Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1291

 VELIA. patriation of the inliabitants of that city in order to avoid falling under the Perbian yoke, at the time of the conquest of Ionia by Harpagus, B. c. 544. The Pliocaean emigrants proceeded in a body to Corsica, where they had already founded the colony of Alalia about 20 years before ; and in the first instance established themselves in that island, but, having provoked the enmity of the Tyrrhenians and Cartha- ginians by their piracies, they sustained such severe loss in a naval action with the combined fleets of these two powers, that they found themselves com- pelled to abandon the colony. A part of the emi- grants then repaired to Massilia (which was ;ilso a Phocaean colony), while the remainder, after a tem- porary halt at Rhegium, proceeded to found the new colony of Hyele or Velia on the coast of Lucania. This is the account given by Herodotus (i. 164 — 167), with which that citeil by Strabo from An - tiochus of Syracuse substantially agrees. (Sirab. vi. p. 254.) Later writers have somewhat con- fused the narrative, and have represented the foun- dation of Massilia and Velia as contemporaneous (Hy- gin. ap. A. Cell. x. 16; Ammian. Marc. sv. 9. § 7); but there is no doubt that the account above given is the correct one. Scylax alone represents Velia as a colony of Thurii. (Scyl. p. 4. § 12.) If this be not altogether a mistake it must refer to the admission at a later period of a body of fresh colonists from that city; but of this we find no trace in any other author. The exact date of the foundation of Velia cannot be determined, as we do not know how long the Phocaeans remained in Corsica, but it may be placed approximately at about 540 B. C. There is no doubt that the settlers at Velia, like those of the sister colony of Massilia, followed the example of their parent city, and devoted themselves assiduously to the cultivation of commerce; nor that the city itself quickly became a prosperous and flou- rishing place. The great abundance of the silver coins of Velia still in existence, and which are found throughout the S. of Italy, is in itself sufficient evi- dence of this fact; while the circumstance that it became the seat of a celebrated school of philosophy, the leaders of which continued through successive generations to reside at Velia, proves that it must have been a place of much intellectual refinement and cultivation. But of its history we may be said to know absolutely nothing. Strabo tells us that it was remarkable for its good government, an advan- tage for which it was partly indebted to Parmenides, who gave his fellow-citizens a code of laws which the magistrates from year to year took an oath to obey. (Slrab. vi. p. 2*54; Diog. Laert. ix. 3. § 23.) But the obscure story concerning the death of Zeno, the disciple of Parmenides, who was put to death by a tyrant named Nearchus or Diomedon, would seem to show that it was not free from the same kind of violent interruptions by the rise of despotisms as were common to most of the Greek cities. (Diog. Laert. ix. 5 ; Cic. Tusc. ii. 22.) Strabo also tells us that the Eleans came ofi' victorious in a contest with the Posidonians, but of the time and circumstances of this we are wholly ignorant; and he adds that they maintained their ground against the Lucanians also. (Strab. I.e.) If this is correct they would have been one of the few Greek cities which pre- served their national existence against those barba- rians, but their name is not found in the scanty historical notices that we possess of the wars be- tween the Lucanians and the cities of Magna Graecia. But the statement of Strabo is in some VELIA. 1267 degree confirmed by the fact that Velia was certainly admitted at an early period (though on what occa- sion we know not) to the alliance of Rome, and appears to liuve maintained very friendly relations with that city. It was from thence, in conmion with Neapolis, that the Romans habitually derived the priestesses of Ceres, whose worship was of Greek origin. (Cic. ;?ro Balb. 24; Val. M;ix. i. 1. § 1.) Cicero speaks of Velia as a well-known instance of a " foederata civitas," and we find it mentioned in the Second Punic War as one of those which were bound by treaty to contribute their quota of ships to the Roman fleet. (Cic. /. c. ; Liv. xxvi. 39.) It even- tually received the Koman franchise, apparently in virtue of the Lex Julia, b. c. 90. (Cic. I. c) Under the Roman government Velia continued to be a tolerably flourishing town, and seems to have been from an early period noted for its mild and salu- brious climate. Thus we are told that P. Aemi- lius was ordered to go there by his physicians for the benefit of his health, and we find Horace making inquiries about it as a substitute for Baiae. (Pint. Aemil. 39; Hor. Ep. i. 15. 1.) Cicero's friend Tre- batius had a villa there, and the great orator him- self repeatedly touched there on his voyages along the coast of Italy. (Cic. Verr. ii. 40, v. 17, ad Fani. vii. 19, 20, ad Alt. xvi. 6, 7.) It appears to have been at this period still a place of some trade, and Strabo tells us that the poverty of the soil com- pelled the inhabitants to turn their attention to maritime affairs and fisheries. (Strab. vi. p. 254.) It is probable that the same cause had in early times co-operated with the national disposition of the Phocaean settlers to direct their attention especially to maritime commerce. We hear nothing more of Velia under the Roman Empire. Its name is found in Pliny and Ptolemy, but not in the Itineraries, which may, however, probably proceed from its se- cluded position. It is mentioned in the Liber Colo- niarum (p. 209) among the Praefecturae of Lucania; and its continued existence as a municipal town is proved by inscriptions. (Mommsen, Inscrip. Ii. N. 190, App. p. 2.) It became an episcopal see in the early ages of Christianity, and still retained that dignity as late as the time of Gregory the Great (a. d. 599). It is probable that the final decay of Velia, like that of Paestum, was owing to the ravages of the Saracens in the 8th and 9th centuries. The bishopric was united with that of Capaccio, which had succeeded to that of Paestum. (JJiinter, Velia, pp. 69 — 73.) During the middle ages there grew up on the spot a fortress which was called CasteW a Mare della Erucca, and which still serves to mark the site of the ancient city. The ruins of Velia are situated on a low ridge of hill, which rises about a mile and a half from the mouth of the river Alenio (the ancient Hales), and half a mile from the coast, which here forms a shallow but spacious bay, between the headland formed by the Monte della Stella and the rocky point of Porticellu near Ascea. The mediaeval castle and village of CusteW a Mare della Briicca occupy the point of this hill nearest the sea. The outline of the ancient walls may be traced at inter- vals round the hill fur their whole extent. Their cir- cuit is not above two miles, and it is most likely that this was the old city or acropolis, and that in the days of its prosperity it had considerable suburbs, especially in the direction of its port. It is proiiable that this was an artificial basin, like that of Mula- pontum, and its site is in all probability marked by 4'm 2