Volsci

Volsci

The Volsci were an ancient Italic people, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. They then inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from Norba and Cora in the north to Antium in the south.

The Volsci spoke Volscian, a Sabellic Italic language, which was closely related to Oscan and Umbrian, but also to Latin, more distantly. They were among the most dangerous enemies of Rome, and frequently allied with the Aequi, whereas the Hernici from 486 BC onwards were the allies of Rome. In the Volscian territory lay the little town of Velitrae (modern Velletri), the birthplace of Caesar Augustus. From this town comes an inscription dating probably from early in the 3rd century BC; it is cut upon a small bronze plate (now in the Naples Museum), which must have once been fixed to some votive object, dedicated to the god Declunus (or the goddess Decluna).

Virgil's character of the warrior maiden Camilla in the "Aeneid" is a Volscian. Also, the legendary Roman warrior Coriolanus earned his cognomen after taking the Volscian town of Corioli in 493 BC. The supposed rise and fall of this hero is chronicled in Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Both Gaius Marius, seven time Roman consul and military reformer, and the Roman orator and writer Cicero were natives of Arpinum, deep in Volscian territory.

References

*1911


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  • Volsci — (Volsker), großer italischer Volksstamm, wohnte an beiden Ufern des Liris, im Norden durch die Apenninen von den Sammlern geschieden, im Süden durch das Tyrrhenische Meer begrenzt, in der Nachbarschaft der Römer. Sie redeten oskisch u. hatten… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • VOLSCI — vel VOLCI, populi Latii ultra Circeios. Subiugati a Consule T. Sicino, An. 267. Urb. Cond. et a Q. Capitolino An. 286. triumphati a Dictatore, Aur. Posthumio Tuberto, An. 323. Iterum subacti a Camillo, An. 365. Liv. l. 3. et 4. Plin. l. 3. c. 5.… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Volsci — [väl′sī΄] pl.n. [L] an ancient people of Latium, conquered by the Romans in the 4th cent. B.C …   English World dictionary

  • Volsci — /vol suy, see, shee/, n.pl. an ancient people of Latium who were conquered by the Romans in the last part of the 4th century B.C. * * * Ancient Italic people prominent in the history of Roman expansion in the 5th century BC. They belonged to the… …   Universalium

  • Volsci — noun plural Etymology: Latin Date: circa 1909 a people of ancient Italy dwelling between the Latins and Samnites …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • volsci — vol·sci …   English syllables

  • Volsci — Vol•sci [[t]ˈvɒl saɪ, si, ʃi[/t]] n. pl. peo an Italic people of Latium and Campania, subjugated by Rome in the 4th century b.c …   From formal English to slang

  • Volsci — /ˈvɒlski/ (say volskee) plural noun an ancient people of southern Latium, an ancient country in Italy, subdued by Rome late in the 4th century BC …  

  • volsci — ˈvälˌsī noun plural Usage: usually capitalized Etymology: Latin : a people of ancient Italy dwelling between the Latins and Samnites and becoming part of the Roman republic about 373 B.C. * * * /vol suy, see, shee/, n.pl. an ancient people of… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Castro dei Volsci — Castro dei Volsci …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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