attentionspanhistory/content/veneti.md

Title: Veneti
Date: 2021-08-07
Tags: Wends, Veneti, Brittany, Italy
Category: Etymology

Who were the Veneti? This is not an easy question to answer.

### Baltic Veneti 
The *[Vistula Veneti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vistula_Veneti){target="_blank"}*
were called *[Wends](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wends){target="_blank"}*,
by German-speaking people. But another theory is that *Veneti* is a diminutization
of *venus*, as per Latin origins. And for further confusion, Slavs living
near Germanic settlements were also called *Wends*.

The *Vistula Veneti* hailed from Eastern Poland.

### Adriatic Veneti
The *[Adriatic Veneti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriatic_Veneti){target="_blank"}*
lived in a region that we now identify as "the area around Venice".
Indeed, this area is known by the name
*[Veneto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneto){target="_blank"}*,
or *Venetia*.

Strabo, the Greek historian, conjectures that the *Adriatic Veneti* are
related to the Veneti of Brittany.

### Breton Veneti
The *[Veneti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneti_(Gaul)){target="_blank"}*
of the [Breton Peninsula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany){target="_blank"},
were a tribe of Gauls which were defeated by
[Julius Brunus Albinus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimus_Junius_Brutus_Albinus){target="_blank"},
in a
[naval battle in 56 BC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimus_Junius_Brutus_Albinus#During_the_Wars){target="_blank"},
as part of Julius
Caesar's campaign to pacify Gaul.

Part of the drama here was that the
Veneti were experienced in operating on the ocean, whereas the Romans
would have only ever known the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
In particular, ships sailed by the Veneti were faster than the Roman ships.

### Recommended

* [Wends, Sorbs, and Other Slavs - History of Germany Podcast 40](https://play.acast.com/s/historyofgermany/040-wends-sorbs-andotherslavs){target="_blank"}
* [The Celtic Holocaust - Hardcore History 60](https://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-60-the-celtic-holocaust/){target="_blank"}
* ["De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries by Julius Caesar](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10657){target="_blank"}