Velletri (; ; ) is an Italian comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring communes are Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, and Lanuvio. Its motto is: ('Liberty of pope and empire is given to me').
Velletri was an ancient city of the Volsci tribe. Legendarily it came into conflict with the Romans during the reign of Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome; then again in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, during the early Roman Republic. Velletri was also the home of the Octavii, the paternal family of the first Roman Emperor Augustus. In the Middle Ages, it was one of the few "free cities" in Lazio and central Italy. It was the site of two historic battles in 1744 and 1849. During the Second World War, it was at the centre of fierce fighting between the Germans and the allies in 1944 after the Anglo-American landing at Anzio.
Today, Velletri is home to a circuit court and a prison, in addition to several colleges and high schools. It is the terminus of the Rome-Velletri railway, inaugurated by Pius IX in 1863, and is one of the centers the Via Appia Nuova (modern Appian Way) passes through.
Physical geography
Territory The territory of Velletri stretches between two distinct areas. The northern part is situated on the southern foothills of the Colli Albani range and was geologically formed about 150,000 years ago, after the collapse of the Volcano Laziale (caldera). On the other hand, the southern boundary forms around Pontine Marshes, whose reclamation started at the time of Pope Pius VI and was accomplished during the regime of Benito Mussolini.
According to the classification given by the Geological Survey of Italy,Carta Geologica d'Italia, foglio 150 (Roma), edizione 1967 much of the territory consists of ground-type LPS, or paleosols, the rest is mainly composed of soils lp, lapilli, argillificate, Mafic, and leucite analcimizzata.
The Seismic classification of Velletri's territory is Zone 2 (medium-high seismicity).Anche secondo le categorie sismiche stabilite dal D.M. LL.PP. 1984 e la successiva ordinanza P.C.M. n° 3274 20 marzo 2003 Velletri era in zona sismica 2. Sono nella stessa zone sismica tutti i Colli Albani.
Hydrography The territory of Velletri collects water run off from many streams. These streams, most of them torrential in character or small in scale, are known as fossi. Main fossi include: Fosso Minella at the edge of the municipal area to Genzano di Roma, near the Velletri frazione of Sant'Eurosia. This stream originates from Monte Spina, elevation above sea level, in the territory of Nemi, with the name of Acqua Lucia. It is named after the Minella bridge on State Road 7, Via Appia Nuova and originates at above sea level, at the foot of Colle degli Olmi. Minella also runs parallel to the fosso delle Tre Armi, which then connects to it. Fossa Sant'Eurosia, originating from Colle degli Olmi; it goes through the village of the same name, located at above sea level. Fossa Paganica, which originates from springs on Colle Caldaro (467 m), and on Colle Tondo (596 m). Fosso di Ponte Veloce, which arises from Colle Tondo, on Maschio dell'Artemisio (812 m) and in the Faccialone forest (615 m). This watercourse near Villa Borgia, superseded the old town of Velletri, changes name to Fossa Farina near the iron bridge of the Roma-Velletri railway. Fossa Anatolia: originating from Colle Bello (600 m), it flows at the foot of old town Velletri, until it joins the Fossa Farina.
Other water sources include the Acqua de Ferrari, at , underlying Monte de Ferrari ( above sea level) at Rocca di Papa, from which is part of the municipal water supply.Carta Geologica d'Italia, edizione 1967
Topography The old town's altitude is substantially uniform from the elevation of Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi at 339 m above sea level, the square of the Trivium at above sea level, and Napoletana at above sea level. The area west of the walled city is a bit higher at San Lorenzo reaching above sea level. The remainder of the territory to the south and west is basically flat except for small hills that do not exceed above sea level.
Climate The climate of Velletri is mild, due to the Tyrrhenian Sea not being far, and to the protection offered by the Alban Hills and Mount Artemisio in the north. The climate is very rainy, with an annual average of precipitation, making it the rainiest city of Lazio and one of the most rainy cities in Italy. Humid currents from the southwest facing the Mont Artemisio condense all the rain on Velletri, leaving clouds restricted to the northern side of the Colli Albani. It snows rarely.Ad ogni modo, fuori dai periodi fissati non è consentito usare per più di sei ore giornaliere gli impianti di riscaldamento Climate classification: Zone D, 1544 GR / G Atmospheric Diffusivity: average
Etymology The Latin term for "swamp" was Velia, corresponding to the Greek "ουελια" ( "Velia"). From this root came the place name Velestrom, the place next to a swamp or marsh, was probably used by Volsci to call old Velletri. The Romans named it after the same city Velitrae, hence the Greek Ουελιτραι ("Ouelitrai"), Ουελιτρα ("Ouelitra") or Βελιτρα ("Belitra").
In the Middle Ages, at least six naming variants (Velletrum, Veletrum, Veletra, Velitrum, Bellitro, Villitria) are attested by various official acts until the 11th century. Until the 18th century, Velletri survived as parallel forms of Blitri and Belitri.Antonio Nibby, Analisi storico-topografico-antiquaria della carta de' dintorni di Roma - Velletri, vol. III pp. 439–440, Roma, 1829.
