VELLEIUS. See Paterculus.

VELLETRI, a town of Italy, in the province of Rome, and 26 miles by rail to the south-east of that city, is picturesquely situated on a spur of Monte Artemisio on the southern edge of the Alban Hills and overlooking the Pontine marshes. The streets are steep, narrow, and irregular. In the highest part of the town are the municipal offices, with an important ancient inscription relating to the restoration of the amphitheatre under Valentinian and Valens. Velletri is the seat of the bishop of Ostia; the cathedral (1660) contains some good sculpture of the school of Sansovino. The neighbourhood produces a celebrated wine, a chief source of wealth to the town. The population in 1881 numbered 13,532.

At the close of the Latin War (336 b.c.) the Volscian Velitrae had its walls razed to the ground and its leading inhabitants banished beyond the Tiber, their lands being given to Roman settlers. It became a flourishing municipium, and was the native place of the Octavian family. In the neighbourhood of Velletri Don Carlos, younger son of Philip V. of Spain, in 1734 gained over the Austrians a decisive victory, which ultimately secured him as Charles III. the kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

VELLORE, a town and military cantonment of India, in North Arcot district of the Madras presidency, on the right bank of the river Palár in 12° 55' 17" N. lat. and 79° 10' 17" E. long. It has a strongly-built fortress, which was famous in the palmy days of the Carnatic, and which is overlooked by hills in the vicinity. In 1780 it withstood a siege for two years by Hyder Ali. After the fall of Seringapatam (1799) Vellore was selected as the residence of the sons of Tippoo Sahib, and to their intrigues has been attributed the revolt of the sepoys at Vellore in 1806. Besides the fortress, the town contains a handsome Vishnuvite temple with some good carving. In 1881 the population was 37,491 (males 17,605, females 19,886).