TheVeneti (sometimes also referred to asVenetici,Ancient Veneti orPaleoveneti to distinguish them from the modern-day inhabitants of the Veneto region, calledVeneti inItalian) were anIndo-European people who inhabited northeasternItaly, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region ofVeneto, from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC and developing their own original civilization along the 1st millennium BC.[1]
The Veneti were initially attested in the area betweenLake Garda and theEuganean Hills; later they expanded until they reached borders similar to those of the currentVeneto region. According to the archaeological finds (which also agree with the written sources), the western borders of their territory ran along Lake Garda, the southern ones followed a line that starts from theTartaro river, follows thePo and reachesAdria, along the extinct branch of thePo of Adria, while the eastern ones reached up to theTagliamento river.[2]
According toJulius Pokorný, the ethnonymVenetī (singular*Venetos) is derived fromProto Indo-European root*wen- 'to strive, to wish for, to love'. As shown by the comparative material, Germanic languages had two terms of different origin:Old High GermanWinida 'Wende' points toPre-Germanic*Wenétos, while Lat.-Germ.Venedi (as attested in Tacitus) and Old EnglishWinedas 'Wends' call for Pre-Germanic*Wenetós. The latter, according to Tacitus, who would have been familiar with Adriatic Veneti, connects theVistula Veneti with theSlavs. Etymologically related words include Latinvenus, -eris 'love, passion, grace'; Sanskritvanas- 'lust, zest',vani- 'wish, desire'; Old Irishfine (< Proto-Celtic*venjā) 'kinship, kinfolk, alliance, tribe, family'; Old Norsevinr, Old Saxon, Old High Germanwini, Old Frisian, Old Englishwine 'friend'.[3]
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The ancient Veneti spokeVenetic, an extinctIndo-European language which is evidenced in approximately 300 short inscriptions dating from the 6th to 1st centuries BC. Venetic appears to share several similarities withLatin and the otherItalic languages, but also has some affinities with other Indo-European languages, especiallyGermanic andCeltic.
Venetic should not be confused withVenetian, aRomance language presently spoken in the Veneto region.
The extent of the territory occupied by the ancient Veneti before their incorporation by the Romans is uncertain. It included cities of the modernVeneto such asEste,Padua,Vicenza,Asolo,Oderzo,Montebelluna,Vittorio Veneto,Cadore, as well as other areas around thePo Delta.[4] Venetic territory was incorporated intoCisalpine Gaul, and underAugustus was organized as the tenth region (Regio XVenetia et Histria) ofRoman Italy.Regio X stretched geographically from theArsia River in the east in what is nowCroatia to theAbdua in the current Italian region ofLombardy and from theAlps to theAdriatic Sea.[5]
Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC) at one point mentions the Veneti of the Adriatic (Histories V.9) and at another refers in passing to the "Eneti in Illyria" (Histories I.196) whose supposed marriage customs, he claims, mirrored those of the Babylonians.[6] This led early scholars to seek to link the Veneti with theIllyrians.[7] Their Illyrian origin is further strengthened by their close relationship with the inhabitants of the coastal regions of theAdriatic.[4] Karl Pauli, a late 19th-century expert on the Venetic language, declared that the language was more closely related to that of the Illyrians than to any other language, even though knowledge of Venetic is limited to personal names, nouns, and verbs used in dedicatory formulae. There are even fewer remains of an Illyrian language which have been connected to the region and may indicate an Illyrian.[8] However, this identification of the Adriatic Veneti as Illyrians has been discredited by many linguists.[9]Hans Krahe and later Anton Mayer showed that Herodotus was not referring to the Adriatic Veneti, but to an Illyrian tribe that lived in the borderlands of northern historicalMacedonia.[10] Later linguistic and paleontological studies further solidified their findings.[11]
Roman historianTitus Livius (59 BC–AD 17), himself a native of the Venetic town ofPatavium, wrote that after thefall of Troy, the Trojan princeAntenor became the leader of the Paphlagonians after they all had been expelled from their homeland. Together, they migrated to the northern end of the Adriatic coast where they established a settlement, and conquered and merged with indigenous people known as theEuganei.[12] The story connects the Veneti with thePaphlagonian Eneti, mentioned byHomer (750 BC).
Virgil (70-19 BC), in his epic theAeneid, relates the same tradition.[13] A commentary on Virgil'sAeneid by the grammarianMaurus Servius Honoratus (fl. c. AD 400) is said to imply a link between the Veneti and theVindelici who are related toLiburnians from the Istrian Coast. However, the reference to the Veneti in Virgil seems to place them in the "innermost realm of the Liburnians" which must have been the goal at which Antenor is said to have arrived. This however implies only that the ancient Liburnians may have once encompassed a wide swath of the Eastern Alps, from Vindelicia, through Noricum, to the Dalmatian coast before the coming of the Veneti.
Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) mentions thatCornelius Nepos (100–24 BC) implied that thePaphlagonian Eneti (Heneti) were ancestors of the Veneti of Italy.[14] He lists the towns ofAteste,Acelum, Patavium,Opitergium,Belunum, andVicetia as belonging to the Veneti.[15]
By the 4th century BC the Veneti had been so Celticized thatPolybius wrote that the Veneti of the 2nd century BC were identical to the Gauls except for their language.[16] The Greek historianStrabo (64 BC–AD 24), on the other hand, conjectured that the Adriatic Veneti descended fromCelts who in turn were related to the laterCeltic tribe of the same name who lived on the coast ofBrittany and fought againstJulius Caesar. He further suggested that the identification of the Adriatic Veneti with the Paphlagonian Enetoi led by Antenor—which he attributes toSophocles (496–406 BC)—was a mistake due to the similarity of the names.[17] Strabo also gives information on the then-current domains of the Veneti.[18]
The territory of the Veneti came to the notice of the Greeks in the 4th c. BC. Strabo records thatDionysius I of Syracuse (c. 432–367 BC), desiring the famed horses of the Veneti, founded trading colonies along the Adriatic coast.[19] The Sicilian tyrant favored the town of Adria[20] as a trading partner, helping it build canals which linked it to the sea and broke the trading monopoly of Spina.[21]
In 303/302 BC theLacedaemonian princeCleonymus of Sparta led a fleet of mercenaries up theBrenta River intending on sackingPatavium. However, the Veneti fought back and the Spartan ships were captured and destroyed.[22]
The Veneti were in recurring conflict with theCeltic peoples who then occupied most of Northwestern Italy, although they maintained peaceful relations with theCenomani Celts who had settled in and eventually absorbed the areas ofBrescia andVerona.
The Veneti seem to have begun contact with Rome in the third century BC. They establishedamicitia with Rome against the Gaulsc. 238 BC.[23] During theSecond Punic War, the Veneti were again allied with the Romans against the Celts, Iberians, and theCarthaginian expedition (218–203 BC) led byHannibal.[24] Livy records that they sent soldiers to fight along with the Romans at thebattle of Cannae.
With the foundation of the Latin colony of Aquileia by Rome in 181 BC and laying of theVia Postumia in 148 BC followed by theVia Annia in 131 BC, Roman influence among the Veneti increased. The Veneti seem to have voluntarily and gradually adopted the Latin language, Roman architecture, Roman city planning, and Roman religion. Votive offerings sometimes appear in the Venetic language written with the Roman alphabet or in Venetic with a Latin translation.Roman consuls were asked to adjudicate border disputes betweenEste andPadua in 141 and again in 135 BC[25] and also a border dispute betweenEste andVicenza.[26] In 175 BC,Padua requested the aid of Rome in putting down a local civil war.[27] The Veneti were given Latin rights after theSocial War in the Lex Pompeia de Transpadanis and Roman citizenship in 49 BC in the Lex Roscia. Roman colonies established atEste,Concordia, andTrieste between 49 BC and 14 AD and atOderzo andZuglio during the reign ofClaudius further contributed to the absorption of the Veneti into Roman culture.[28]
The equivalent ofApollo was Belenus inVeneto andNoricum.[29] He had an oracle in the city ofAquileia and was worshipped as the divine protector of the town. Belenus was also connected with springs, which may suggest chthonic and medicinal powers.[30] Belenus was most likely of Celtic origin, and the dominant god of theNorici.[30][29]
| Dates | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Este I. | c. 900–750 BCE | Veneti settle the Po Valley where they encounter theProto-Villanovan culture |
| Este II. | c. 750–575 BCE | Ossuary fibulae and bronze artifacts attest to growing dominance in the region with two main centers atEste andPadua, respectively |
| Este III. | c. 575–350 BCE | Venetic expansion throughout the Veneto and Friuli to the Adige, into the Piave Valley, and toBelluno |
| Este IV. | c. 350–182 BCE | Decline of Venetic culture; Veneti maintain their language and customs but are heavily influenced byCelts andEtruscans |
| Este V. | 182 BCE–onward | Alliance withRome leads to gradualRomanization |
Information about Venetic society can be deduced from artifacts, tombs, and religious votive objects. There were village heads. Wealthy landownerswere buried withamber jewelry. The Veneti traded actively on theAmber Road.[31]
There were horsemen and fishermen, and members involved in animal husbandry. In the 7th century BC merchants at Este used bronze coins, while by the 3rd century BC silver money was in use, especially at Padua. Farmers cultivated grain and grapes. Artisans produced ceramic and bronze objects, and wove wool cloth. Artifacts show that among the sports enjoyed were boxing and boat races.[32]
Many archaeological excavations are still under way in theVeneto today at sites such asEste,Padua,Oderzo,Adria,Vicenza,Verona andAltinum. Studies have explored the vast influence of theGreeks in the Adriatic and their interaction with the Veneti, particularly focusing on theEuboeans,Phocaeans andCorinthians. Furthermore, studies have also been done onEtruscan activity in the region and their strong links to the Veneti.
Modern surveys on the Veneti and otherAncient Italic peoples, including the Venetic inscriptions from Este, were published byA. L. Prosdocimi,[33]A. M. C. Bianchi[34] andL. Capuis.[35]
Other tribes originally thought to have been Illyrians and shown to be actually related to the Veneti are:Histri,[36]Carni,[36]Catari,[37]Catali,[38]Liburni,[36]Lopsi,[39]Secusses,[40]Venetulani.[41]
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