Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1300

 1276 VENNENSES. people on the E. coast of Britannia Barbara, S. of the estuary of the Tuaesis (^Murray Frith), in Forfarshire and Aberdeenshire. [T. H. D.] VENNENSES, a tribe of the Cantabri in liis- pania Tarraconensis. (Plin. iii. 3. s. 4.) [T.H.D.] VENNrCNII (OvevviKvioi, Ptol. ii. 2. § 3), a people in the NW. part of Hibernia, between the promontories Boreum and Vennicnium. [T. H. D.] VENNI'CNIUM PROM. {OveumKviov &Kpov, Ptol. ii. 2. § 2), the most northerly headland of Hibernia, usually identified with Malin Head; but Camden (p. 1411) takes it to have been iiVtme's Head. [T. H. D.] VE'NNONES {Ohivuoves or Omwoves), a tribe of Rhaetia (Ptol. ii. 12. § 3), or according to Strabo (iv. pp. 204, 206), of Vindeiicia. They are described as the wildest among the Rhaetian tribes, and are no doubt the same as the Vennonetes who, according to Pliny (iii. 24), were mentioned among the nations of the Alpine Trophy. They seem to have inhabited the district about the sources of the Athesis, which bore the name of Venonesgowe or Finesgowe as late as the eleventh century. (Von Hormayr, Gesch. Tirols, i. 1. p. 3.5.) [L. S.] VENONAE, a town in Britannia Romana appa- rently belonging to the Coritavi, at which the road from London to the NW. part of Britain separated, one branch proceeding towards Deva, the other tak- ing a NE. direction towards Lindum and Eboracum. There was also another branch to the SW. towards Venta Silurum, so that the two main roads which traversed the whole island must have crossed here. (Itin. Ant. pp. 470, 477, 479.) Variously iden- tified with Highcross, Clayhrook, and Wigston Parva. [T. H. D.] VENOSTES, probably a branch of the Vennones, a Rhaetian tribe, were mentioned in the Alpine Trophy, of which the inscription is quoted by Pliny (iii. 24). In the middle ages their district bore the name of Venusta Vallis. (Zeuss, Die Deutschen, p. 237.) [L. S.] VENTA, the name of several towns in Britannia Romana. 1. Venta Belgarum (Oyej/ra, Ptol. ii. 3. § 28), in the SW. of Britain, on the road from Lon- dinium to Calleva and Isca Domnoniorum. {Itin. Ant. p. 478, &c.; Geogr. Rav. v. 31.) Now Win- chester, where there are some Roman remains. (Camden, p. 138.) 2. Venta Silurum on the W. coast of Britannia Romana, on the road from Londinium to Isca Silu- rum, and near the estuary of the Sabrina. {Itin. Ant. p. 485.) Now Caer Went in Monmouthshire, where there are traces of the ancient walls, and where Roman antiquities are (or were) occasionally found. (Camden, p. 713.) 3. Venta Icenorum, a town of the Iceni, on the E. coast of Britannia Romana (Ptol. ii. 3. § 21), to which there was a road from London. {Itin. Ant. p. 479.) Most probably Caistor, on the river Wen- sum, a little S. of Noi-wich, which probably rose from the ruins of Caistor. Here are traces of Roman remains. (Camden, p. 460.) [T. H. D.] VE'NTIA {OvevTia), in Gallia Narbonensis, a town of the AUobroges, mentioned only by Dion Cassius (xxxvii. 47) in his history of the war between the AUobroges and C. Pomptinus the go- vernor of Gallia Provincia (b. c. 62). Manlius Lentinus, a legatus of Pomptinus, came upon this town, but was driven from it. The place appears to be near the Isara (Isire) from Dion's narrative, and D'Anville following De Valois supposes it to be VENUSLA; Vinai, between Moirenc and S. Marcellin, at some distance from the bank of the Isere. As Ventia is unknown otherwise, it may be a blunder of Dion, and the place may be Vienna. [G. L.] VENTISPONTE, a town in Hispania Baetica (Hirt. B. Hisp. 27), which appears from still extant inscriptions to have been not far from Puente de Don Gonzalo. (Ukert, ii. pt. i. p. 368.) It appears on coins under the name of Ventipo. (Florez, Med. ii. p. 617 ; Eckhel, i. p. 31 ; Mionnet, i. p. 27 ; Sestini, p. 92.) [T. H. D.] COIN OF VEXTISPONTE OR TENTIPO. VENUSIA (Ovevovaia : Eth. Venusinus : Ve- nosa), a city of Apulia, situated on the Appian Way, about 1 miles S. of the river Aufidus. It nearly adjoined the frontiers of Lucania, so that, according to Horace, himself a native of the place, it was doubtful whether it belonged properly to Lucania or to Apulia, and the territory of the city, as assigned to the Roman colony, included a portion of that of both nations. (Hon Sat. ii. 1. 34, 35.) This statement of Horace leaves it doubtful to what people Venusia originally belonged, though it is more probable that it was an Apulian city, and that it received only an accession of territory from Lucania. Later writers, indeed, distinctly assigned it to Apulia. (PHn. iii. U.S. 16; Ptol. iii. 1. §73; Lib. Colon, p. 210.) But no mention of it is found in history till the occasion of its capture by the Roman consul L. Pos- tumius, in b. c. 262 (Dionys. Fxc. Vales, p. 2335), when we are told that it was a populous and impor- tant town. A large part of the inhabitants was put to the sword, and, shortly afterwards, a Roman colony was established there by order of the senate. (Dio- nys. I. c. ; Veil. i. 14 ; Hor. I. c.) The colonists are said to have been 20,000 in number, which must be either a mistake or an exaggeration; but there seems no doubt that the new colony became a popu- lous and flourishing place, and was able to render important services to the Roman state during the Second Punic War. It was at Venusia that the consul Terentius Varro took refuge with 700 horse after the great defeat at Cannae (b. c. 216), and where he was gradually able to gather around him a force of about 4000 horse and foot. The Venusians vied with one another in showing them the utmost attention, and furnished them with clothing, arms, and other necessaries. (Liv xxii. 49, 54; Polyb. iii. 116, 117.) Again, at a later period of the war, when so many of the Roman colonies proved unable to satisfy the repeated demands of the senate, the Venusians were .among those who continued stead- fast, and declared themselves ready to furnish the troops and supplies required of them. (Liv. xxvii. 10.) It was after this, through several successive campaigns, the he.ad-quarters of the Roman com- manders in Apuli.a. (/6. 20, 41; Appian, Annib. 50.) But the colony suffered severely from all these exertions, and, in b. c. 200, after the close of the war, it was found necessary to recruit its ex-