Veneti

Veneti, ancient people of northeastern Italy, who arrived about 1000 bc and occupied country stretching south to the Po and west to the neighbourhood of Verona. They left more than 400 inscriptions from the last four centuries bc, some in the Latin alphabet, others in a native script (see Venetic language).

The chief Venetic settlement was Este (later the Roman colony of Ateste), which was also the cult centre of their important divinity Reitia, possibly a goddess of childbirth. The horses bred in Venetia were famous in the Greek world, and there was other commerce both with Greek lands and with the Alps and northern Europe, including some control of the amber route from the Baltic. The Veneti were friendly to Rome throughout and assisted Rome against the Gauls, especially in the war of 225 bc. The colony of Aquileia, founded in 181 bc, protected Venetia from raids by its mountain neighbours, and a century of peace and Romanization followed, though probably much land was bought up by Roman settlers. The towns were given Latin rights in 89 bc and full citizen status in 49 bc.