Verona
- a city in Gallia Transpadana, the birthplace of the poet Catullus and of the elder Pliny, still called Verona, Liv. 5, 35; Plin. 3, 19, 23, § 130, Cat. 35, 3; 67, 34; Ov. Am. 3, 15, 7 al.
- —Hence, Vē-rōnensis, e, adj., of or belonging to Verona: ager, Plin. 9, 22, 38, § 75: campi, Aur. Vict. Ep. 38: juvenes, Cat. 100, 2: Catullus, Plin. 36, 6, 7, § 48.—Plur.: Vērōnen-ses, ĭum, m., the inhabitants of Verona, the Veronese, Tac. H. 3, 8 sq.
VERONA(Οὐήρωνα, a, Ptol. 3.1.31; Θὐήρων, Strab. 4. p. 206, 5. p. 213; Βερώνη, Procop. B.G. 2.29, 3.3, &c.; and Βερώνα, Ib. 4.33: Eth. Veronensis: Verona), an important town in Gallia Transpadana, seated on the river Athesis ( Verona Athesi circumflua,Sil. It. 8.595), and chiefly on its W. bank. There is some difficulty in determining whether Verona was a city of the Euganei or of the Cenomani, from the little knowledge which we possess of the respective boundaries of those peoples, and from the confusion which prevails upon the subject in ancient authors. By Ptolemy (l. c.), who does not mention the Euganei, it is ascribed to the Cenomani; and Catullus (Catul. 67.34), in a passage, however, which has been banished by some editors as not genuine, Brixia, which undoubtedly belonged to the Cenomani, is styled the mother city of Verona. Pliny, on the other hand (3.19. s. 23), gives Verona partly to the Rhaeti and partly to the Euganei, and Strabo (l. c.) attributes it to the former. Some have sought a solution of this difficulty by assuming that the city belonged originally to the Euganei, but was subsequently occupied by the Cenomani, referring to Livy (Liv. 5.35. (Cf. Justin (Justin. 20.5.) We know little or nothing of the early history of Verona. Under the Roman dominion it became a colony with the surname of Augusta, and one of the finest and most flourishing cities in that part of Italy (Tac. H. 3.8; Itin. Ant. p. 128; Strab. 5. p. 213; Grut. Inscr. p. 166. 2.) The surrounding country was exceedingly fruitful, producing good wine, excellent apples, and abundance of spelt (alica, Plin. Nat. 18.11. s. 29, 14.1. s. 3, 15.14. s. 14; Cassiod. Var. 12.4). The Rhaetian wine also is praised by Virgil. ( G. 2.94; cf. Strab. 4.206; Suet. Oct. 77.) The situation of Verona rendered it a great thoroughfare and the centre of several highroads ( Itin. Ant. pp. 128, 174, 275, 282; Itin. Hier. p. 558.)
Verona was celebrated in history for the battle fought by Marius in the Campi Raudii, in its neighbourhood, againt the Cimbri. (Vellei. 2.12; Florus (Flor. 3.3.) From an inscription still extant on one of its gates, now called the Porta de' Borsari, the walls of Verona appear to have been newly erected in the reign of the emperor Gallienus, A.D. 265. It was besieged by Constantine on his march from Gaul to Rome, and, though obstinately defended by Ruricius Pompeianus, obliged to surrender at discretion. ( Paneg. Vet. 9.9, sqq.) It was likewise the scene of the victory of Theodoric over Odoacer. (Jornand. Get. 57.) Theodoric made it one of his residences, and often held his court there: a representation of his palace is still extant upon a seal. (Gibbon, Decl. and Fall, vol. 5. p. 22, ed. Smith.) It was at Verona that the splendid wedding took place between king Autharis and Theudelinda. (Procop. B. G. 3.5; Paul. Diac. 3.29.) But, more than by all these events, Verona is illustrious as having been the birthplace of Catullus (Ovid. Amos. 3.15. 7; Mart. 10.103; Plin. Nat. 36.6. s. 7); though it is exceedingly doubtful whether the remains of a villa on the Logo di Garda, commonly called the villa of Catullus, could really have belonged to him. The honour sometimes claimed for Verona of having given birth to the architect Vitruvius Pollio arises from a mistaken interpretation of the inscription on the arch of the Gavii, formerly existing at Verona, but pulled down in the year 1805. The inscription related to the great architect's less celebrated namesake, Vitruvius Cerdo. ( Descriz. di Verona, pt. 1. p. 86.) Some are of opinion that the elder Pliny also was born at Verona, but it is more probable that he was a native of Comum. In the life of him ascribed to the pen of Suetonius, he is styled Novocomensis; and when he calls himself in his Preface the conterraneusof Catullus, that epithet by no means necessarily implies that he was the fellow-citizen of the poet, but rather that he was merely his fellow-countryman, or from the same province.
