Chapter M (42)

=Publius Virgĭlius Marco=, called _the prince of the Latin poets_, was
born at Andes, a village near Mantua, about 70 years before Christ,
on the 15th of October. His first years were spent at Cremona, where
his taste was formed, and his rising talents first exercised. The
distribution of the lands of Cremona to the soldiers of Augustus,
after the battle of Philippi, nearly proved fatal to the poet, and
when he attempted to dispute the possession of his fields with a
soldier, Virgil was obliged to save his life from the resentment
of the lawless veteran, by swimming across a river. This was the
beginning of his greatness; he with his father repaired to Rome,
where he soon formed an acquaintance with Mecænas, and recommended
himself to the favours of Augustus. The emperor restored his lands
to the poet, whose modest muse knew so well how to pay the tribute of
gratitude, and his first _bucolic_ was written to thank the patron,
as well as to tell the world that his favours were not unworthily
bestowed. The 10 bucolics were written in about three years. The poet
showed his countrymen that he could write with graceful simplicity,
with elegance, delicacy of sentiments, and with purity of language.
Some time after, Virgil undertook the _Georgics_, a poem the most
perfect and finished of all Latin compositions. The _Æneid_ was
begun, as some suppose, at the particular request of Augustus, and
the poet, while he attempted to prove that the Julian family was
lineally descended from the founder of Lavinium, visibly described in
the pious and benevolent character of his hero the amiable qualities
of his imperial patron. The great merit of this poem is well known,
and it will ever remain undecided which of the two poets, either
Homer or Virgil, is more entitled to our praise, our applause, and
our admiration. The writer of the Iliad stood as a pattern to the
favourite of Augustus. The voyage of Æneas is copied from the Odyssey;
and for his battles, Virgil found a model in the wars of Troy, and
the animated descriptions of the Iliad. The poet died before he had
revised this immortal work, which had already engaged his time for
11 successive years. He had attempted to attend his patron in the
east, but he was detained at Naples on account of his ill health.
He, however, went to Athens, where he met Augustus in his return, but
he soon after fell sick at Megara, and though indisposed, he ordered
himself to be removed to Italy. He landed at Brundusium, where a few
days after he expired, the 22nd of September, in the 51st year of his
age, B.C. 19. He left the greatest part of his immense possessions
to his friends, particularly to Mecænas, Tucca, and Augustus, and
he ordered, as his last will, his unfinished poem to be burnt. These
last injunctions were disobeyed; and according to the words of an
ancient poet, Augustus saved his favourite Troy from a second and
more dismal conflagration. The poem was delivered by the emperor
to three of his literary friends. They were ordered to revise and
to expunge whatever they deemed improper; but they were strictly
enjoined not to make any additions, and hence, as some suppose, the
causes that so many lines of the Æneid are unfinished, particularly
in the last books. The body of the poet, according to his own
directions, was conveyed to Naples, and interred with much solemnity
in a monument, erected on the road that leads from Naples to Puteoli.
The following modest distich was engraved on the tomb, written by the
poet some few moments before he expired:

_Mantua me genuit; Calabri rapuere; tenet nunc
Parthenope: cecini pascua, rura, duces._

The Romans were not insensible of the merit of their poet. Virgil
received much applause in the capital, and when he entered the
theatre, he was astonished and delighted to see the crowded audience
rise up to him as to an emperor, and welcome his approach by
reiterated plaudits. He was naturally modest, and of a timorous
disposition. When people crowded to gaze upon him, or pointed at him
with the finger with rapture, the poet blushed, and stole away from
them, and often hid himself in shops to be removed from the curiosity
and the admiration of the public. The most liberal and gratifying
marks of approbation he received were from the emperor and from
Octavia. He attempted in his Æneid to paint the virtues, and to
lament the premature death of the son of Octavia, and he was desired
by the emperor to repeat the lines in the presence of the afflicted
mother. He had no sooner begun _O nate_, &c., than Octavia burst
into tears; he continued, but he had artfully suppressed the name of
her son, and when he repeated in the 16th line the well-known words,
_Tu Marcellus eris_, the princess swooned away, and the poet withdrew,
but not without being liberally rewarded. Octavia presented him 10
sesterces for every one of his verses in praise of her son, the whole
of which was equivalent to 2000_l._ English money. As an instance
of his modesty, the following circumstance has been recorded. Virgil
wrote this distich, in which he compared his patron to Jupiter,

_Nocte pluit totâ, redeunt spectacula mane,
Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet,_

and placed it in the night on the gates of the palace of Augustus.
Inquiries were made for the author by order of Augustus, and when
Virgil had the diffidence not to declare himself, Bathyllus, a
contemptible poet of the age, claimed the verses as his own, and was
liberally rewarded. This displeased Virgil; he again wrote the verses
near the palace and under them

_Hos ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honores_;

with the beginning of another line in these words,

_Sic vos non vobis_,

four times repeated. Augustus wished the lines to be finished.
Bathyllus seemed unable, and Virgil at last, by completing the stanza
in the following order――

_Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves;
Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oves;
Sic vos non vobis mellificatis apes;
Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra boves;_

proved himself to be the author of the distich, and the poetical
usurper became the sport and ridicule of Rome. In the works of
Virgil we can find a more perfect and satisfactory account of the
religious ceremonies and customs of the Romans, than in all the other
Latin poets, Ovid excepted. Everything he mentions is founded upon
historical truth, and though he borrowed much from his predecessors,
and even whole lines from Ennius, yet he has had the happiness to
make it all his own. He was uncommonly severe in revising his own
poetry, and he used often to compare himself to a bear that licks
her cubs into shape. In his connections, Virgil was remarkable;
his friends enjoyed his unbounded confidence, and his library and
possessions seemed to be the property of the public. Like other great
men, he was not without his enemies and detractors in his lifetime,
but from their aspersions he received additional lustre. Among the
very numerous and excellent editions of Virgil, these few may be
collected as the best: that of Masvicius, 2 vols., 4to, Leovardiæ,
1717; of Baskerville, 4to, Birmingham, 1757; of the Variorum, in 8vo,
Leiden, 1661; of Heyne, 4 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1767; of Edinburgh,
2 vols., 12mo, 1755; and of Glasgow, 12mo, 1758. _Paterculus_,
bk. 2, ch. 36.――_Horace_, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 40.――_Propertius_,
bk. 2, poem 34, li. 61.――_Ovid_, _Tristia_, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 51.
――_Martial_, bk. 8, ltr. 56.――_Juvenal_, satire 11, li. 178.
――_Quintilian_, bk. 10, ch. 1.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ltr. 21.――――Caius, a
pretor of Sicily, who, when Cicero was banished, refused to receive
the exiled orator, though his friend, for fear of the resentment of
Clodius. _Cicero_, _Letters to his brother Quintus_.

=Virgĭnia=, a daughter of the centurion Lucius Virginius. Appius
Claudius the decemvir became enamoured of her, and attempted to
remove her from the place where she resided. She was claimed by one
of his favourites as the daughter of a slave, and Appius, in the
capacity and with the authority of judge, had pronounced the sentence,
and delivered her into the hands of his friend, when Virginius,
informed of his violent proceedings, arrived from the camp. The
father demanded to see his daughter, and when this request was
granted, he snatched a knife and plunged it into Virginia’s breast,
exclaiming, “This is all, my dearest daughter, I can give thee, to
preserve thy chastity from the lust and violence of a tyrant.” No
sooner was the blow given, than Virginius ran to the camp with the
bloody knife in his hand. The soldiers were astonished and incensed,
not against the murderer, but the tyrant that was the cause of
Virginia’s death, and they immediately marched to Rome. Appius
was seized, but he destroyed himself in prison, and prevented the
execution of the law. Spurius Oppius, another of the decemvirs who
had not opposed the tyrant’s views, killed himself also, and Marcus
Claudius the favourite of Appius was put to death, and the decemviral
power abolished, about 449 years before Christ. _Livy_, bk. 3, ch. 44,
&c.――_Juvenal_, satire 10, li. 294.

=Virginius=, the father of Virginia, made tribune of the people. _See:_
Virginia.――――A tribune of the people who accused Quinctius Cæso the
son of Cincinnatus. He increased the number of the tribunes to 10,
and distinguished himself by his seditions against the patricians.
――――Another tribune in the age of Camillus, fined for his opposition
to a law which proposed going to Veii.――――An augur who died of the
plague.――――Caius, a pretor of Sicily, who opposed the entrance of
Cicero into his province, though under many obligations to the orator.
Some read Virgilius.――――A tribune who encouraged Cinna to criminate
Sylla.――――One of the generals of Nero in Germany. He made war against
Vindex and conquered him. He was treated with great coldness by Galba,
whose interest he had supported with so much success. He refused all
dangerous stations, and though twice offered the imperial purple,
he rejected it with disdain. _Plutarch._――――A Roman orator and
rhetorician.

=Viriāthus=, a mean shepherd of Lusitania, who gradually rose to power,
and by first heading a gang of robbers, saw himself at last followed
by a numerous army. He made war against the Romans with uncommon
success, and for 14 years enjoyed the envied title of protector of
public liberty in the provinces of Spain. Many generals were defeated,
and Pompey himself was ashamed to find himself beaten. Cæpio was at
last sent against him. But his despair of conquering him by force
of arms, obliged him to have recourse to artifice, and he had the
meanness to bribe the servants of Viriathus to murder their master,
B.C. 40. _Florus_, bk. 2, ch. 17.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 6, ch. 4.
――_Livy_, bks. 52 & 54.

=Viridomărus=, a young man of great power among the Ædui. Cæsar greatly
honoured him, but he fought at last against the Romans. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 7, ch. 39, &c.

=Viriplāca=, a goddess among the Romans who presided over the peace of
families, whence her name (_virum placare_). If any quarrel happened
between a man and his wife, they generally repaired to the temple of
the goddess, which was erected on the Palatine mount, and came back
reconciled. _Valerius Maximus_, bk. 2, ch. 1.

=Virro=, a fictitious name introduced in Juvenal’s fifth satire.

=Virtus.= All virtues were made deities among the Romans. Marcellus
erected two temples, one to Virtue, and the other to Honour. They
were built in such a manner, that to see the temple of Honour it was
necessary to pass through that of Virtue; a happy allegory among a
nation free and independent. The principal Virtues were distinguished,
each by their attire. Prudence was known by her rule, and her
pointing to a globe at her feet; Temperance had a bridle; Justice had
an equal balance, and Fortitude leant against her sword; Honesty was
clad in a transparent vest; Modesty appeared veiled; Clemency wore an
olive branch, and Devotion threw incense upon an altar; Tranquillity
was seen to lean on a column; Health was known by her serpent,
Liberty by her cap, and Gaiety by her myrtle. _Cicero_, _de Natura
Deorum_, bk. 2, ch. 23.――_Plautus_, _Amphitruo_, _Prologue_.――_Livy_,
bk. 29, ch. 11.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 1, ch. 1.――_Augustine_,
_City of God_, bk. 4, ch. 20.

=Visargis=, a river of Germany, now called the _Weser_, and falling
into the German ocean. Varus and his legions were cut to pieces there
by the Germans. _Velleius Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 105.――_Tacitus_,
_Annals_, bk. 1, ch. 70; bk. 2, ch. 9.

=Viscellæ=, now _Weltz_, a town of Noricum, between the Ens and Mure.

=Spurius Cassius Viscellinus=, _Cicero_, _De Amicitia_, ch. 11.

=Visellia lex=, was made by Visellius Varro the consul, A.U.C. 776, to
restrain the introduction of improper persons into the offices of the
state.

