Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1304

 1280 VERONES. diameter being 513 feet externally and 248 inter- nally ; the smaller one, 410 feet externally and 147 feet internally. The banks or rows of seats are at present 45 in number, but, from the repairs and al- terations which the building has undergone, it is not certain whether this was the original number. It is estimated that it would afford seats for about 22,000 persons. There are also a few remains of a Roman theatre, on the left bank of the Adige, at the foot of the hill immediately under the castle of S. Piefro It ap- pears from two decrees of king Berengarius, dated in 895 and 913, that the theatre was then regarded as of the highest antiquity, and had in great part gone to ruin ; on which account its destruction was al- lowed. {Descriz. di Verona, pt. ii. p. 108, sqq.) We have already alluded to the ancient gate called the Porta de Borsuri. It is evidently older than the walls of Gallienus, the elevation of which in the space of 8 months is recorded upon it; since a pre- vious inscription has been erased in order to make room for the new one. It is a double gate, of a very florid style of architecture, concerning the me- rits of which architects have held widely different opinions. The walls of Gallienus, to judge of them from the vestiges which still remain, were of a con- struction sufficiently solid, notwithstanding the shortness of the time in which they were erected. The other remains of antiquity at Verona, as the Porta de' Leoni, the bal lis, &c., do not require any particular description in this place. The chief works on Verona and its antiquities are the splendid ones of Count Scip. Maffei, entitled Verona Illustrata, and Museum Veronense. Onu- phrius Panvinius also described its remains (Antiq. Veron. lib. viii. Pat. 1668). Some account of them will likewise be found in the JJescrizione di Verona e della sua Provincia, by Giovambatista da Pertico. 8vo. Verona, 1820. [T. H. D.] VERONES. [Bkkones.] VERRUCINI, a Gallic people near the Alps in the Provincia. Pliny (iii. 4) says: " Re»io Cama- tullicorum, dein Suelteri, supraque Verrucini." [Gamatuli.ici; SuELTERi.] There is nothing to guide us in fi.xing the position of the Verrucini, ex- cept their position with respect to these two other tribes, and the fact that there is a place named Vtrignon, between Draguignan and Riez. Dra- guignan is in the department of Var, and Riez is on the site of Reii [Reii Apoli-inares]. [G.L.] VERRUGO or VERRUCA ("EppouKa, Diod. : Colle Ferrof), a town or fortress in the territory of the Volsci, which is repeatedly mentioned during the wars of the Romans with that people. The name first occurs in B. c. 445, when we are told that the place had been recently occupied and fortified by the Romans, evidently as a post of offence against the Volscians; a proceeding which that people resented so much that it became the occasion of a fresh war. (Liv. iv. 1.) We do not know at what period it fell again into the hands of the Volscians, but in b. c. 409 it was re- covered and again garrisoned by the Romans. {lb. 55, 56; Diod. xiv. 11.) It, however, fell once more into the hands of •the Volscians in b. c. 407 (Liv. iv. 58), and apparently continued in their possession till B. c. 394, when it was again occupied with a garrison by the military tribune C. Aemilius, but lost soon after in consequence of the defeat of his colleagi^e Sp. Postumius. (Liv. v. 28; Diod. xiv. 98.) From this time it wholly disappears from history. It is very doubtful whether it ever was a VERULAE. town, the manner in which it is mentioned by Livy, in connection with the Arx Carventana, seeming to prove that it was a mere fort or stronghold, garri- soned and fortified, on account of its natural strength and advantageous position. Its site cannot be deter- mined with any certainty, but from the name itself thei'e can be no doubt that it was situated on a pro- jecting knoll or peak ; hence its site has been sought by Nibby (followed by Abeken) at Colle Ferro, near Segni; Colle Sacco, in the same neigh- bourhood, has as plausible a claim. (Nibby, Bin- torni, vol. iii. p. 473; Gell, Top. of Rome, p. 458; Abeken, Mittel-Italien, p. 75.) [E. H. B.] VERTACOJIICURI, a pagus of the Vocontii in Gallia Provincia, to whom Pliny (iii. 17) at- tributes the foundation of Novaria in Gallia Cisal- pina [Novaria]. The name seems to be preserved in Vercors, a district in the old country of the Vocontii, in the northern part of the diocese of Vie [Dea Vocontiorum]. In some middle age docu- ments the name appears in the abbreviated form Vercorium, which is the next step to Vercors (D'An- ville. Notice, cj'c). [G. L.] VERTERAE, a town of the Brigantes in Britan- nia Romana. {/tin. Ant. pp. 467, 476.) Variously identified with Brough in Westmoreland and Bowes. [T. H. D.] VERTINAE (OhipTivai: Verzino), a small town of Brultium, mentioned only by Strabo (vi. p. 254), who places it in the interior of that country. Its name is still retained by the village of Verzino, about 7 miles NW. of Strongoli, the ancient Pe- telia. [E. H. R.] VERUBIUM (Ov€pov§ioviJL, Ptol. ii. 3. § 5), a promontory on the N. coast of Britannia Barbara, most probably Noss Head. [T. H. D.] VERVES "(euepouers, Ptol. iv. 1. § 10), a people of JIauretania Tingitana. [T. H. D.] VERULAE {Eth. Veralanus: Vej^oli), a city of the Hernici, but included in Latium in the more exten.sive sense of that name, situated in the Apen- nines N. of the valley of the Sacco, between Alatrium and the valley of the Liris. It was apparently one of the chief cities of the Hernici, and was cer- tainly a member of the Hernican League: but its name is not mentioned separately in history till the final war of that people with Rome, in B.C. 306. On that occasion the citizens of Verulae, together with those of Alatrium and Ferentinum, took part against the Anagnians, and refused to join in the hostilities against Rome. J'or this reason they were rewarded after the termination of the war by being left in possession of their own laws and magistrates, which they preferred to receiving the Roman "civitas." (Liv. ix. 42, 43.) The period at which they ultimately became Roman citizens is uncertain. Florus vaguely asserts that a triumph had been celebrated over the people of Verulae (Flor. i. 11. § 6), but this is probably a mere rhetorical flourish : there is no occasion known in history to which it can be referred. Under the Roman dominion Verulae became a quiet and somewhat obscure country town. According to the Liber Coloniarum it received a body of colonists in the time of the Gracchi, and again under the reign of Nerva. But it is probable that it always retaini'd its municipal rank. It is men- tioned by Pliny among the municipal towns of the Fifth Region (Plin. iii. 5. s. 9), but is not again noticed in history. Its secluded position probably rendered it a place of small importance. The