The amphitheatre at Verona is a very striking monument of antiquity. Although not nearly so large as the Colosseum, it is in a much better state of preservation, owing to the pains which have always been taken to keep it in repair. It is also of a more costly material than the Roman amphitheatre; for whilst the latter is built of travertino,that at Verona is of marble, from some quarries in the neighbourhood. The substructions are of Roman brickwork. The date of its erection cannot be ascertained, but it must undoubtedly have been posterior to the time of Augustus. A great part of the external arcade was thrown down by an earthquake in the year 1184. Its form is elliptical, the larger diameter being 513 feet externally and 248 internally; the smaller one, 410 feet externally and 147 feet internally. The banks or rows of seats are at present 45 in number, but, from the repairs and alterations which the building has undergone, it is not certain whether this was the original number. It is estimated that it would afford seats for about 22,000 persons.
There are also a few remains of a Roman theatre, on the left bank of the Adige, at the foot of the hill immediately under the castle of S. PietroIt appears from two decrees of king Berengarius, dated in 895 and 913, that the theatre was then regarded as of the highest antiquity, and had in great part gone to ruin; on which account its destruction was allowed. ( Descriz. di Verona, pt. 2. p. 108, sqq.)
We have already alluded to the ancient gate called the Porta de' Borsari. It is evidently older than the walls of Gallienus, the elevation of which in the space of 8 months is recorded upon it; since a previous inscription has been erased in order to make room for the new one. It is a double gate, of a very florid style of architecture, concerning the merits of which architects have held widely different opinions. The walls of Gallienus, to judge of them from the vestiges which still remain, were of a construction sufficiently solid, notwithstanding the shortness of the time in which they were erected. The other remains of antiquity at Verona, as the Porta de' Leoni, the baths, &c., do not require any particular description in this place.
The chief works on Verona and its antiquities are the splendid ones of Count Scip. Maffei, entitled Verona Illustrata, and Mulseum Veronense. Onuphrius Panvinius also described its remains ( Antiq. Veron. lib. viii. Pat. 1668). Some account of them will likewise be found in the Descrizione di Verona e della sua Provincia, by Giovambatista da Pertico, 8vo. Verona, 1820.
[T.H.D]Now Verona; an important town in Gallia Cisalpina, on the river Athesis. It was originally the capital of the Euganei, but subsequently belonged to the Cenomani. At a still later time it was made a Roman colony, with the surname Augusta; and under the Empire it was one of the largest and most flourishing towns in the north of Italy. It was the birthplace of Catullus; and, according to some accounts, of the elder Pliny. There are still many Roman remains at Verona, and among others an amphitheatre in a good state of preservation.
On the Adige river 104 km W of Venice, the original settlement, even in earliest times, was a center of the early Veneti. The first contacts with Rome are not well known. The Veneti remained loyal to Rome against Hannibal and were amply rewarded, for the Romans respected the territory of the Veneti from Livenza all'Olio to the borders of Brixia. The oldest Latin inscription from Verona is a miliarium from the Via Postumia dating to 148 B.C. (CIL I, 624 = V.8045) and presently preserved in the Museo Maffeiano. The road crossed Regio X, joining Genoa and Aquileia by way of Piacenza, Cremona, Verona, Vicenza, and Oderzo. Originally a defensive road, it later became a powerful commercial artery.
Already at the time of the Via Postumia, the first bridge over the Adige must have been constructed at the site of a very early ferry. It was on that spot that the Ponte della Pietra would later span the river. Two arches of that bridge remain, with definite traces of later restorations.
Historical and epigraphical sources are silent until the age of Caesar. There has been and still is much discussion regarding the legal status of Verona during this interlude of nearly a century. Although Catullus called Verona a Latin colony (17.1) it seems improbable that it was a true colonia, with the introduction of new inhabitants as colonists, particularly in the period when Aquileia and Lucca (181-179 B.C.) were the last two definite colonies in Italy under Roman law.
From an archaeological point of view, no trace of a center antedates the Roman city. As a result of the social war Latin law was extended to the entire territory between the Alps and the Po, but it was only in 49 B.C. that all the Latin colonies beyond the Po river became municipia. From then on an ever-increasing number of inscriptions and of monumental buildings confirm the development of Roman Verona, cited by Strabo (5.213) and by Martial (14.195.1) as one of the most important cities of Venetia. The gens Gavia, originally from the S central area of Italy, is mentioned in particular and is responsible for the famous arch, an aqueduct, and perhaps the first theater.
Tacitus (Hist. 3.8.1) mentions that Verona was at the center of the struggles between the Flavian faction and the followers of Vitellius. Gallienus later revitalized the city, incorporating it into a defensive system from Concordia to Milan. His actions are mentioned in the inscription of 265 set on the architrave above the vault of the Porta Borsari (CIL V, 3329). The text mentions Verona as the Colonia Augusta Nova Gallieniana, an honor conferred upon it probably by Gallienus himself.