=Lucius Visellius Varro=, a lieutenant in Germany under Tiberius.
_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 3, ch. 41; bk. 4, ch. 17.

=Visellus=, a man whose father-in-law the commentators of Horace
believe to have been afflicted with a hernia, on their observations
on this verse (bk. 1, satire 1, li. 105), _Est inter Tanaim quiddam,
socerumque Viselli_.

=Vistŭla=, a river falling into the Baltic, the eastern boundary of
ancient Germany.

=Vitellia=, a Roman colony on the borders of the Æqui. _Livy_, bk. 5,
ch. 29.

=Vitellius Aulus=, a Roman raised by his vices to the throne. He was
descended from one of the most illustrious families of Rome, and as
such he gained an easy admission to the palace of the emperors. The
greatest part of his youth was spent at Capreæ, where his willingness
and compliance to gratify the most vicious propensities of Tiberius
raised his father to the dignity of consul and governor of Syria.
The applause he gained in this school of debauchery was too great
and flattering to induce Vitellius to alter his conduct, and no
longer to be one of the votaries of vice. Caligula was pleased
with his skill in driving a chariot. Claudius loved him because
he was a great gamester, and he recommended himself to the favours
of Nero by wishing him to sing publicly in the crowded theatre.
With such an insinuating disposition, it is not to be wondered
that Vitellius became so great. He did not fall with his patrons,
like the other favourites, but the death of an emperor seemed to
raise him to greater honours, and to procure him fresh applause.
He passed through all the offices of the state, and gained over the
soldiery by donations and liberal promises. He was at the head of the
♦Roman legions in Germany when Otho was proclaimed emperor, and the
exaltation of his rival was no sooner heard in the camp, than he was
likewise invested with the purple by his soldiers. He accepted with
pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly marched against Otho.
Three battles were fought, and in all Vitellius was conquered. A
fourth, however, in the plains between Mantua and Cremona, left him
master of the field and of the Roman empire. He feasted his eyes in
viewing the bodies of the slain and the ground covered with blood,
and regardless of the insalubrity of the air, proceeding from so many
carcases, he told his attendants that the smell of a dead enemy was
always sweet. His first care was not like that of a true conqueror,
to alleviate the distresses of the conquered, or patronize the
friends of the dead, but it was to insult their misfortunes, and
to intoxicate himself with the companions of his debauchery in the
field of battle. Each successive day exhibited a scene of greater
extravagance. Vitellius feasted four or five times a day, and such
was his excess that he often made himself vomit to begin his repast
afresh, and to gratify his palate with more luxury. His food was of
the most rare and exquisite nature; the deserts of Libya, the shores
of Spain, and the waters of the Carpathian sea, were diligently
searched to supply the table of the emperor. The most celebrated of
his feasts was that with which he was treated by his brother Lucius.
The table, among other meats, was covered with 2000 different dishes
of fish, and 7000 of fowls, and so expensive was he in everything,
that above seven millions sterling were spent in maintaining his
table in the space of four months; and Josephus has properly observed,
that if Vitellius had reigned long, the great opulence of all
the Roman empire would have been found insufficient to defray the
expenses of his banquets. This extravagance, which delighted the
favourites, soon raised the indignation of the people. Vespasian was
proclaimed emperor by the army, and his minister Primus was sent to
destroy the imperial glutton. Vitellius concealed himself under the
bed of the porter of his palace, but this obscure retreat betrayed
him; he was dragged naked through the streets, his hands were tied
behind his back, and a drawn sword was placed under his chin to
make him lift his head. After suffering the greatest insults from
the populace, he was at last carried to the place of execution, and
put to death with repeated blows. His head was cut off and fixed
to a pole, and his mutilated body dragged with a hook and thrown
into the Tiber, A.D. 69, after a reign of one year, except 12 days.
_Suetonius._――_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 2.――_Eutropius._――_Dio
Cassius._――_Plutarch._――――Lucius, the father of the emperor, obtained
great honours by his flattery to the emperors. He was made governor
of Syria, and in this distant province he obliged the Parthians
to sue for peace. His adulation to Messalina is well known, and he
obtained as a particular favour the honourable office of pulling off
the shoes of the empress, &c. _Suetonius_, &c.――――A brother of the
emperor, who enjoyed his favours by encouraging his gluttony, &c.
――――Publius, an uncle of the emperor of that name. He was accused
under Nero of attempts to bribe the people with money from the
treasury against the emperor. He killed himself before his trial.
――――One of the flatterers of Tiberius.――――An officer of the
pretorians under Otho.――――A son of the emperor Vitellius, put to
death by one of his father’s friends.――――Some of the family of the
Vitellii conspired with the Aquilii and other illustrious Romans to
restore Tarquin to his throne. Their conspiracy was discovered by the
consuls, and they were severely punished. _Plutarch_, &c.

♦ ‘Romans’ replaced with ‘Roman’

=Viterbum=, a town of Tuscany, where Fanum Volumnæ stood. It is not
mentioned by classical writers. _Livy_, bk. 4, chs. 23 & 61; bk. 5,
ch. 17.

=Vitia=, a mother put to death by Tiberius for weeping at the death of
her son, &c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 7, ch. 10.

=Vītrĭcus=, a surname of Mars. _Ovid._

=Marcus Vitruvius Pollio=, a celebrated architect in the age of
Augustus, born at Formiæ. He is known only by his writings, and
nothing is recorded in history of his life or private character. He
wrote a treatise on his profession, which he dedicated to Augustus,
and it is the only book on architecture now extant written by the
ancients. In this work he plainly shows that he was master of his
profession, and that he possessed both genius and abilities. The best
edition of Vitruvius is that of De Laet, Amsterdam, 1649.

=Vitŭla=, a deity among the Romans who presided over festivals and
rejoicings. _Macrobius_, bk. 3, ch. 2.

