Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1286

 12G2 VEIL probably comprehended the Vatican and Janiculan hills, and became the seat of the 5th Roman tribe, the Romilia or Komulia. (Varr. L. L. v. 9. § 65, Miill.; Paul. ap. Fest. s. v. Romulia Trib.) This peace seems to have lasted about 60 or 70 years, when war again broke out between the Vei- entines and Romans in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, and this time also on account of Fidenae, which ap- pears to have become a Roman colony after its cap- ture by Romulus. The cause of the war was the treacherous conduct of the Fidenates during the Roman struggle with Alba. When called to account, they refused to give any explanation of their conduct, and procured the assistance of the Veientines. Tullus crossed the Anio {Teverone) with a large army, and the battle which took place at a spot between that river and the town of Fidenae was the most obstinate and bloody which had yet been recorded in the Roman annals. Tullus, however, gained a signal victory over the Fidenates and their allies the Veientines. The battle is remarkable for the vows made by Tul- lus, of twelve Salian priests, and of temples to Pavor and Pallor. These were the second set of Salians, or those attached to the worship of Quirinus [of. Roma, p. 829] ; and the appropriateness of the vow will be perceived when we consider that the Fidenates, in their answer to the Romans, had asserted that all their engagements towards Rome had expired on the death of that deified hero. (Liv. i. 27 ; Dionys. iii. 23, sqq.) The war was renew'ed under Ancus Jlarcius by forays on both sides, which, however, seem to have been begun by the Veientines. Ancus overthrew them in two pitched battles, the last of which was decisive. The Veientines were obliged to surrender all the tract on the right bank of the Tiber called the Silva lilaesia. The Roman dominion was now extended as far as the sea ; and in order to secure these conquests, Ancus founded the colony of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber. (Liv. i. 33 ; Dionys. iii. 41.) The next time that we find the Veientines in col- lision with Rome, they had to contend with a leader of their own nation. L. Tarquinius, an emigrant from Tarquinii to Rome, had distinguished himself in the wars of Ancus Marcius against Veil, and was now in possession of the Roman sovereignty. The Veientines, however, on this occasion did not stand alone, but were assisted by the other Etruscan cities, who complained of insults and injuries received from Tarquin. The Veientines, as usual, were discomfited, and so thoroughly, that they did not dare to leave their city, but were the helpless spectators of the devastation committed on their lands by the Romans. The war was terminated by Tarquin's brilliant ric- tory at Eretus, which enabled him to claim the sovereignty of all Etruria, leaving, however, the differ- ent cities in the enjoyment of their own rights and privileges. It was on this occasion that Tarquin is said to have introducetl at Rome the institution of tlie twelve lictors and their fasces, emblems of the servitude of the twelve Etruscan cities, as well as the other Etruscan insignia of royalty. (Dionys. iii. 57 : Flor. i. 5.) It should be observed that on this subject the accounts are very various ; and some have even doubted the whole story of this Etruscan conquest, because Livy does not mention it. That historian, however, when he speaks of the resumption of the war under Servius Tullius, includes the other Etruscans with the Veientines, as parties to the truce which had expired (" belluni cum Veientibus (jam VEIL enim indutiae esierant) aliisque Etiniscis sumptum," i. 42), although the Etruscans had not been con- cerned in the last Veientine war he had recorded. (Cf. Dionys. iv. 27.) This war under Servius Tullius was the last waged with the Veientines during the regal period of Rome. When the second Tarquin was expelled from Rome, the Etruscans endeavoured to restore him. Veil and Tarquinii were the two most forward cities in the league formed for this purpose. The first battle, which took place near the Silvia Arsia, was bloody but indecisive, though the Romans claimed a dubious victory. But the Etruscans having obtained the assistance of Porsena, Lars of Clusium, the Romans were completely worsted, and, at the peace which ensued, were compelled to restore to the Veientines all the territory which had been wrested from them by Romulus and Ancus Marcius. This, however, Porsena shortly afterwards restored to the Romans, out of gratitude for the hospitality which they had displayed towards the remnant of the Etruscan army after the defeat of his son Aruns at Aricia. (Liv. ii. 6—15; Dionys. v. 14, sqq.; Plut. PuU. 19.) The Veientines could ill brook being deprived of this territory ; but, whilst the influence of Porsena and his family prevailed in the Etruscan League, they re- mained quiet. After his death the waragain broke out, B. c. 483. For a year or two it was a kind of border warfare characterised by mutual depredations. But in B.C. 481, after a general congress of the Etruscans, a great number of volunteers joined the Veientines, and matters began to assume a more serious aspect. In the first encounters the Romans were unsuccessful, chiefly through a mutiny of the soldiers. They seem to have been disheartened by their ill success ; their army was inferior in number to that of the Veientines, and they endeavoured to decline an engagement. But the insults of the enemy incensed the Roman soldiery to such a degree that they insisted on being led to battle. The contest was long and bloody. The Etruscans at one time were in possession of the Ro- man camp ; but it was recovered by the valour of Titus Siccius. The Romans lost a vast number of officers, amongst whom were the consul Manlius, Q. Fabius, who had been twice consul, together with many tribunes and centurions. It was a drawn battle ; yet the Romans claimed the victory, because during the night the Etruscans abandoned their camp, which was sacked by the Romans on the following day. But the surviving consul, JI. Fabius Vibulanus, on his return to Rome, refused a triumph, and abdicated his office, the duties of which he w;is prevented from discharging by the severity of his wounds. (Dionys. ix. 5, sqq. ; Liv. ii. 42 — 47.) Shortly after this, the Veientines, finding that they were unable to cope with the Romans in the open field, adopted a most annoying system of warfare. When the Roman army appeared, they shut them- selves up within their walls; but no sooner had the legions retired, than they came forth and scoured the country up to the very gates of Rome. The Fabian family, which had given so many consuls to Rome, and which had taken so prominent a part in the late war, now came forward and offered to re- lieve the commonwealth from this harassing annoy- ance. The whole family appeared before the senate, and by the mouth of their chief, Caeso Fabius, then consul for the third time, declared, that, as a con- tinual rather than a large guard was required for the Veientiae war, they were willing to undertake the duty and to maintain the majesty of the Roman