mark of affinity with this particular branch of the Western alphabet, while there are some marked differences, such as X instead of Elean T, Q instead of Elean (prevailingly) ^ and j^. >l£ instead of I and 'I' instead of the regular Western though the latter symbol is not quoted as occurring in Elis itself (B. S. Roberts, Greek Epigraphy, i. 390).
Even the few words that have already been cited from the in- scriptions will have shown that the language belongs to the Indo-European group. Unfortunately the inscriptions of Este; although numerous, belong to only_ two classes, dedications and epitaphs; hence the forms with which they supply us, though "attested by welcome repetition, are somewhat limited in number. The typical beginning for a dedication is mexo . . â– â– zona-s-to sahnateh rehtiiah, i.e. " me dedit Rectiae Sanatrici," " so and so gave me to the Healing Goddess Rectia"; and sometimes the form of the verb is simply z-o-to. The correspondence of these two forms with the Greek middle aorist of the verb (4-5oro), and with the Latin donare is obvious, and the present writer is convinced, for reasons which it is impossible to state fully here, that the dots which, it will be observed, are placed on either side of the last sound of their syllable, denote the accent of the word; the moet striking evidence being the coincidence in position of the dots with the place of the Greek accent on kindred words; for example, the cognomen Lehvo-s- on an inscription of Vicenza is clearly identical with the Latin Laeviis and the Greek XotfAt. These signs are altogether absent from some words, e.g. from the Accusative iux° (presumably a proclitic) and syllables containing the letter HI, whose form would make the dots a cumbrous addition. One other inscription of special linguistic interest should be cited here; it appears to be the artist's inscription of a vase, of the 6th century B.C. found recently at Padua—
νοδο hiuθeari vhαχ-s-ιο
where the first name appears to be identical with the Latin Otho and to explain its aspirate, and the last word appears to be the Venetic equivalent of the Latin fecit, but to be in the middle voice without any augment: If this interpretation be correct—and the use of *iroiij<re by Greek artists commends it strongly— the form illustrates in rather a striking way the character of the language as intermediate between Greek and Latin.[1]
In the archaeological aspect the Venetic remains are particularly interesting as representing very fully the culture of what is known as the early Iron Age, the monuments of which were discovered in the excavations at Villanova, and are now admirably exhibited in the Museum at Bologna. The earliest begin, according to the generally accepted dating, from the nth century B.C. The remains at Este begin a very little later, but no inscriptions appear upon them until we reach the pottery of the 6th century B.C. It remains therefore to be determined whether this Venetic language was the proper speech of the people who, as it is generally supposed, brought with them the early Iron culture into Italy from north of the Alps in the nth century B.C., or whether it was the language of the people of the soil whom they conquered. So far as the scanty linguistic evidence at present extends, in the place names and the personal names of the Ligurian and the Venetic districts, it appears to the present writer on the whole to be more in favour of the second 1 view. This probability would become a certainty if we could accept as established the view of Professor Ridgeway and others, which identifies the authors of the early Iron culture with the Umbrians of historical times and ascribes to them the Umbro-Safine language (which with Latin constitutes the Italic division of the Indo- European languages), and which almost certainly was the language originally spoken by the patrician class at Rome (see further Sabini). Even now it must be admitted that this view possesses a high degree of probability.
The chief authority on the Venetic inscriptions published up to 1908 is Carl Pauh (Atiital. Studten, vol. 3, " Die Veneter," Leipzig, 1891), but so far as the present writer's observation may be trusted the text which Pauli gives of the inscriptions is somewhat defective. Some were reported by Mommsen, Die Insehriften NorditaUschen Alphabets (Zurich, 1853) ; the rest have been recorded in the Notizie degli Scavi /as they appeared, by Ghirardini in the volumes for 1880 and 1888, by Prosdocimi in that for 189a. These articles contain careful accounts of the archaeological remains.
(R. S. C.)
VENETIA, a territorial division of northern Italy, lying
between the Alps and the Adriatic, and stretching from the
frontier of Carinthia and Istria (Austria) in the north-east to
the lower Po and Lombardy in the south-west. It comprises
the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Udine, Venice,
Verona and Vicenza, and has an area of 9476 sq. m. Pop. (1.8&1)
2,814,173; (1901) 3,192,897. The crops principally grown are
maize, wheat, rice, grapes, mulberry leaves, tobacco, chestnuts,
potatoes and hemp.' Copper and lignite are mined, and turf
is dug. The chief industries are the manufacture of woollens,
cottons, silks, glass, laces, tobacco, straw-plait, paper, sugar and
hemp, the breeding of silkworms, iron-founding and working,
timber-cutting and shipbuilding. At Mira is a large candle
factory. The peasantry suffer much from pellagra.
