VOLSINII, an ancient town of Etruria, Italy. The older Volsinii occupied in all probability the isolated tufa rock, so strongly defended by nature, upon which in Roman times stood the town which Procopius calls 040,f3Ev-rds (Urbs vetus, the modern Orvieto). It had, and needed, no outer walls, being sur rounded on all sides except the south-west by abrupt tufa cliffs; but a massive wall found by excavation on the south-west side of the town may have belonged to the acropolis. An Etruscan temple of the 4th cent. B.C. stood near the north-east extremity of the plateau. It measured 72 by 54 feet and had three cellae; and at the foot of the hill on the north a large Etruscan necrop olis was found dating from the 5th century B.C. The tombs, con structed of blocks of stone and arranged in rows divided by pas sages, often had the name of the deceased on the facade. Many
painted vases, etc., were found; some are in the Museo Civico at Orvieto. Tombs with paintings have also been found at Settecamini to the south-west of the town on the way to Bolsena.
Volsinii was reputed the richest of the twelve cities of Etruria. Wars between Volsinii and Rome are mentioned in 392, 3o8 and 294 B.C. Zonaras states that the city was destroyed by Fulvius Flaccus in 265-264 B.C. and removed elsewhere, though the old site continued to be inhabited. The new city was certainly situated on the hills on the north-east bank of the Lake of Bolsena (Locus V olsiniensis), 12 M. W.S.W. of Orvieto, where many important antiquities have been found.