Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1287

 VEIL name, without calling upon the state for either sol- diers or money. The senate thankfully accepted the offer. On the following morning 306 Fabii met in the vestibule of the consul's house. As they passed through the city to the place of their des- tination, they stopped at the capitol and offered up vows to the gods for the success of their enterprise. Then they passed out of Rome by the right arch of the Porta Carmentalis, and proceeded straight to the river Cremera, where there was a spot that seemed adapted by nature as a fortress for their little gar- rison. It appears, however, that the Fabii were accompanied by their clients and adherents, and the whole band probably amounted to 3000 or 4000. (Dionys. ix. 15; P. Diac. s. v. Scelerata Porta.') The place which they chose as the station of their garrison was a precipitous hill which seemed to have been cut and isolated by art; and they further strengthened it with entrenchments and towers. The spot has been identified with great probability by Nardini, and subsequently by other topographers, with a precipitous hill about 6 miles from Pome, on the left of the Via Flaminia, where it is traversed by the Cremera (now the Valcha), and on the right bank of that stream. It is the height which commands the present Osteria della Valchetta. (Nibby, Dintorni di Roma, vol. iii. p. 399; Dennis, Etruria, vol. i. p. 43.) The position here taken up by the Fabii not only enabled them to put a complete stop to the ma- rauding expeditions of the Veientines, but even to commit depredations themselves on the territory of Veii. The Veientines having made many vain at- tempts to dislodge them, at length implored the succour of the Etruscans; but the Fabii on their side were supported by a consular army under Ae- milius, and the Veientines and their allies were de- feated. This success rendered the Fabii still more enterprising. After occupying their fortress two years with impunity they began to extend their excursions ; and the Veientines on their side sought to draw them onwards, in which they at length succeeded. By a feigned flight, they en- ticed the Fahii into an ambuscade and slew them, 13th Feb. b. c. 476. (Ov. Fast. ii. 195, sqq.; Liv. ii. 48—50; Dionys. ix. 16—19; Florus, i. 12, &c.) Elated with this success, the Veientines, united with the Etruscans, now marched towards Pome and pitched their camp on the Janiculan hill, at a distance of only 6 stadia from the city. Thence pass- ing the Tiber, they penetrated as far as the ancient temple of Hope, which stood near the modern Porta Maggiore. Here an indecisive action took place, which was renewed at the Porta Collina with the same result; but two engagements of a more de- cisive character on the Janiculan hill obliged the allied army to retreat. In the following year the Veientines allied themselves with the Sabines, but ■were completely defeated under the walls of their own city by the consul Pub. Valerius. The war was brought to a termination in the following year, in the consulship of C. Jlanlius, who concluded with them a truce of 40 years, the Veientines engaging to pay a tribute in corn and money. (Liv. ii. 51 — 54; Dionys. ix. 23, sqq.) But such terms were merely nominal, and in a few years hostilities were renewed. We hear of some forays made by the Veientines in B. C. 442 (Liv. iv. 1); but there was no regular war till seven years later, when the Veientines, who were at that time governed by Lars, or King, Tolumnius, VEIL 1263 excited the Roman colony Fidenae to rebel ; and in order completely to compromise the Fidenates, To- lumnius ordered them to slay the Roman ambas- sadors who had been despatched to demand an explanation. Both sides flew to arms; one or two obstinate engagements ensued ; but the allies who had been joined by the Falisci also, were overthrown in a decisive battle under the walls of Fidenae, in which Tolumnius was killed by the Roman military tribune, A. Cornelius Cossus. (Liv. iv. 17 — 19; cf. Propert. iv. 10. 22, sqq.) Three years afterwards, Rome being afflicted with a severe pestilence, the Veientines and Fidenates w-ere emboldened to march upon it, and encamped before the Porta Collina; but on the appearance of a Roman army under the dictator Aulus Servilius, they retreated. Servilius having pursued and routed them near Nomentum, marched to Fidenae, which he at length succeeded in taking by means of a cuniculus or mine. (Liv. iv. 22.) Although the Veientines obtained a truce after this event, yet they soon violated it, and began to commit depredations in the Roman territory, B. c. 427; and even defeated a Roman army whose ope- rations had been paralysed through the dissensions cf the tliree military tribunes who commanded it. The Fidenates now rose and massacred all the Ro- man colonists, and again allied themselves with the Veientines, who had also enlisted a great number of Etruscan volunteers in their service. These events occasioned great alarm at Rome. JIamercus Aemilius was created dictator, and, marching against the enemy, encamped in the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Anio and the Tiber. Between this spot and Fidenae a desperate battle was fought : stratagems were employed on both sides; but at length the allies were completely defeated, and the Romans entered the gates of Fidenae along with the flying enemy. The city was sacked and destroyed and the inhabitants sold as slaves ; but on the other hand the Romans granted the Veientines a truce of 20 years. (Liv. iv. 31—35.) At the expiration of this truce, the Romans re- solved to subdue Veii, as they had done Fidenae, and it was besieged by an army commanded by six military tribunes. At this news the national as- sembly of the Etruscans met at the fane of Vol- tumna, to consider what course they should pursue. The Veientines had again resorted to the regal form of government; but unfortunately the jierson whom they elected for tlieir king, though rich and powerful, had incurred the hatred of the whole Etruscan nation by his oppressions and imperious manners, but especially by his having hindered the performance of certain sacred games. The Etrus- cans consequently declared that, unless he was de- posed, they should afford the Veientines no assist- ance. But the latter were afraid to adopt this resolution, and thus they were abandoned to their fate. Nevertheless, they contrived to prolong the siege for a period of ten years, during which the Romans were .several times discomfited. It is wortby of remark that it was during tiiis siege that the Roman soldiers, being obliged to pass the winter out of Rome, first received a fixed regular stipend. The Capenates, the Falisci, and the Tarquinienscs in vain endeavoured to relieve tiie beleaguered city. The length of the siege had begun to weary the Romans, when, according to the legend, the means of its cajiture was suggested l>y an extraordi- nary portent. The waters of Lake Albanus swelled