=Vitularia via=, a road in the country of Arpinum. _Cicero_, _Letters
to his brother Quintus_, bk. 3, ltr. 1.

=Ulpia Trajāna=, a Roman colony planted in Sarmatia by Trajan.

=Ulpiānus Domitius=, a lawyer in the reign of Alexander Severus,
of whom he became the secretary and principal minister. He raised a
persecution against the christians, and was at last murdered by the
pretorian guards, of which he had the command, A.D. 226. There are
some fragments of his compositions on civil law still extant. The
Greek commentaries of Ulpian on Demosthenes were printed in folio,
1527, _with Aldus Manutius_.――――Marcellus, an officer in the age of
Commodus.――――Julianus, a man sent to oppose Heliogabalus, &c.

=Ulŭbræ=, a small town of Latium on the river Astura, where Augustus
was educated. _Juvenal_, satire 10, li. 102.――_Horace_, bk. 1,
ltr. 11.

=Ulysses=, a king of the islands of Ithaca and Dulichium, son of
Anticlea and Laertes, or, according to some, of Sisyphus. _See:_
Sisyphus and Anticlea. He became, like the other princes of Greece,
one of the suitors of Helen, but as he despaired of success in his
applications, on account of the great numbers of his competitors, he
solicited the hand of Penelope the daughter of Icarius. Tyndarus the
father of Helen favoured the addresses of Ulysses, as by him he was
directed to choose one of his daughter’s suitors without offending
the others, and to bind them all by a solemn oath, that they would
unite together in protecting Helen if any violence was ever offered
to her person. Ulysses had no sooner obtained the hand of Penelope,
than he returned to Ithaca, where his father resigned him the crown,
and retired to peace and rural solitude. The rape of Helen, however,
by Paris, did not long permit him to remain in his kingdom, and as
he was bound to defend her against every intruder, he was summoned
to the war with the other princes of Greece. Pretending to be insane,
not to leave his beloved Penelope, he yoked a horse and a bull
together, and ploughed the sea-shore, where he sowed salt instead
of corn. This dissimulation was soon discovered, and Palamedes,
by placing before the plough of Ulysses his infant son Telemachus,
convinced the world that the father was not mad who had the
providence to turn away the plough from the furrow, not to hurt
his child. Ulysses was therefore obliged to go to the war, but he
did not forget him who had discovered his pretended insanity. _See:_
Palamedes. During the Trojan war, the king of Ithaca was courted
for his superior prudence and sagacity. By his means Achilles was
discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes king of Scyros [_See:_
Achilles], and Philoctetes was induced to abandon Lemnos, and to
fight the Trojans with the arrows of Hercules. _See:_ Philoctetes.
He was not less distinguished for his activity and valour. With
the assistance of Diomedes he murdered Rhesus, and slaughtered the
sleeping Thracians in the midst of their camp, [_See:_ Rhesus and
Dolon], and he introduced himself into the city of Priam, and carried
away the Palladium of the Trojans. _See:_ Palladium. For these
eminent services he was universally applauded by the Greeks, and
he was rewarded with the arms of Achilles, which Ajax had disputed
with him. After the Trojan war Ulysses embarked on board his ships
to return to Greece, but he was exposed to a number of misfortunes
before he reached his native country. He was thrown by the winds
upon the coasts of Africa, and visited the country of the Lotophagi,
and of the Cyclops in Sicily. Polyphemus, who was the king of the
Cyclops, seized Ulysses with his companions, five of whom he devoured
[_See:_ Polyphemus], but the prince of Ithaca intoxicated him and
put out his eye, and at last escaped from the dangerous cave where
he was confined, by tying himself under the belly of the sheep of
the Cyclops when led to pasture. In Æolia he met with a friendly
reception, and Æolus gave him, confined in bags, all the wind
which could obstruct his return to Ithaca, but the curiosity of
his companions to know what the bags contained proved nearly fatal.
The winds rushed with impetuosity, and all the fleet was destroyed,
except the ship which carried Ulysses. From thence he was thrown
upon the coasts of the Læstrygones, and of the island Æea, where
the magician Circe changed all his companions into pigs for their
voluptuousness. He escaped their fate by means of an herb which he
had received from Mercury, and after he had obliged the magician by
force of arms to restore his companions to ♦their original shape, he
yielded to her charms, and made her mother of Telegonus. He visited
the infernal regions and consulted Tiresias how to regain his country
in safety; and after he had received every necessary information,
he returned on earth. He passed along the coasts of the Sirens
unhurt, by the directions of Circe [_See:_ Sirenes], and escaped
the whirlpools and shoals of Scylla, and Charybdis. On the coast of
Sicily his companions stole and killed some oxen that were sacred to
Apollo, for which the god destroyed the ships, and all were drowned
except Ulysses, who saved himself on a plank, and swam to the island
of Calypso, in Ogygia. There, for seven years, he forgot Ithaca,
in the arms of the goddess, by whom he had two children. The gods
at last interfered, and Calypso, by order of Mercury, suffered him
to depart, after she had furnished him with a ship, and everything
requisite for the voyage. He had almost reached the island of Corcyra,
when Neptune, still mindful that his son Polyphemus had been robbed
of his sight by the perfidy of Ulysses, raised a storm and sunk his
ship. Ulysses swam with difficulty to the island of the Phæacians,
where the kindness of Nausicaa, and the humanity of her father king
Alcinous, entertained him for a while. He related the series of
his misfortunes to the monarch, and at last, by his benevolence,
he was conducted in a ship to Ithaca. The Phæacians laid him on the
sea-shore as he was asleep, and Ulysses found himself safely restored
to his country after a long absence of 20 years. He was well informed
that his palace was besieged by a number of suitors, who continually
disturbed the peace of Penelope, and therefore he assumed the habit
of a beggar, by the advice of Minerva, and made himself known to his
son, and his faithful shepherd Eumæus. With them he took measures to
re-establish himself on his throne; he went to the palace, and was
personally convinced of the virtues and of the fidelity of Penelope.
Before his arrival was publicly known, all the importuning suitors
were put to death, and Ulysses restored to the peace and bosom of
his family. _See:_ Laertes, Penelope, Telemachus, Eumæus. He lived
about 16 years after his return, and was at last killed by his son
Telegonus, who had landed in Ithaca, with the hopes of making himself
known to his father. This unfortunate event had been foretold to
him by Tiresias, who assured him that he should die by the violence
of something that was to issue from the bosom of the sea. _See:_
Telegonus. According to some authors, Ulysses went to consult the
oracle of Apollo after his return to Ithaca, and he had the meanness
to seduce Erippe the daughter of a king of Epirus, who had treated
him with great kindness. Erippe had a son by him whom she called
Euryalus. When come to years of puberty, Euryalus was sent to Ithaca
by his mother, but Penelope no sooner knew who he was than she
resolved to destroy him. Therefore, when Ulysses returned, he put to
immediate death his unknown son on the crimination of Penelope his
wife, who accused him of attempts upon her virtue. The adventures
of Ulysses in his return to Ithaca from the Trojan war are the
subject of Homer’s Odyssey. _Homer_, _Iliad_ & _Odyssey_.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bks. 2, 3, &c.――_Dictys Cretensis_, bk. 1, &c.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 13; _Heroides_, poem 1.――_Hyginus_, fable 201,
&c.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, chs. 17 & 22;
bk. 3, ch. 12; bk. 7, ch. 4.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 13,
ch. 12.――_Horace_, bk. 3, ode 29, li. 8.――_Parthenius_, _Narrationes
Amatoriæ_, ch. 3.――_Plutarch._――_Pliny_, bk. 35.――_Tzetzes_, _ad
Lycurgus_.