After the reform of Diocletian, which reduced Italy to the status of a province, Verona preserved its importance, becoming a vacation haunt of emperors. The famous laterculum maius, list of the provinces of the late Empire, dating to the first years of the 4th c., comes from here. After the defeat of Brescia, the troops of Maxentius took refuge in Verona. An inscription (CIL V, 3331) and one panel of the Arch of Constantine in Rome commemorate the victorious siege of Constantine.
An inscription of Valerius Palladius records the decline of the city. As governor of Venetia et Histria (CIL V, 3332) from 379 to 383, he had re-erected a statue (surely of votive type) which lay for a time in the Capitolium. The importance accorded a pagan relic focuses attention on the struggles between pagans and Christians which characterized the second half of the 4th c. in the provinces as well as at Rome. Christianity had its first Ecclesia in a building recently unearthed near the cathedral. The building shows a plan which had already reached a sophisticated development. At the end of the 4th c. or at the beginning of thc 5th, it was probably abandoned in favor of the large basilica which usually bears the name of the first important bishop of Verona, San Zeno. With it ended the series of ancient buildings.
Verona's monuments are particularly well preserved. In addition to the gates and walls there is the theater, along the Adige opposite Colle di San Pietro. It had two upper passageways which offered the spectator a unique view of the stage. The entire complex recalls Augustan art where, as on the arch of the Gabii, traditional Hellenistic elements are mingled with others of clearly Roman taste.
Within the circuit walls of the city in the period of Caesar, the huge amphitheater, usually called the Arena, was built. Numerous restorations, both medieaval and modern (e.g., the 16th c. reconstruction of the stairways), make it difficult to assign a precise date, despite the recent excavations of the substructures, of the vaulted galleries, of the monumental entrances, and of the series of arcades, and despite the strengthening of the Ala.
Other buildings of which there is definite evidence include the Thermae Juventianae (CIL v, 3342), dating to the beginning of the 3d c.; the Capitolium, whose high podium and inner underground reservoir have been discovered; a basilica of perhaps the Flavian era; and an interesting house, also of the Flavian period, discovered some years ago around Valdonega, with mosaic pavements and remains of frescos.
In the Museo del Teatro are notable sculptures of the so-called sophisticated art, among which is a splendid portrait of an emperor of the Julio-Claudian house and a torso in armor. Although the Bevilacqua collection and many other private collections of importance have been sold, Verona still maintains the oldest epigraphic museum in Italy, owing to the efforts in the middle of the 18th c. of the great humanist Scipione Maffei. The Museo Civico of Castelvecchio preserves the Venera coin repository (more than 50,000 pieces) discovered at the end of the last century.
BIBLIOGRAPHYCIL V, 319ff, 942ff; 1074ff; C. Anti, “L'Arco dei Gavi a Verona,” Arch. e Arti decorative, I (1921-22) 121ff; B. Forlati Tamaro, “Un iscrizione votiva di Sommacampagna,” Epigraphica 3 (1941) 271ff; id., “Iscrizioni votive di Verona,” ibid. 4 (1942) 159ff; id., “La casa romana nel Veneto e una nuova scoperta a Verona,” ArchCl 10 (1958) 116ff; id., “La romanizzazione dell'Italia settentrionale vista nelle iscrizioni,” Aquileia nostra 32-33 (1961-62) 109ff; id., “A proposito degli Arusnates,” Atti X riunione scientifica Istitut. ital. Preistoria e Protostoria (1965) 237ff; id., “Verona” in Arte e Civiltàl romana nell'Italia settentrionale (1964) 564ff; id., “Ii restauro della porta detta dei Leoni,” NSc Suppl. (1965) 12ff; id., “Scavi e scoperte negli ultimi anni nelle Venezie,” Atti II Congr. Arch. Crist. (1970) 185ff; id., “Statua loricata scoperta a Verona,” Gli archeologi italicini in onore di A. Maiuri, ed. Di Mauro, s.d.; A. Zarpellon, “Verona e l'agro veronese in età romana,” Nova Historia (1954); H. Kähler, “Die römischen Stadtore von Verona,” JdI 4 (1955) 138ff; L. Beschi, “Verona romana e i monumenti,” Verona e il suo territorio, I (1960) 368; id., I bronzetti romani di Montorio Veronese (1962); F. Sartori, “Verona romana, Storia politica, economica, amministrativa,” Verona e suo territorio, I (1960) 157ff; P. Gazzola, Ponti romani I (1963); L. Franzoni, “L'iscrizione di Valerio Palladio dal Foro di Verona,” Atti e Memorie Accad. Agric. Sc. e Lettere di Verona (1965-66) 425ff; id., La Galleria Bevilacqua (1970); L. Bosio, Itinerari e strade della Venetia romana (1970); G. Fogolari, “Ritrovamenti archeologici nell'ultimo decennio,” Atti II Congr. Arch. Crist. (1970) 35ff; G. Tosi, La casa romana di Valdonega e il problema degli Oeci collonnati (1971).
B. FORLATI TAMARO