The territory differs much in character; the Po and other smaller rivers which fall into the Adriatic terminate in a huge and continually advancing delta which extends right along the coast, and is liable to inundation. The shore lagoons are, however, rendered healthy by the ebb and flow of the tide, which is much more considerable than elsewhere in the Mediterranean. To the north of the Po at the foot of the mountains is a fertile territory, while the mountains themselves are not productive. The chief towns in the various provinces, with their communal population in 1901, are: Belluno 19,050; total of province 214,803, number of communes 66; Padua 81,242; Monselice 11,571, Este 10,779, Piove di Sacco 10,021; total of province 444,360, number of communes, 103; Rovigo 10,735, Adria 15,711; total of province 222,057, number of communes 63; Treviso 32,793, Castelfranco Veneto 12,440, Monte- belluna 10,284, Conegliano 10,252; total of province 416,945, number of communes. 95; Udine 36,899, Pordenone 12,409, S. Vito al Tagliamento 10,160; total of province 614,270, number of com- munes 179; Venice 148,471, Chiogeia 31,218, Cavarzere 16,388, Mira 12,169, Mestre 11,625; total or province 399,823, number of communes 50; Verona 73,917, Legnago 14,535,; total of province 427,018, number of communes 113; Vicenza 43,703, Bassano 15,097; Schio 13,524; Arzignano 10,426, Lonigo 10,300; total of province 453,621, number of communes 123. Railway communication in Venetia is fairly good; there is a main line from Milan to Mestre (the junction for Venice^ and thence to Trieste by a line near the coast, or by Treviso, Udine and Pontebba (Pontafel) into Austria. Another route into Austria, the Brenner, leaves the Milan- Venice line at Verona, which is connected with Modena (and so with central and southern Italy) by a railway through Mantua. Another main line runs from Bologna to Ferrara, Rovigo and Padua, joining the Milan-Venice line at the last-named place. intercommunication between the main lines is secured by branch railways and steam tramways. The Po, however, forms somewhat of an obstacle, but is crossed by the main lines to Modena and Bologna near Mantua and Rovigo respectively.
The district which later bore the name of Venetia was in- habited, under the Roman Republic, by a variety of tribes- Celts, Veneti, Raeti, &c. Under Augustus, Venetia and Histria formed the tenth region of Augustus, the latter including the Istrian peninsula as far as the river Arsia, i.e. with the exclusion of the strip along the E. coast (Liburnia). In all directions, indeed, it extended farther than Venetia in the modern sense, being bounded on the S. by the Po and its main (north) arm, extending on the W. as far as the Adda and on the N. into a part of southern Tirol. It was thus far the largest of the regions of Italy, but possessed comparatively few towns; though such as there Were, with the large territories, acquired considerable power and influence. The easiness of the Brenner pass and the abundance of communication with the sea led to the rise of such towns as Verona, Padua and Aquileia: and Milan only became more important than any of these when the German attacks on Italy were felt farther west.
When the Roman Empire fell the towns were many of them destroyed by Attila, and the inhabitants took refuge in the islands of the lagoons. It is to this that Venice owes its origin, under Byzantine protection, early in the 9th century a.d. For the gradual growth of Venetian supremacy over the whole territory, and for its subsequent history, see Venice.
VENETTE, JEAN DE (c. 1307–c. 1370), French chronicler, was born at Venette, near Compiegne. He became prior of the Carmelite convent in the Place Maubert, Paris, in 1339, and was provincial of France from 1341 to 1366. In 1368 he was still living, but probably died within a year or two of that date. His Latin Chronicle, covering the years 1340 to 1368, was published by Achery (Spicilegium, vol. iii.) with the continuations of the chronicle of William of Nangis, though it has every claim to be considered as an independent work. During the years 1358 and 1359 the entries were contemporary with the events recorded; the earlier portion of the work, if it was begun as early as 1340, was subjected to revision later. Jean de Venette was a child of the people, and his sympathies were entirely with the peasants. His point of view is thus directly
- ↑ Some further details will be found in the Preliminary Report presented to the British Academy published in the Athenaeum, August 8th, 1908.