♦ ‘his’ replaced with ‘their’

=Ulysseum=, a promontory of Sicily, west of Pachinus.

=Umber=, a lake of Umbria near the Tiber. _Propertius_, bk. 4, poem 1,
li. 124.

=Umbra Pompeia=, a portico of Pompey at Rome. _Martial_, bk. 5, ltr. 10.

=Umbria=, a country of Italy, separated from Etruria by the Tiber,
bounded on the north by the Adriatic sea, east by Picenum and the
country of the Sabines, and south by the river Nar. Some derive the
word Umbria _ab imbribus_, the frequent showers that were supposed
to fall there, or from the shadow (_umbra_) of the Apennines which
hung over it. Umbria had many cities of note. The Umbrians opposed
the Romans in the infancy of their empire, but afterwards they
became their allies, about the year ♦A.U.C. 434. _Catullus_, bk. 40,
li. 11.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 12.――_Dionysius of
Halicarnassus._

♦ ‘U.C.’ replaced with ‘A.U.C.’

=Umbrigius=, a soothsayer, who foretold approaching calamities to Galba.
_Juvenal_, satire 3, li. 21.――_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 1, ch. 27.

=Umbro=, a navigable river of Italy. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――――A
general who assisted Turnus against Æneas, and was killed during
the war. He could assuage the fury of serpents by his songs, and
counteract the poisonous effects of their bite. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 7, li. 752; bk. 10, li. 544.

=Unca=, a surname of Minerva among the Phœnicians and Thebans.

=Unchæ=, a town of Mesopotamia.

=Undecemvĭri=, magistrates at Athens, to whom such as were publicly
condemned were delivered to be executed. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Phocion_.

=Unelli=, a people of Cotantin in Gaul, conquered by Cæsar. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 2, ch. 34.

=Unigĕna=, a surname of Minerva, as sprung of Jupiter alone.

=Unxia=, a surname of Juno, derived from _ungere_, to anoint, because
it was usual among the Romans for the bride to anoint the threshold
of her husband, and from this necessary ceremony wives were called
_Unxores_, and afterwards _Uxores_, from Unxia, who presided over
them. _Arnobius_, bk. 3.

=Vocetius=, part of mount Jura in Gaul. _Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 1,
ch. 68.

=Vŏcōnia lex=, _de testamentis_, by Quintus Voconius Saxa the tribune,
A.U.C. 584, enacted that no woman should be left heiress to an estate,
and that no rich person should leave by his will more than the fourth
part of his fortune to a woman. This step was taken to prevent the
decay of the noblest and most illustrious of the families of Rome.
This law was abrogated by Augustus.

=Voconii forum=, a town of Gaul, between Antibes and Marseilles.
_Cicero_, bk. 10, _Letters to his Friends_, ltr. 17.

=Vŏcōnius Victor=, a Latin poet, &c. _Martial_, bk. 7, ltr. 28.――――Saxa,
a tribune who made a law.――――An officer of Lucullus in Asia.

=Vocontia=, now _Vasio_. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 3, li. 167.

=Vŏgēsus=, now _Vauge_, a mountain of Belgic Gaul, which separates the
Sequani from the Lingones. _Lucan_, bk. 1, li. 397.――_Cæsar_, _Gallic
War_, bk. 4, ch. 10.

=Volæ=, a city of the Æqui. _Livy_, bk. 4, ch. 49.

=Volaginius=, a soldier who assassinated one of his officers, &c.
_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 2, ch. 75.

=Volana=, a town of the Samnites.

=Volandum=, a fortified place of Armenia.

=Volaterra=, an ancient town of Etruria, famous for hot baths. Perseus
the satirist was born there. _Livy_, bk. 10, ch. 12.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.
――_Cicero_, bk. 15, _Letters to his Friends_, ltr. 4.

=Volcæ=, or =Volgæ=, a people of Gaul between the Garonne and the Rhone.
_Livy_, bk. 21, ch. 26.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 5.

