Ancient civilizations-2

The Veneti

Ancient tradition held the Veneti to be an Illyrian people who, coming from the east, took possession of the region named for them (Venetia). To them are linked the Histri, the Carni, and various Alpine tribes. (The name of the Veneti, or its root, is widely diffused in the ethnic onomastics of central Europe and even of Asia.) The Venetic language is known from funerary and votive inscriptions, from words cited by the Classical writers, and from onomastic and toponomastic data. It is an Indo-European language of Archaic type bearing similarities to the Latin and the Germanic.

The principal centres of the Veneti, located at the western margin of the territory, were Padua and Este. Their culture developed from the 9th century to the period of Romanization, with relationships with the Golasecca, Villanovan, and Etruscan cultures and with the transalpine Hallstatt culture. Maximum development occurred in the 6th–4th centuries bce; particularly noteworthy is the production of figured bronze situlae (conical vessels). In the final period, Gallic (Celtic) influences are found. Phenomena parallel to those of Este appear in Istria. The Veneti were horse breeders and peaceful traders and navigators; protected by the waters of the lower Po and the lower Adige, they preserved their independence against Etruscan expansion and Celtic invasion and in the 3rd century bce entered into peaceful alliance with Rome.