Ancient '', found in a villa near the town. During his reign (642–617 BC),
Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, came into conflict with the Volsci because the latter plundered Roman territory. He besieged the Velitrae, which was a Volscian town. The elders of the town surrendered and promised "to make good the damage they had done" and "agreed to deliver up the guilty to be punished". Ancus Marcius "concluded a treaty of peace and friendship". In 494 BC, a war between Rome and the
Volsci broke out. The
Roman consul Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus was sent to fight the Volsci. He defeated them and " pursued their enemies beyond it to Velitrae, where vanquished and victors burst into the city in one body. More blood was shed there, in the promiscuous slaughter of all sorts of people, than had been in the battle itself. A very few were granted quarter, having come without arms and given themselves up." The Volsci "were deprived of the Veliternian land; colonists were sent from [Rome] to Velitrae and a
colony was planted". In 492 BC, while the Volsci were affected by an epidemic, "the Romans increased the number of colonists at Velitrae and sent out a new colony to Norba, in the mountains, as a stronghold for the
Pomptine country", which was a Volscian area near Velitrae. According to
Diodorus Siculus, "the Romans increased the number of colonists in the city known as Velitrae" in 404 BC. In 385 BC, during another war between Rome and the Volsci, the Roman colonists from
Circeii and Velitrae provided a contingent which fought alongside the Volsci. The Romans found out about this because there were men from Velitrae among the prisoners they captured in a battle they won against the Volsci. They were sent to Rome and questioned. This "in no uncertain terms laid bare the defection of their respective peoples". The colonists sent envoys to Rome "to clear themselves of the charge of joining in the Volscian war and to ask for the release of the captives, that they might punish them in accordance with their own laws". Their request was denied. They received a rebuke and an order to leave the city. In 382 BC two of the
military tribunes with consular power for that year, Spurius and Lucius Papirius, marched on Velitrae. They won a battle near the town in which "auxiliaries from
Praeneste almost outnumbered the colonists". The enemy took refuge in the city and the tribunes "abstained from attacking the place; they were not certain of succeeding, nor did they think it right to aim at the extermination of the colony". In 380 BC the Romans stormed Velitrae and then moved on to fight other enemies. In 370 BC the colonists of Velitrae made several incursions into Roman territory and also besieged
Tusculum. The Romans drove them from Tusculum and besieged Velitrae. The siege lasted until 367 BC when
Marcus Furius Camillus, after defeating a force of Gauls which had encamped near Rome, captured the town, which surrendered without a struggle. In 340 BC the Latin cities federated in the
Latin League, which had been an ally of the Romans, rebelled in what had been called the
Latin War (340-338 BC). They were joined by the
Campanians, the Volsci and the Roman colonies of
Signa and Velitrae. After two years of fighting Rome defeated the rebels. Velitrae was punished harshly. Her walls were demolished. Her senators were exiled beyond the River
Tiber (that is, they were interned in a foreign land; the Tiber was the border between
Latium and
Etruria). It was decreed that if a Veliternian senator crossed this river, "his redemption should be set at a thousand pounds of bronze, and that he who had captured him might not release his prisoner from bondage until the fine was paid". The town was repopulated with colonists who were settled on the lands of the senators.
Livy recorded that in 332 BC new Roman citizens were assessed in the census of that year and registered into two new
Roman tribes (local administrative districts where Roman citizens were registered). These two new Roman tribes were the Maecia and Scaptia. According to Cornell and Oakley, Velitrae and Lanuvium were incorporated into the Scaptia and Maecia respectively, thus obtaining Roman citizenship. During the Roman period, several
patricians built several villas in Velitrae. Inscriptions recorded that the city had a basilica, an amphitheater and a theater. Livy noted that the city had the shrines of the gods
Apollo and Sangus. Velitrae was also a noted center for wine production.
Suetonius wrote: "There are many indications that the
Octavian family was in days of old a distinguished one at Velitrae; for not only was a street in the most frequented part of town long ago called Octavian, but an altar was shown there besides, consecrated by an Octavius. This man was leader in a war with a neighbouring town ..." This was the family of Rome's first emperor,
Augustus. Augustus was born at the Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill in Rome, but spent his childhood in Velitrae. Suetonius wrote that "A small room like a pantry is shown to this day as the emperor's nursery in his grandfather's country-house near Velitrae, and the opinion prevails in the neighbourhood that he was actually born there."