=Volci=, an inland town of Lucania, now _Lauria_. _Livy_, bk. 27,
ch. 15.――――A town of Etruria. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.

=Vologĕses=, a name common to many of the kings of Parthia, who made
war against the Roman emperors. _Tacitus_, bk. 12, _Annals_, ch. 14.

=Volscens=, a Latin chief who discovered Nisus and Euryalus as they
returned from the Rutulian camp loaded with spoils. He killed
Euryalus, and was himself immediately stabbed by Nisus. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 9, lis. 370 & 442.

=Volsci=, or =Volci=, a people of Latium, whose territories are bounded
on the south by the Tyrrhene sea, north by the country of the Hernici
and Marsi, west by the Latins and Rutulians, and east by Campania.
Their chief cities were Antium, Circeii, Anxur, Corioli, Fregellæ,
Arpinum, &c. Ancus king of Rome made war against them, and in the
time of the republic they became formidable enemies, till they were
at last conquered with the rest of the Latins. _Livy_, bks. 3 & 4.
――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 2, li. 168; _Æneid_, bk. 9, li. 505;
bk. 11, li. 546, &c.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Mela_, bk. 2, chs. 4 & 5.

=Volsinium=, a town of Etruria in Italy, destroyed, according to Pliny,
bk. 2, ch. 53, by fire from heaven. The inhabitants numbered their
years by fixing nails in the temple of Nortia, a Tuscan goddess.
_Livy_, bk. 5, ch. 31; bk. 7, ch. 3.――_Juvenal_, satire 15, li. 191.
――_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 4.

=Voltinia=, one of the Roman tribes.

=Volubilis=, a town of Africa, supposed Fez, the capital of Morocco.
_Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 1.

=Volumnæ Fanum=, a temple in Etruria, sacred to the goddess Volumna,
who presided over the will and over complaisance, where the states of
the country used to assemble. Viterbo now stands on the spot. _Livy_,
bk. 4, ch. 23; bk. 5, ch. 17; bk. 6, ch. 2.

=Volumnia=, the wife of Coriolanus. _Livy_, bk. 2, ch. 40.――――The
freedwoman of Volumnius Eutrapelus. _Cicero_, _Philippics_, bk. 2,
ch. 24.

=Volumnus= and =Volumna=, two deities who presided over the will.
They were chiefly invoked at marriages to preserve concord between
the husband and wife. They were particularly worshipped by the
Etrurians. _Livy_, bk. 4, ch. 61.

=T. Volumnius=, a Roman famous for his friendship towards Marcus
Lucullus, whom Marcus Antony had put to death. His great lamentations
were the cause that he was dragged to the triumvir, of whom he
demanded to be conducted to the body of his friend, and there to
be put to death. His request was easily granted. _Livy_, bk. 124,
ch. 20.――――A mimic whom Brutus put to death.――――An Etrurian who wrote
tragedies in his own native language.――――A consul who defeated the
Samnites and the Etrurians, &c. _Livy_, bk. 9.――――A friend of Marcus
Brutus. He was preserved when that great republican killed himself,
and he wrote an account of his death and of his actions, from which
Plutarch selected some remarks.――――A prefect of Syria, B.C. 11.――――A
Roman knight put to death by Catiline.

=Voluptas= and =Volupia=, the goddess of sensual pleasures, worshipped
at Rome, where she had a temple. She was represented as a young
and beautiful woman, well dressed, and elegantly adorned, seated
on a throne, and having virtue under her feet. _Cicero_, _de Natura
Deorum_, bk. 2, ch. 25.――_Macrobius_, bk. 1, ch. 10.――_Augustine_,
_City of God_, bk. 4, ch. 8.

=Caius Volusēnus=, a military tribune in Cæsar’s army, &c. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 3.

=Volusiānus=, a Roman taken as colleague on the imperial throne, by his
father Gallus. He was killed by his soldiers.

=Vŏlŭsius=, a poet of Patavia, who wrote, like Ennius, the annals
of Rome in verse. _Seneca_, ltr. 93.――_Catullus_, bk. 96, li. 7.
――――Saturninus, a governor of Rome, who died in the 93rd year of his
age, beloved and respected, under Nero. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 13.
――――Caius, a soldier at the siege of Cremona, &c.――――One of Nero’s
officers. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 15, ch. 51.

=Volusus=, a friend of Turnus. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 463.

=Volux=, a son of Bocchus, whom the Romans defeated. Sylla suspected
his fidelity, &c. _Sallust_, _Jugurthine War_, ch. 105.

=Vomanus=, a river of Picenum in Italy. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 13.
――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 438.

=Vonōnes=, a king of Parthia expelled by his subjects, and afterwards
placed on the throne of Armenia. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 12,
ch. 14.――――Another king of Armenia.――――A man made king of Parthia by
Augustus.

=Vopiscus=, a native of Syracuse, 303, A.D. who wrote the life of
Aurelian, Tacitus, Florianus, Probus, Firmus, Carus, &c. He is one
of the six authors who are called _Historiæ Augustæ scriptores_, but
he excels all others in the elegance of his style, and the manner
in which he relates the various actions of the emperors. He is not,
however, without his faults, and we look in vain for the purity or
perspicuity of the writers of the Augustan age.

=Vŏrānus=, a freedman of Quintus Luctatius Catulus, famous for his
robberies as well as his cunning, &c. _Horace_, bk. 1, satire 8,
li. 39.

=Votiēnus Montanus=, a man of learning, banished to one of the Baleares
for his malevolent reflections upon Tiberius. Ovid has celebrated him
as an excellent poet. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 4, ch. 42.

=Upis=, the father of one of the Dianas, mentioned by the ancients,
from which circumstance Diana herself is called _Upis_. _Cicero_,
_de Natura Deorum_, bk. 3, ch. 23.――_Callimachus_, _Artemis_.

