DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0627
chap, xxviii.] PROBABLY THE FANUM VOLTUMNJE.
519
of Btruria" were wont to meet in council on the general
affairs of the Confederation.7 We hare no record or inti-
mation of the precise locality of this celebrated shrine, but
we know it must have been north of the Ciminian, for
after the conquest by the Romans of the whole of the
Etruscan plain to the south, we find it still mentioned as
the grand seat of council.8 Then where so likely as in
the great plain of Etruria, which was originally in the very
centre of the land, and contained the metropolis of the
Confederation—Tarquinii—the spot hallowed as the source
of the civil and religious polity of the Etruscans 19 That
7 Liv. IV. 23, 25, 61 ; V. 17 ; VI. 2.
8 Liv. VI. 2. It is elsewhere strongly
intimated by Livy (V. 17.) that the
Fanum Voltumnee was in this district
of Etruria, for when Capena and Falerii
sought assistance in behalf of Veii from
the confederate princes of the land there
sitting in council, they received for reply
that no succour could be afforded—that
it was vain to look for it, " especially in
that part of Etruria," on account of the
unexpected invasion of the Gauls; who
must then have been besieging Clusium,
which lies in the valley of the Clanis,
the natural entrance to the great
Etruscan plain from the north. Some-
thing may perhaps be deduced from
the fact that the statue of Vertumnus, an
Etruscan deity nearly allied to Voltumna,
which was set up in the Tuscus Vieus
at Rome, was captured from this part
of Etruria, as Propertius (IV. eleg. 2)
states—■
Tuscus ego,et Tuscisorior; necposnitet
inter
Praelia Volsanos deseruisse focos.
Vertumnus seems to have been an
Etruscan Bacchus, a god of wine and
fruits. He it is, thinks Gerhard (Gott-
heiten der Etrusker, p. 31), who is
represented in the Grotta delle Iscri-
zioni at Corneto, as having a fish
offered to him. See Chapter XVIII,
p. 342. He is called Vortumnus by
Varro (L. L. V. 8 ; VI. 3) ; and pro-
bably also Volturnus, by Festus (ap.
Paul. Diac. -v. Volturnalia), as well as
by Varro (L. L. VII. 45); though neither
recognise the relation in this case. See
Miiller's views on Vertumnus (Etrusk.
III. 3, 3). Voltumna was probably his
wife, equivalent, thinks Gerhard (loe.
cit. p. 8), to Pomona. Voltumna or
Volturna was also an Etruscan family-
name, found in sepulchral inscriptions
at Perugia, and also at Sovana. See
Chapter XXVI. p. 499, where it is given
in its Etruscan form—Velthurna.
s Antiquaries have universally agreed
in placing it in this region, though dif-
fering as to its precise locality. The
general opinion, from the time of Annio,
has favoured Viterbo (see Chapter XII.
p. 195), from the existence of a church
there called S. Maria in Volturna. A
few would place it at Castel d' Asso.
Miiller (Etrusk. II. 1, 4) inclines to
place it near the Vadimonian Lake.
Lanzi (Saggio II. p. 108) thinks it must
have occupied a central and convenient
situation, as the similar shrines of
Delphi and of the Alban Mount. The
site of the latter is said by Dionysius
519
of Btruria" were wont to meet in council on the general
affairs of the Confederation.7 We hare no record or inti-
mation of the precise locality of this celebrated shrine, but
we know it must have been north of the Ciminian, for
after the conquest by the Romans of the whole of the
Etruscan plain to the south, we find it still mentioned as
the grand seat of council.8 Then where so likely as in
the great plain of Etruria, which was originally in the very
centre of the land, and contained the metropolis of the
Confederation—Tarquinii—the spot hallowed as the source
of the civil and religious polity of the Etruscans 19 That
7 Liv. IV. 23, 25, 61 ; V. 17 ; VI. 2.
8 Liv. VI. 2. It is elsewhere strongly
intimated by Livy (V. 17.) that the
Fanum Voltumnee was in this district
of Etruria, for when Capena and Falerii
sought assistance in behalf of Veii from
the confederate princes of the land there
sitting in council, they received for reply
that no succour could be afforded—that
it was vain to look for it, " especially in
that part of Etruria," on account of the
unexpected invasion of the Gauls; who
must then have been besieging Clusium,
which lies in the valley of the Clanis,
the natural entrance to the great
Etruscan plain from the north. Some-
thing may perhaps be deduced from
the fact that the statue of Vertumnus, an
Etruscan deity nearly allied to Voltumna,
which was set up in the Tuscus Vieus
at Rome, was captured from this part
of Etruria, as Propertius (IV. eleg. 2)
states—■
Tuscus ego,et Tuscisorior; necposnitet
inter
Praelia Volsanos deseruisse focos.
Vertumnus seems to have been an
Etruscan Bacchus, a god of wine and
fruits. He it is, thinks Gerhard (Gott-
heiten der Etrusker, p. 31), who is
represented in the Grotta delle Iscri-
zioni at Corneto, as having a fish
offered to him. See Chapter XVIII,
p. 342. He is called Vortumnus by
Varro (L. L. V. 8 ; VI. 3) ; and pro-
bably also Volturnus, by Festus (ap.
Paul. Diac. -v. Volturnalia), as well as
by Varro (L. L. VII. 45); though neither
recognise the relation in this case. See
Miiller's views on Vertumnus (Etrusk.
III. 3, 3). Voltumna was probably his
wife, equivalent, thinks Gerhard (loe.
cit. p. 8), to Pomona. Voltumna or
Volturna was also an Etruscan family-
name, found in sepulchral inscriptions
at Perugia, and also at Sovana. See
Chapter XXVI. p. 499, where it is given
in its Etruscan form—Velthurna.
s Antiquaries have universally agreed
in placing it in this region, though dif-
fering as to its precise locality. The
general opinion, from the time of Annio,
has favoured Viterbo (see Chapter XII.
p. 195), from the existence of a church
there called S. Maria in Volturna. A
few would place it at Castel d' Asso.
Miiller (Etrusk. II. 1, 4) inclines to
place it near the Vadimonian Lake.
Lanzi (Saggio II. p. 108) thinks it must
have occupied a central and convenient
situation, as the similar shrines of
Delphi and of the Alban Mount. The
site of the latter is said by Dionysius