History Ancient
During his reign (642–617 BC), Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, came into conflict with the Volsci because the latter plundered Roman territory. He besieged the Velitrae, which was a Volscian town. The elders of the town surrendered and promised "to make good the damage they had done" and "agreed to deliver up the guilty to be punished". Ancus Marcius "concluded a treaty of peace and friendship".Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 3.41.5
In 494 BC, a war between Rome and the Volsci broke out. The Roman consul Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus was sent to fight the Volsci. He defeated them and " pursued their enemies beyond it to Velitrae, where vanquished and victors burst into the city in one body. More blood was shed there, in the promiscuous slaughter of all sorts of people, than had been in the battle itself. A very few were granted quarter, having come without arms and given themselves up." The Volsci "were deprived of the Veliternian land; colonists were sent from [Rome] to Velitrae and a colony was planted". In 492 BC, while the Volsci were affected by an epidemic, "the Romans increased the number of colonists at Velitrae and sent out a new colony to Norba, in the mountains, as a stronghold for the Pomptine country", which was a Volscian area near Velitrae.Livy, The History of Rome, 2.30.14-15, 31.4, 34.6 According to Diodorus Siculus, "the Romans increased the number of colonists in the city known as Velitrae" in 404 BC.Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, 14.34.7
In 385 BC, during another war between Rome and the Volsci, the Roman colonists from Circeii and Velitrae provided a contingent which fought alongside the Volsci. The Romans found out about this because there were men from Velitrae among the prisoners they captured in a battle they won against the Volsci. They were sent to Rome and questioned. This "in no uncertain terms laid bare the defection of their respective peoples". The colonists sent envoys to Rome "to clear themselves of the charge of joining in the Volscian war and to ask for the release of the captives, that they might punish them in accordance with their own laws". Their request was denied. They received a rebuke and an order to leave the city. In 382 BC two of the military tribunes with consular power for that year, Spurius and Lucius Papirius, marched on Velitrae. They won a battle near the town in which "auxiliaries from Praeneste almost outnumbered the colonists". The enemy took refuge in the city and the tribunes "abstained from attacking the place; they were not certain of succeeding, nor did they think it right to aim at the extermination of the colony".Livy, The History of Rome, 6.12.6, 13.8, 17.7-8, 22.12
In 380 BC the Romans stormed Velitrae and then moved on to fight other enemies. In 370 BC the colonists of Velitrae made several incursions into Roman territory and also besieged Tusculum. The Romans drove them from Tusculum and besieged Velitrae. The siege lasted until 367 BC when Marcus Furius Camillus, after defeating a force of Gauls which had encamped near Rome, captured the town, which surrendered without a struggle.Livy, The History of Rome, 6.29-7, 36.1-6, 42.4Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Camillus, 42.1
In 340 BC the Latin cities federated in the Latin League, which had been an ally of the Romans, rebelled in what had been called the Latin War (340-338 BC). They were joined by the Campanians, the Volsci and the Roman colonies of Signa and Velitrae. After two years of fighting Rome defeated the rebels. Velitrae was punished harshly. Her walls were demolished. Her senators were exiled beyond the River Tiber (that is, they were interned in a foreign land; the Tiber was the border between Latium and Etruria). It was decreed that if a Veliternian senator crossed this river, "his redemption should be set at a thousand pounds of bronze, and that he who had captured him might not release his prisoner from bondage until the fine was paid". The town was repopulated with colonists who were settled on the lands of the senators.Livy, The History of Rome, 8-14.5-8
Livy recorded that in 332 BC new Roman citizens were assessed in the census of that year and registered into two new Roman tribes (local administrative districts where Roman citizens were registered). These two new Roman tribes were the Maecia and Scaptia.Livy, The History of Rome, 8.17.11 According to Cornell and Oakley, Velitrae and Lanuvium were incorporated into the Scaptia and Maecia respectively, thus obtaining Roman citizenship.Cornel, T.J., The Beginnings of Rome (1995), p. 349Oakley, S.P., A Commentary on Livy Books VI–X:, Volume II: Books VII–VIII (1998), pp. 562-3
During the Roman period, several patricians built several villas in Velitrae. Inscriptions recorded that the city had a basilica, an amphitheater and a theater.Stillwell, R., MacDonald, W.L., Holland McAllister, M. (Eds.), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites: Velitrae (Velletri) Italy. Livy noted that the city had the shrines of the gods Apollo and Sangus.Livy, The History of Rome, 32.1.10 Velitrae was also a noted center for wine production.Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 14.65 Suetonius wrote: "There are many indications that the Octavian family was in days of old a distinguished one at Velitrae; for not only was a street in the most frequented part of town long ago called Octavian, but an altar was shown there besides, consecrated by an Octavius. This man was leader in a war with a neighbouring town ..." This was the family of Rome's first emperor, Augustus. Augustus was born at the Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill in Rome, but spent his childhood in Velitrae. Suetonius wrote that "A small room like a pantry is shown to this day as the emperor's nursery in his grandfather's country-house near Velitrae, and the opinion prevails in the neighbourhood that he was actually born there."Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Augustus, 1,5, 6
Medieval