Veii, the Etruscan rival of Rome

To really understand Formello you have to start with a city that no longer exists: Veii (Veio in Italian). It was the most powerful Etruscan city at the gates of Rome, its rival for centuries, before falling in one of the most famous sieges of the ancient world. Formello grew up in its territory, the Agro Veientano, and the history of the village begins here, among the tunnels dug by Etruscan engineers and the treasures that came out of the ground. This page tells the story of Veii: its power, the siege of 396 BC and Furius Camillus, the Apollo of Veii, the Portonaccio sanctuary and the thread that still ties it to Formello, about 28 km by road north of central Rome.

The southernmost city of Etruria

Veii stood north of Rome, on a broad tufa plateau bounded by deep ravines, near today's village of Isola Farnese. It was the southernmost city of Etruria and controlled a vast territory, the Agro Veientano, which stretched from the right bank of the Tiber to beyond Lake Bracciano. It was a commercial and military power that bordered directly on Rome, then still young.

The Etruscan city was ringed by massive walls with many gates, and crossed by a main road linking its urban spaces, later paved by the Romans. All around the plateau lay large necropolises along the roads into the city, with famous painted tombs such as the Tomb of the Roaring Lions, the Tomb of the Ducks and the Tomba Campana. Veii was also known for the skill of its engineers: a dense network of underground tunnels managed the water, and works such as the Ponte Sodo, on the ravine of the ancient Cremera, are still among the best known examples of Etruscan engineering.

The siege of 396 BC and Furius Camillus

A clash between Veii and Rome was inevitable. The two cities competed for control of the trading landings on the Tiber and the salt pans at the mouth of the river, resources that were vital to the economy of the region. The conflict dragged on for a long time, in a series of wars that Roman tradition remembers as extremely hard.

The final phase has gone down in history as the siege of Veii. According to the ancient historians, the siege lasted ten years and ended in 396 BC thanks to the dictator Marcus Furius Camillus. To take the city, the Romans are said to have dug a long tunnel right under the citadel: through that passage the soldiers got into the heart of Veii and opened its defences from inside. The fall of the city was a turning point: Roman territory grew enormously and Rome became the largest state in central Italy.

Veii did not disappear altogether. Under Augustus it was made a municipium (Municipium Augustum Veiens) in an attempt to halt its decline, but by then the decline could not be stopped and the great Etruscan city slowly faded away.

The Apollo of Veii and the Portonaccio sanctuary

The most important monument in the area is the Portonaccio sanctuary, outside the city, dedicated to Minerva among other deities. From here comes one of the most celebrated works of all Etruscan art: the Apollo of Veii, an almost life-size statue in painted terracotta, about 1.80 metres tall, which stood on the ridge of the temple roof together with other sculptures.

The statue was made in the last decades of the 6th century BC and found in 1916, in fragments, along an embankment of the sanctuary. Scholars attribute it to the circle of the legendary Vulca, the great terracotta sculptor of Veii and the only Etruscan artist whose name the ancient sources have handed down. The Apollo strides forward with the typical archaic smile on his face, a balance of energy and serenity that has made the work a symbol of Etruscan sculpture. It is now in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome, so even while the site is closed you can see it in the city.

Veii and Formello: the Agro Veientano

The link between Veii and Formello is deep and tangible. Formello is part of the Agro Veientano, the territory that revolved around the Etruscan city, and under the village the network of tunnels cut into the tufa to manage water still runs. According to the most widely accepted explanation, the very name of the village comes from these hydraulic works, the formae in Latin.

The area has yielded finds of great value, such as the Chigi Olpe and the Formello Alphabet, from the Monte Aguzzo tumulus. Many of these treasures, like the Apollo, are now in Rome, but the story of the territory can be followed up close at the Museo dell'Agro Veientano (in Italian) in Palazzo Chigi, and by walking the trails of the Veio Park, which today protects the archaeological area and the countryside that once belonged to great Veii.

The sites on the ground: the Vaccareccia necropolis

Among the remains of Veii that can be seen on the ground, one of the best known is the Vaccareccia necropolis, one of the largest burial areas of the city, on the hills overlooking the eastern part of the ancient settlement. The Vaccareccia tumulus, set among pines and farmland, is one of the most photographed archaeological views in the area.

Like the other sites of Veii, the necropolis lies in the area protected by the Veio Park and is reached along footpaths, including the route of the Via Francigena. On the Francigena, though, the final section towards Isola Farnese is closed at the moment: before you set off, read the notice on our Via Francigena page. For routes and access points, see our page on the Veio Park.

Frequently asked questions about Veii

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