Medieval Velletri began to decline after it was sacked by
Alaric the Goth in 410 CE. It was the seat of a bishopric and, in the following century, it became an imperial city after the
Byzantine reconquest of Italy. The first information about Velletri in the Middle Ages is dated 465 by Adeodato, the bishop of the city. Between the 5th and 6th century, the Veliterna diocese became increasingly important. In 592,
Pope Gregory I brought together the Diocese of Tres Tabernae in Velletri. In the 10th century, Velletri fell under the rule of the
Counts of Tusculum (981). The entire area of the
Alban Hills and the Monti Prenestini was dominated by the Counts of Tusculum, including the fortress of
Lariano next to Velletri. In 1084,
Robert Guiscard marched against Rome and passed through Velletri, meeting resistance from residents, who were rewarded by the Pope in 1101, with a
Breve that gave very broad boundaries to the Veliterna community. In the 13th century, Velletri was administered in the form of a republic. It was governed by the Great Council, composed of consuls, who were then replaced by a council of
novemviri (nine men), a mayor with supervisory functions, constables who were military leaders, and a
podestà who had judicial duties.
Pope Alexander IV (1254–1261), former bishop of Velletri, ordered during his pontificate to bring the relics of Velletri holy martyrs Pontian and Eleuterio to be preserved in the crypt beneath the cathedral. In 1342, Nicola
Caetani besieged Velletri. However, the city resisted until the arrival of reinforcements from Rome. In exchange for this help, the city had to undergo the appointment of a mayor appointed by Rome. This kind of
vassalage lasted until 1374 when, following an agreement, the
Podestà would be elected every six months. The first four times the choice would be directly ratified by the Romans. In 1353 the Trivium Tower was opened. It was a symbol of the city of Velletri. In 1913, the Tramvie dei Castelli Romani tram line reached Velletri, connecting it directly to Rome and the rest of the Castelli Romani area until 1953. In 1927, the fascist regime instituted the National Grape and Wine Festival, which is still celebrated today in October. in the last days of May 1944 Velletri was at the center of the conflict which followed the Anglo-American landing at
Anzio (22 January 1944) during the
Second World War. While the
Gustav Line at
Cassino and the
Hitler Line at
Pontecorvo were falling to the enemy the Germans created a third fortified line, the Caesar Line, which stretched between
Torvaianica,
Lanuvio, Velletri,
Artena, and
Valmontone. The First Division paratroopers of the
Wehrmacht was stationed at Velletri. The U.S. General
Mark Wayne Clark ordered the May 25 offensive against the Caesar line facing strong resistance. The
36th U.S. Infantry Division commanded by General Fred Walker spotted a flaw in the German defenses on Mount Artemisio between Velletri and Valmontone. Between 30 and 31 May 1944, the 142nd and 143rd regiments penetrated the German defenses at Monte Artemisio, and on June 1 Velletri fell, followed the next day by
Valmontone and on 3 June by
Lanuvio and Castelli Romani. Velletri and its most important monuments were virtually destroyed; the Tower of the Trivium at the Palazzo Comunale and Palazzo Ginnetti were never rebuilt. Despite the evacuation order of German military authorities, there were civilian casualties. The rebuilding of Velletri continued despite a devolution in 1967 granted independent municipal status to
Lariano. The
Suburbicarian See of Velletri-Segni was created. New schools and cultural centers were built. The new seat of the Tribunal, the Cadets Battalion NCO of the
Carabinieri, the Regiment of Cadets Brigadier Marshals, and new prison were established. In 2000, the new library called Biblioteca Comunale Augusto Tersenghi was inaugurated. here were also the opening of the Teatro di Terra (1995), the reopening of the
Ugo Tognazzi Theater and the restoration of the Civic Archaeological Museum and of the Diocesan Museum. On 14 June 2001, Mario Pepe of the
Chamber of Deputies presented a bill on the establishment of the province of the
Castelli Romani with Velletri as its capital . In the proposal the following municipalities would be part of the new province:
Albano Laziale,
Anzio,
Ardea,
Ariccia,
Artena,
Carpineto Romano,
Castel Gandolfo, Cave,
Colleferro, Colonna,
Gavignano,
Genazzano,
Genzano di Roma,
Grottaferrata,
Lanuvio,
Lariano, Marino,
Monte Compatri,
Montelanico,
Monte Porzio Catone,
Nemi,
Nettuno,
Olevano Romano,
Palestrina,
Pomezia,
Rocca di Papa,
Rocca Priora,
San Cesareo,
San Vito Romano,
Valmontone, Velletri, and
Zagarolo. Velletri was chosen as the provincial capital because of its central position, which confirmed "the role and the strategic importance of Velletri". The budget allocated to the province, once established, was 460 million lire. On 23 September 2007, Pope
Benedict XVI, who as
Cardinal Bishop had the title of Velletri-Segni, visited Velletri celebrating a
Mass in Piazza San Clemente. ==Main sights==