located is now in Lazio and Orvieto is located in Umbria
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
.
Situation
The ByzantineByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
historian Joannes Zonaras
Joannes Zonaras
Ioannes Zonaras was a Byzantine chronicler and theologian, who lived at Constantinople.Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of head justice and private secretary to the emperor, but after Alexios' death, he retired to the monastery of St Glykeria, where he spent the rest of his...
states that the Etruscan Volsinii (Velzna or Velusna) lay on a steep height; while Bolsena
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...
, the representative of the Roman Volsinii, is situated in the plain. Scholars of the 19th century debated the location of this elevated site. Wilhelm Ludwig Abeken
Wilhelm Ludwig Abeken
Wilhelm Ludwig Abeken was a German archaeologist.He was born in Rudolstadt, the eldest son of Bernhard Rudolf Abelen....
looks for it at Montefiascone
Montefiascone
Montefiascone is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo, Italy, located on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, 95 km north of GRA .-History:...
, at the southern extremity of the lake; while Karl Otfried Müller
Karl Otfried Müller
Karl Otfried Müller , was a German scholar and Philodorian, or admirer of ancient Sparta, who introduced the modern study of Greek mythology.-Biography:...
seeks it at Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
, and adduces the name of that place in Latin, Urbs Vetus, the old city, as an argument in favor of his view; but British explorer and writer George Dennis
George Dennis (explorer)
George Dennis was a British explorer of Etruria; his written account and drawings of the ancient places and monuments of the Etruscan civilization combined with his summary of the ancient sources is among the first of the modern era and remains an indispensable reference in Etruscan studies.-...
is of opinion that there is no reason to believe that it was so far from the Roman city, and that it lay on the summit of the hill, above the amphitheater at Bolsena, at a spot called Il Piazzano. He adduces in support of this hypothesis the existence of a good deal of broken pottery there, and of a few caves in the cliffs below. Bolsena is 6 km (3.7 mi) from Montefiascone, and 14 km (8.7 mi) from Orvieto.
Volsinii veteres
Etruscan Volsinii (Velzna or Velusna; or sometimes in LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
Volsinii Veteres – Old Volsinii) appears to have been one of the most powerful cities of Etruria, the cult centre of the god Voltumna
Voltumna
In Etruscan mythology, Voltumna or Veltha was the chthonic deity, who became the supreme god of the Etruscan pantheon, the deus Etruriae princeps, according to Varro...
, and was doubtless one of the 12 which formed the Etruscan confederation, as Volsinii is designated 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...
and Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
as one of the capita Etruriae ("heads of Etruria"). It is described by Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
as seated among well-wooded hills.
Volsinii first appears in history after the fall of Veii
Veii
Veii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city 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...
(396 BC). The Volsinienses, in conjunction with the Salpinates, taking advantage of a famine and pestilence which had desolated Rome, made incursions into the Roman territory in 391 BC
391 BC
Year 391 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Flavus, Medullinus, Camerinus, Fusus, Mamercinus and Mamercinus...
. They were beaten: 8,000 were made prisoners; but they purchased a twenty years' truce on condition of restoring the booty they had taken, and furnishing the pay of the Roman army for a year.
They appear next in 310 BC
310 BC
Year 310 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rullianus and Censorinus...
, when, in common with the rest of the Etruscan cities, except Arretium (modern Arezzo
Arezzo
Arezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....
), they took part in the siege of Sutrium (modern Sutri
Sutri
Sutri is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo, about 50 km from Rome, and about 30 km south of Viterbo. It is picturesquely situated on a narrow tuff hill, surrounded by ravines, a narrow neck on the west alone connecting it with the surrounding country.thumb|220px|Entrance to the...
), a city in alliance with Rome. This war was terminated by the defeat of the Etruscans at the First Battle of Lake Vadimo (310 BC), a major shock to their power. Three years afterwards the consul Publis Decius Mus
Decius Mus
Publius Decius Mus is the name of three Romans who sacrificed themselves in battle, in the belief that the infernal gods would then destroy their enemies....
captured several of the Volsinian fortresses. In 295 BC
295 BC
Year 295 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rullianus and Mus...
, Lucius Postumius Megellus
Lucius Postumius Megellus
Lucius Postumius Megellus is the name of two Ancient Romans of the gens Postumia:*Lucius Postumius Megellus, son of Lucius, consul in 305 BC, 294 BC, and 291 BC;...
ravaged their territory and defeated them under the walls of their own city, slaying 2,800 of them; in consequence of which they, together with Perusia (modern Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
) and Arretium
Arezzo
Arezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....
, purchased a forty years' peace by the payment of a heavy fine.
Not more than fourteen years, however, had elapsed, when, with their allies the Vulcientes
Buccino
Buccino is a town and comune in Campania in Italy, in the province of Salerno, located about 700 m above sea level.-History and main sights:In Roman times, the town was known as Volcei...
, they again took up arms against Rome. But this attempt ended in their final subjugation in 280 BC
280 BC
Year 280 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laevinus and Coruncanius...
. Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
tells an absurd story, taken from the Greek writer Metrodorus of Scepsis
Metrodorus of Scepsis
Metrodorus of Scepsis , from the town of Scepsis in ancient Mysia, was a friend of Mithridates VI of Pontus and celebrated in antiquity for the excellence of his memory. He may be the same Metrodorus who, according to the Elder Pliny, in consequence of his hostility to the Romans, was surnamed the...
, that the object of the Romans in capturing Volsinii was to make themselves masters of 2,000 statues which it contained. The story, however, suffices to show that the Volsinians had attained great wealth, luxury, and art. This is confirmed by Valerius Maximus, who also adds that this luxury was the cause of their ruin, by making them so indolent that they at length suffered the management of their commonwealth to be usurped by slaves.
The attempted revolution apparently began with the admission of freedmen into the army, which must have been in 280 BC. They became a powerful plebeian class. Subsequently they were allowed members in the Senate and to hold public offices. They seem to have acquired majorities, using them to shape the law. Other slaves were set free; they gave themselves all the privileges formerly reserved to the Etruscans, such as the rights of intermarriage and inheritance, and aggressively insisted on them against the will of the Etruscan patrician class. There were complaints of rape and robbery.
When the revolutionary party began to pass laws limiting patrician political activity the lucumones sent a clandestine embassy to Rome in 265 BC asking for military assistance. On their return they were executed for treason, but shortly a Roman army arrived to lay siege to the town. The subsequent conflict was intense; the consul and commanding general, Quintus Fabius Gurges, was a casualty. A year later his successor, Marcus Valerius Flaccus, receiving the surrender of the town through its starvation, razed it and executed the leaders of the plebeian party. The first display of gladiators at Rome in 264 is believed to have featured now captive freedmen from Volsinii. The Romans rescued and restored the remaining Etruscans of Volsinii, but decided it was necessary to remove them from that location to a new city on the shore of Lake Bolsena. The new city had none of the natural defenses of the old and was not in any way sovereign. The portable wealth from the old city was carried off to Rome.
If the old city was in fact Orvieto, it cannot have remained unoccupied for long; however, it was never a threat to Rome again. The new city soon assimilated to Roman culture, including language.
Volsinii novi
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. It was the birthplace of Sejanus
Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
, the minister and favorite 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...
. (Tac.
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
Ann. iv. 1, vi. 8.) Juvenal (x. 74) alludes to this circumstance when he considers the fortunes of Sejanus as dependent on the favor of Nursia, or Norsia, an Etruscan goddess much worshipped at Volsinii, into whose temple there, as in that of Jupiter Capitolinus at Rome, a nail was annually driven to mark the years. (Liv. vii. 3; Tertull.
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
Apol. 24.) According to Pliny, Volsinii was the scene of some supernatural occurrences. He records (ii. 54) that lightning was drawn down from heaven by king Porsenna to destroy a monster called Volta that was ravaging its territory. Even the commonplace invention of hand-mills, ascribed to this city, is embellished with the traditional prodigy that some of them turned by themselves (Id. xxxvi. 18. s. 29.) Indeed, in the whole intercourse of the Romans with the Etruscans, we see the ignorant wonder excited by a cultivated people in their semi-barbarous conquerors.
Remains
No definite traces of the Etruscan Volsinii have been identified. Of the Roman city, some remains are still extant at Bolsena. The most remarkable are those of a temple near the Florence gate, commonly called the Tempio di Norsia. But the remains are of Roman work; and the real temple of that goddess most probably stood in the Etruscan city. The amphitheater is small and a complete ruin. Besides these there are the remains of some baths, sepulchral tablets, and a sarcophagus with reliefs representing the triumph of BacchusDionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
. The Monti Volsini
Monti Volsini
The Monti Volsini or Vulsini are a minor mountain range in northern Lazio, Italy, near the Lake Bolsena. The highest point is that of Passo della Montagnola, in the comune of Latera, at c. 645 m....
mountain range in northern Lazio takes their name from the ancient city.
Coinage
Volsinii minted coins in antiquity. A full discussion of the coins of Volsinii may be found in Müller, Etrusker, vol. i. pp. 324, 333.Native Volsinians
- SejanusSejanusLucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
, praetorian prefectPraetorian prefectPraetorian prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides...
under TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , 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...
. - Musonius RufusMusonius RufusGaius Musonius Rufus, was a Roman Stoic philosopher of the 1st century AD. He taught philosophy in Rome during the reign of Nero, as consequence of which he was sent into exile in 65 AD, only returning to Rome under Galba...
the Stoic. - Aulus Cornelius Palma FrontonianusAulus Cornelius Palma FrontonianusAulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus was a soldier and Roman statesman who came from Volsinii in Etruria.His first known post is that of praetorian legate in Asia sometime during Domitian's reign. He went on to command a Legion in the years 94-97 and became First Consul shortly after, in the year 99...
, Roman statesman.
External links
- Velzna (Roman Volsinii), at MysteriousEtruscans.com
- George Dennis on Velzna (chapter 27 of Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria)