Volsinii
Volsinii or Vulsinii (
Modern Bolsena, Italy, in the region of Lazio, descends from the Roman city. The location of the Etruscan city is debated. Umbrian Orvieto, about 14 km (8.7 mi) from Bolsena, is a strong candidate.
Situation
The
Fanum Voltumnae
Fanum Voltumnae was the chief sanctuary of the Etruscans. Numerous sources refer to a league of the "Twelve Peoples" of Etruria, which met annually at the Fanum, possibly for the purpose of electing priests.[9][10] The exact location of this shrine is still unknown, though it may have been in an area near modern Orvieto, believed by many to be the ancient Volsinii. Professor Simonetta Stopponi of the University of Macerata, an Etruscologist, has been excavating at Orvieto since 2000. She believes that Fanum was located at this site.[11]
An Etruscan substructure, datable to the 6th-4th centuries BC, has been uncovered.
"Most impressive was the excavation of a round fountain area, on a slight rise above and overlooking the temples, whose decorations included the head of a lion. According to Stopponi, ‘This would have been the sacred spring.’"[11]
History
Volsinii veteres
Etruscan Volsinii (Velzna or Velusna; or sometimes in Latin Volsinii Veteres – Old Volsinii) appears to have been one of the most powerful cities of Etruria, the cult centre of the god Voltumna, and was doubtless one of the 12 which formed the Etruscan confederation, as Volsinii is designated by Livy[12] and Valerius Maximus[13] as one of the capita Etruriae ("heads of Etruria"). It is described by Juvenal[14] as seated among well-wooded hills.
Volsinii first appears in history after the fall of Veii (396 BC). The Volsinienses, in conjunction with the Salpinates,[15] taking advantage of a famine and pestilence which had desolated Rome, made incursions into the Roman territory in 391 BC. They were defeated, and 8,000 of them were taken prisoner. However, they purchased a twenty-year truce in exchange for returning the booty they had taken, and furnishing the pay of the Roman army for a year.[16]
They appear next in 310 BC, when, in common with the rest of the Etruscan cities, except Arretium (modern
Not more than fourteen years, however, had elapsed, when, with their allies the Vulcientes, they again took up arms against Rome. But this attempt ended in their final subjugation in 280 BC.[21] Pliny[22] tells an absurd story, taken from the Greek writer Metrodorus of Scepsis, 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,[13] who also adds that this luxury was the cause of their ruin, by making them so indolent that they at length allowed the administration of their commonwealth to be usurped by slaves.[5][23][24][25]
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, who were subsequently allowed to become members of the Senate and to hold public office. 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 for the Etruscans, such as 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.
In 265 BC, when the revolutionary party began to pass laws limiting patrician political activity, the
Volsinii novi
The Romans, when they took Volsinii, razed the town, and compelled the inhabitants to migrate to another spot. (Zonaras, l. c.) This second, or Roman, Volsinii (sometimes called Volsinii Novi – New Volsinii) continued to exist under the
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 Bacchus. The Monti Volsini mountain range in northern Lazio takes its 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
- Sejanus, praetorian prefect under Tiberius.
- Musonius Rufusthe Stoic.
- Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus, Roman statesman.
See also
Notes
- ^ Strabo Geography 5.2.9 records it under this name as a city in the interior of Tyrrhenia and says that there was a lake near ("peri") it.
- ^ Ptolemy Geography iii.1.50 lists this form of the name as a city among the Tusci.
- ^ Antonine Itinerary; Tabula Peutingeriana.
- ^ a b Ihne, Wilhelm (1871). The history of Rome (English ed.). London: Longmans, Green, and Co. pp. 479–481.
- ^ a b Zonaras, Annals (or Chronicle or Epitome - he does not state a name of his own) viii. 7; cf. Aristotle De Mirabilibus Auscultationibus 96.
- ^ Mittelitalien, p. 34 and following.
- ^ Etrusker, i. p. 451.
- ^ Etruria, vol. i. p. 508.
- ^ Livy v.1.
- ISBN 978-0-292-78233-4.
- ^ a b Fanum Voltumnae: Parliament of the Etruscan League. World Archaeology 2007 Issue 26
- ^ History of Rome, x.37.
- ^ a b Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilia, Book ix.1, "External affairs" Section 2.
- Satiresiii.191.
- ^ Still unknown population in Etruria, obviously near Volsinii, living in a city whose name has been variously reconstructed as *Salpis, *Salpinum, *Salapia.
- ^ Livy, History of Rome, v.31-32.
- ^ Livy, History of Rome, ix.32.
- ^ Livy ix.39.
- ^ Livy ix.41.
- ^ Livy ix.37.
- Epitome to Book xi and also the Fasti Capitolini.
- ^ Historia Naturalis xxxiv.7.16.
- ^ Florus, Epitome, i.21.
- ^ Aurelius Victor, De Viris Illustribus, 36
- OrosiusHistoriae adversum Paganos, iv.5.
- ISBN 978-0-521-80944-3.
- ^ Tacitus. Annals. p. iv. 1, vi. 8.
- ^ Livy. Ab urbe condita. p. VIII.3.
- ^ Tertullian. Apology. p. 24.
- ^ Pliny the Elder. Natural History. ii. 54.
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: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Pliny the Elder. Natural History. p. xxxvi. 18. s. 29.
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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External links
- Harris, W., R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies (15 July 2021). "Places: 413389 (Volsinii)". Pleiades. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Velzna (Roman Volsinii), at MysteriousEtruscans.com
- George Dennis on Velzna (chapter 27 of Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria)