Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1345

 VOLCI. VOLCI (OuoXkoi, Vtol: Eth.Yohl&ns : Pai. near Ponte cMla Bad'ui), a city of Etruria, situated in the plain on the right bank of the river Armiua (^Fiora), about 8 nules from its mouth. Very little mention is found of it in history. The name of the city is known from Ptolemy as well as from Pliny, who enumerates, among the municipal towns of Etruria, the " Voleeutini cognomine Etrusci," an appellation evidently used to distinguish them from the people of Volcentum in Lucania. (Plin. iii. 5. s. 8 ; Ptul. iii. 1. § 49.) The name is quoted also by Steplianus of Byzantium, who writes it "OXKtof, from Polybius. (Steph. B. s. V.) But the only indication that they had once been a powerful people, and their city a place of importance, is found in the Fasti Capitolini, which record a triumph in the year b. c. 280 over the Volsinienses and Volcientes {Fast. Capit. ad ann. 473). This was one of the last struggles of the Etruscans for independence, and it was doubtless in consequence of the spirit shown on this occasion by the Volcientes that the Romans shortly afterwards (in E. c. 273) established a colony at Cosa, in their territory. (Veil. Pat. i. 14; Plin. iii. 5. s. 8.) It is expressly stated on this occasion by Pliny, that Cosa was a dependency of Volci (Cosa Volcientium), a statement which has been ignored by those modern writers who have represented Cosa as an independent and important Etruscan city. But wliile this is very doubtful in the case of Cosa, the evidence, though scanty, is conclusive that Volci was such ; and there is even reason to suppose, from a monu- ment discovered at Cervetri, that it was at one time reckoned one of the twelve chief cities of the Etruscan League. {Ann. d. Inst. Arch. 1842, pp. 37 — 40.) But notwithstanding these obscure hints of its greatness, the name of Volci was almost forgotten, and its site unknown, or at least regarded as uncer- tain, when the first discovery of its necropolis in 1828 led to subsequent researches on the spot, which have brought to light a number of painted vases greatly exceeding that which has been dis- covered on any other Etruscan site. The unprece- dented number, beauty, and variety of these works of art have given a celebrity in modern times to the name of Volci which is probably as much in excess of its real importance in ancient times as in the somewhat parallel case of Pompeii. It is impossible here to enter into any detailed account of the result of these excavations. It is calculated that above 6000 tombs in all have been ofjened, and the contents have been of the most varied kind, belonging to diflerent periods and ages, and varying from the coarsest and rudest pottery to the finest painted vases. The same tombs have also yielded very numerous objects and works of art in bronze, as well as delicate works in gold and jewellery; and after making every allowance for the circumstance that the cemetery at Volci appears to have enjoyed the rare advantage of remaining undisturbed through ages, it aiibrds incontestable proof that it must have belonged to a wealthy and populous city. The necropolis and its contents are fully described by Mr. Dennis {Etruria, vol. i. pp. 397 — 427). The re- sults of the excavations, in regard to the painted vases discovered, are given by Gerhard in his Rap- porto su i Vasi Volcenti, published in the Annali dtlV InstitutoioT 1831. It is remarkable that only one of the thousands of tombs opened was adoined with paintings similar to those found at Tarquinii, and, in this instance, they are obviously of late date. The site of the city itself has been carefully ex- VOLSCI. 1321 plored since these discoveries have attracted so mucli interest to the spot. It stood on the right bank of the river Armina, just below the point where that stream is spanned by a noble bridge, now called the Ponte della Badia, undoulitedly a work of Roman times, though the foundations mmj be Etruscan. The few remaining relics of antiquity still visible on the site of the city, which occupied a plateau of about 2 miles in circumference, are also of Roman date, and mostly belong to a late period. Inscrip- tions also have been discovered, which prove it to have continued to exist under the Roman Empire; and the series of coins found there shows that it was still in existence, at least as late as the fourth century of the Christian era. In the middle ages it seems to have totally disappeared, though the plain in which it stood continued to be known as the Pian di Vocl, whence Holstenius correctly inferred that this must have been the site of Volci. (Holsten. A^'ot. ad Cluver. p. 40.) The necropolis was, for the most part, on the other side of the river; and it is here that the excavations have been carried on most diligently. The site of Volci (which is now wholly uninhabited) is about 8 miles from Montallo, a small town at the mouth of the Flora, where that river was crossed by the Via Aurelia. (Den- nis, Z.c.) [E. H. B.] VOLCIANI, a people in Hispania Tarraconensis. (Liv. xxi. 19.) [T. H. D.] VOLENOS, a fort in Rhaetia, in the territory of Tridentum, which was destroyed by the Franks (Paul. Diac. Lowjob. iii. 31), and is generally iden- tified with the modern village of Volano on the Adige, south of Culiano. [L. S.] VOLIBA (OWAiga, Ptol. li. 3. § 30), a town of the Dumnonii in Britannia Romana, near the W. extremity of the island. Most probably Falmouth. (Camden, p. 16.) [T. H. D.] VOLOBRIGA {OvoSpiya, Ptol. ii. 6. § 41), a town in Gallaecia in Hispania Tarraconensis belong- ing to the Nemetatae. [T, H. D.] VOLOGATIS, in Gallia Narbonensis, is placed by the Jerusalem Itin. after Lucus {Luc}, on the road to Vapincuni {Gap) past Mons Saleutus. The distance from Lucus is ix. ; and D'Anville supposes that Vologatis may be a place named Leches, but the distance ix. is too much. Others fix the place at Beauriere; and others propose Lethes or Beau- mont. All this is uncertain. [G. L.] VOLOGE'SIA {OvoKficr'M, Ptol. v. 20. § 6), a city built by and named after Vologeses, one of the Arsacidan kings of Parthia, in the immediate neigh- bourhood of Seleuceia upon the Tigris. It is called by Pliny, Vologesocerta (vi. 26. s. 30), the latter por- tion of the name implying the " city of." Tiie ex- tensive ruins, still existing, on both sides of the Tigris, are probably those of the two great cities of Seleuceia and Vologesia. [V.] VOLSAS {QxiiXaas K6itos, Ptol. ii. 3. § 1), a bay on the W. coast of Bi'itain, probably Loch Brcij. (Hor.sley, p. 378.) [T. 11. D.] VOLSCI (u(JA(r;coi,Strab. ;OuoAoi)(7»co(,Dinnys.), an ancient people of Central Italy, who bear a pro- minent part in early Roman history. Their territory was comprised within the limits of Latium as that name was employed at a late period, and under the Roman Empire ; but there is no doubt that the Volscians were originally a distinct people from the Latins, with whom, indeed, they were almost always on terms of hostility. On the other hand they ap- pear as constantly in alliance with the Acijui; and