Editing Veii (section)

==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.<ref name=AND317/> 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.<ref name=AND317/> In the 9th century BC, the Early Iron Age ([[Villanovan culture]]), 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.<ref name="auto"/> 

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 [[Latium]], 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 [[Fidenae|Fidenates]] and the Veientes were [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#War with Fidenae and Veii under Romulus|defeated]] in a war with Rome  during the reign of [[Ancient Rome|Rome's]] mythical first king, [[Romulus]], in the 8th century BC.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', 1:14–15</ref>

[[Plutarch]] (writing even later in the 1st C. AD)<ref>Plutarch: Romulus</ref> says of them:<blockquote>The first (to oppose Romulus) were the Veientes, a people of Tuscany (the site is now in [[Lazio]]), who had large possessions, and dwelt in a spacious city; they took occasion to commence a war, by claiming Fidenae as belonging to them....<ref>However this account differs from [[Livy]]'s who refers to at least one war fought by Rome prior to the dispute with Veii, being the war with the Sabines and others arising out of the [[Rape of the Sabine Women]]</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Apollon de Véies.JPG|thumb|300px|Apollo of Veii, dating from around 510 BC, in the Villa Giulia museum of Rome.]]

Fidenae and Veii were said to have again been [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#Second War with Fidenae and Veii.2C under Tullus Hostilius|defeated]] by Rome in the 7th century BC during the reign of Rome's third king [[Tullus Hostilius]].

In the 6th century BC Rome's sixth king [[Servius Tullius]] [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#War with Veii and the Etruscans.2C under Servius Tullius|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.<ref>[[Livy]] ''[[Ab urbe condita (book)|Ab urbe condita]]'' 1.42</ref>

In 509&nbsp;BC, after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the family of Tarquinius Superbus went into exile in [[Caere]] 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]] and Veii to support him, and led their armies against Rome in the [[Battle of Silva Arsia]]. The Roman army was victorious, and it is recorded by [[Livy]] 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.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita (book)|Ab urbe condita]]'', 2.6–7</ref> [[Livy]] writes that later in 509&nbsp;BC, consul [[Publius Valerius Publicola]] returned to fight the Veientes.<ref>[[Livy]], [[Ab urbe condita (book)|Ab urbe condita]] 2.8</ref>

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 incite fear in the rest of the community. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unrv.com/empire/veii-and-the-etruscans.php|title=Veii and the Etruscans &#124; UNRV.com Roman History|website=www.unrv.com|accessdate=9 April 2023}}</ref>

The most famous king of Veii was [[Lars Tolumnus]] whose family was part of the Veientine aristocracy<ref>C. J. Smith, The Roman Clan: The Gens from Ancient Ideology to Modern Anthropology, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-85692-8}}, pp. 161 ff</ref> and who instigated a war with Rome in 438 BC.<ref>Livy, iv. 17</ref> The nearby [[Roman colony]] of [[Fidenae]] 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 of Fidenae (437 BC)|battle of Fidenae]] 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]] 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]] which required the Romans to commence a siege lasting many years.<ref name="Plutarch: Camillus"/> As Plutarch says:<blockquote>

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</blockquote>

After ten years, in 396 BC, the Romans appointed [[Marcus Furius Camillus|Camillus]] as ''[[Roman dictator|dictator]]''. After defeating both Falerii and Capena at [[Nepi|Nepete]], Camillus commanded the final strike against Veii ([[Battle of 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.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Veii|volume=27|page=969}}</ref> 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 (mythology)|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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Brief History of the Romans|last=Boatwright|first=Mary|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006}}</ref>

===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]], many Roman soldiers fled there, and a project was proposed for abandoning Rome for Veii; this project was successfully opposed by [[Marcus Furius Camillus|Camillus]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

The Romans built wealthy villas in the region and [[Livia]] had an estate there, according to [[Lives of the Twelve Caesars|Suetonius]].

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]].

===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").<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Ager|encyclopedia=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities|publisher=John Murray, University of Chicago|location=London, Chicago|orig-year=1875 |year= 2009|editor=William Smith|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Ager.html}}</ref> 
The ''ager Veientanus'' (i.e. of Veii) covered the entire region between the right bank of the lower [[Tiber river]] and the coast; that is all of southern [[Etruria]]. The northwest border was probably as far west as the [[Monti Sabatini]] and [[Lake Bracciano]] in the north.<ref>{{cite book|page=198|title=City and country in the ancient world|first=John |last=Rich|author2=Andrew Wallace-Hadrill |edition=reprint, illustrated|publisher=Routledge|year=1992|isbn= 978-0-415-08223-5}}</ref> 
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]] that the city of [[Rome]] 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]], set into motion the South Etruria Survey (1954–1968), which cataloged all the visible antiquities in the ''ager Veientanus''. It was published in 1968.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Ager Veientanus, North and East of Rome|first1=Anne |last1=Kahane|first2=Leslie Murray |last2=Threipland|first3=John Bryan|last3= Ward-Perkins|publisher=the British School at Rome|year=1968}}</ref>

Nearly 30&nbsp;years later, in 1997, the Italian government moved to protect a part of that area, creating the Veio Regional Natural Park of {{convert|14984|ha|acre}} between the [[Via Cassia]] on the west, the [[Via Flaminia]] on the east, the Via Campagnanese on the north and the city of Rome on the south.<ref>{{cite web|title=Veio Regional Natural Park|url=http://www.agri-net.org/parco_en.asp?idparco=14|work=Parks and Protected Areas in the Lazio Region|publisher=agrinet|access-date=15 June 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020701031352/http://www.agri-net.org/parco_en.asp?idparco=14|archive-date=1 July 2002}}</ref> Within the park are the comuni of [[Campagnano di Roma]], [[Castelnuovo di Porto]], [[Formello]], [[Magliano Romano]], [[Mazzano Romano]], [[Morlupo]], [[Riano, Lazio|Riano]], [[Sacrofano]] and Municipio XX of the city of [[Rome]].