=Urănia=, one of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, who
presided over astronomy. She is generally called mother of Linus
by Apollo, and of the god Hymenæus by Bacchus. She was represented
as a young virgin dressed in an azure-coloured robe, crowned
with stars, and holding a globe in her hands, and having many
mathematical instruments placed round. _Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 77.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 2.――_Hyginus_, fable 161.――――A surname of
Venus, the same as _Celestial_. She was supposed, in that character,
to preside over beauty and generation, and was called daughter of
Uranus or Cœlus by the Light. Her temples in Asia, Africa, Greece,
and Italy were numerous. _Plato_, _Convivium Septem Sapientium_.
――_Cicero_, _de Natura Deorum_, bk. 3, ch. 23.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1,
ch. 14, &c.; bk. 7, ch. 26, &c.――――A town of Cyprus.

=Urănii=, or =Urii=, a people of Gaul.

=Uranopŏlis=, a town at the top of Athos.

=Urănus=, or =Ouranus=, a deity, the same as Cœlus, the most ancient
of all the gods. He married Tithea or the Earth, by whom he had Ceus,
Creus, Hyperion, Mnemosyne, Cottus, Phœbe, Briareus, Thetis, Saturn,
Gyges, called from their mother Titans. His children conspired
against him, because he confined them in the bosom of the earth, and
his son Saturn mutilated him, and drove him from his throne.

=Urba=, now _Orbe_, a town of the Helvetii, on a river of the same name.

=Urbicua=, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis.

=Urbicus=, an actor at Rome, in Domitian’s reign. _Juvenal_, satire 6.

=Urbinum=, now _Urbino_, a town of Umbria. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 14.

=Urgo=, now _Gorgona_, an island in the bay of Pisa, 25 miles west of
Leghorn, famous for anchovies. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 6.

=Uria=, a town of Calabria, built by a Cretan colony, and called also
Hyria. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 11.――_Strabo_, bk. 6.――――Of Apulia.

=Urites=, a people of Italy. _Livy_, bk. 42, ch. 48.

=Ursentum=, a town of the Brutii, now _Orso_. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 11.

=Ursidius=, an adulterer. _Juvenal_, satire 6, li. 38.

=Uscana=, a town of Macedonia. _Livy_, bk. 43, ch. 18.

=Usceta=, a town of Africa Propria. _Aulus Hirtius_, _African War_,
ch. 89.

=Uscudama=, a town of Thrace. _Eutropius_, bk. 6, ch. 8.

=Usipĕtes=, or =Usipii=, a people of Germany. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
bk. 4, ch. 1, &c.

=Ustīca=, a town in an island on the coast of Sicily, near Panormum.
_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 17, li. 11.

=Utens=, a river of Gaul, now _Montone_, falling into the Adriatic by
Ravenna. _Livy_, bk. 5, ch. 35.

=Utĭca=, now _Satcor_, a celebrated city of Africa, on the coast
of the Mediterranean, on the same bay as Carthage, founded by a
Tyrian colony above 287 years before Carthage. It had a large and
commodious harbour, and it became the metropolis of Africa, after
the destruction of Carthage in the third Punic war, and the Romans
granted it all the lands situate between Hippo and Carthage. It
is celebrated for the death of Cato, who from thence is called
_Uticensis_, or of Utica. _Strabo_, bk. 17.――_Lucan_, bk. 6, li. 306.
――_Justin_, bk. 18, ch. 4.――_Pliny_, bk. 16, ch. 40.――_Livy_, bk. 25,
ch. 31.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 3, li. 242.――_Horace_, bk. 1, ltr. 20,
li. 513.

=Vulcanālia=, festivals in honour of Vulcan, brought to Rome from
Præneste, and observed in the month of August. The streets were
illuminated, fires kindled everywhere, and animals thrown into the
flames, as a sacrifice to the deity. _Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_,
bk. 5.――_Dionysius of Halicarnassus_, bk. 1.――_Columella_, bk. 11.
――_Pliny_, bk. 18, ch. 13.

=Vulcāni insula=, or =Vulcania=, a name given to the islands between
Sicily and Italy, now called Lipari. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8,
li. 422. They received it because there were there subterraneous
fires, supposed to be excited by Vulcan the god of fire.

=Vulcanius Terentianus=, a Latin historian, who wrote an account of the
life of the three Gordians, &c.

=Vulcānus=, a god of the ancients who presided over fire, and was
the patron of all artists who worked iron and metal. He was son of
Juno alone, who in this wished to imitate Jupiter, who had produced
Minerva from his brains. According to Homer, he was son of Jupiter
and Juno, and the mother was so disgusted with the deformities of
her son, that she threw him into the sea as soon as born, where he
remained for nine years. According to the more received opinion,
Vulcan was educated in heaven with the rest of the gods, but his
father kicked him down from ♦Olympus, when he attempted to deliver
his mother, who had been fastened by a golden chain for her insolence.
He was nine days in coming from heaven upon earth, and he fell in the
island of Lemnos, where, according to Lucian, the inhabitants, seeing
him in the air, caught him in their arms. He, however, broke his leg
by the fall, and ever after remained lame of one foot. He fixed his
residence in Lemnos, where he built himself a palace, and raised
forges to work metals. The inhabitants of the island became sensible
of his industry, and were taught all the useful arts which could
civilize their rude manners, and render them serviceable to the good
of society. The first work of Vulcan was, according to some, a throne
of gold with secret springs, which he presented to his mother to
avenge himself for her want of affection towards him. Juno no sooner
was seated on the throne, than she found herself unable to move.
The gods attempted to deliver her by breaking the chains which
held her, but to no purpose, and Vulcan alone had the power to set
her at liberty. Bacchus intoxicated him, and prevailed upon him to
come to Olympus, where he was reconciled to his parents. Vulcan has
been celebrated by the ancient poets for the ingenious works and
automatical figures which he made, and many speak of two golden
statues, which not only seemed animated, but which walked by his side,
and even assisted him in the working of metals. It is said that, at
the request of Jupiter, he made the first woman that ever appeared
on earth, well known under the name of Pandora. _See:_ Pandora. The
Cyclops of Sicily were his ministers and attendants, and with him
they fabricated not only the thunderbolts of Jupiter, but also arms
for the gods and the most celebrated heroes. His forges were supposed
to be under mount Ætna, in the island of Sicily, as well as in every
part of the earth where there were volcanoes. The most known of
the works of Vulcan which were presented to mortals are the arms of
Achilles, those of Æneas, the shield of Hercules described by Hesiod,
a collar given to ♠Hermione the wife of Cadmus, and a sceptre, which
was in the possession of Agamemnon king of Argos and Mycenæ. The
collar proved fatal to all those that wore it, but the sceptre, after
the death of Agamemnon, was carefully preserved at Cheronæa, and
regarded as a divinity. The amours of Vulcan are not numerous. He
demanded Minerva from Jupiter, who had promised him in marriage
whatever goddess he should choose, and when she refused his
addresses, he attempted to offer her violence. Minerva resisted with
success, though there remained on her body some marks of Vulcan’s
passion, which she threw down upon earth wrapped up in wool. _See:_
♣Erichthonius. This disappointment in his love was repaired by
Jupiter, who gave him one of the Graces. Venus is universally
acknowledged to have been the wife of Vulcan; but her infidelity is
well known, as well as her amours with Mars, which were discovered by
Phœbus, and exposed to the gods by her own husband. _See:_ Alectryon.
The worship of Vulcan was well established, particularly in Egypt,
at Athens, and at Rome. It was usual, in the sacrifices that were
offered to him, to burn the whole victim, and not reserve part of it,
as in the immolations to the rest of the gods. A calf and a boar pig
were the principal victims offered. Vulcan was represented as covered
with sweat, blowing with his nervous arm the fires of his forges.
His breast was hairy, and his forehead was blackened with smoke. Some
represent him lame and deformed, holding a hammer raised in the air,
ready to strike; while with the other hand he turns, with pincers,
a thunderbolt on his anvil, for which an eagle waits by his side to
carry it to Jupiter. He appears on some monuments with a long beard,
dishevelled hair, half naked, and a small round cap on his head,
while he holds a hammer and pincers in his hand. The Egyptians
represented him under the figure of a monkey. Vulcan has received
the names of _Mulciber_, _Pamphanes_, _Clytotechnes_, _Pandamator_,
_Cyllopodes_, _Chalaipoda_, &c., all expressive of his lameness and
his profession. He was father of Cupid by Venus; of Cæculus, Cecrops,
Cacus, Periphetes, Cercyon, Ocrisia, &c. Cicero speaks of more than
one deity of the name of Vulcan. One he calls son of Cœlus and father
of Apollo by Minerva; the second he mentions is son of the Nile, and
called Phtas by the Egyptians; the third was the son of Jupiter and
Juno, and fixed his residence in Lemnos; and the fourth who built
his forges in the Lipari islands was son of Menalius. Vulcan seems
to have been admitted into heaven more for ridicule than any other
purpose. He seems to be the great cuckold of Olympus, and even his
wife is represented as laughing at his deformities, and mimicking
his lameness to gain the smiles of her lovers. _Hesiod_, _Theogony_
& _Shield of Heracles_, lis. 140 & 320.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 3,
&c.――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 1, li. 57; bk. 15, li. 18; bk. 11, li. 397,
&c.――_Diodorus_, bk. 5.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 20; bk. 3, ch. 17.
――_Cicero_, _de Natura Deorum_, bk. 3, ch. 22.――_Herodotus_, bks. 2
& 3.――_Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, 7, &c.

♦‘Olympas’ replaced with ‘Olympus’

♠‘Hermoine’ replaced with ‘Hermione’

♣‘Erichsithonius’ replaced with ‘Erichthonius’

=Vulcātius=, a Roman knight, who conspired with Piso against Nero, &c.
_Tacitus._――――A senator in the reign of Diocletian, who attempted to
write a history of all such as had reigned at Rome, either as lawful
sovereigns or by usurpation. Of his works nothing is extant but an
account of Avidius Cassius, who revolted in the east during the reign
of Marcus Aurelius, which some ascribe to Spartianus.

=Vulsīnum=, a town of Etruria. _See:_ Volsinium.

=Vulso=, a Roman consul who invaded Africa with Regulus.――――Another
consul. He had the provinces of Asia while in office, and triumphed
over the Galatians.

=Vultŭra=, or =Vulturaria=, a mountain on the borders of Apulia.
_Horace_, bk. 3, ode 4, li. 9.――_Lucan_, bk. 9, li. 183.

=Vulturius=, a man who conspired against his country with Catiline.

=Vulturnius=, a surname of Apollo. _See:_ Vulturnus.

=Vulturnum=, a town of Campania, near the mouth of the Vulturnus.
_Livy_, bk. 25, ch. 20.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――――Also an ancient
name of Capua. _Livy_, bk. 4, ch. 37.

=Vulturnus=, a river of Campania rising in the Apennines, and
falling into the Tyrrhene sea, after passing by the town of Capua.
_Lucretius_, bk. 5, li. 664.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 729.
――――The god of the Tiber was also known by that name. _Varro_, _de
Lingua Latina_, bk. 4, ch. 5.――――The wind, which received the name
of Vulturnus when it blew from the side of the Vulturnus, highly
incommoded the Romans at the battle of Cannæ. _Livy_, bk. 22, chs. 43
& 46.――――A surname of Apollo on mount Lissus in Ionia, near Ephesus.
The god received this name from a shepherd who raised him a temple
after he had been drawn out of a subterraneous cavern by vultures.

=Vulsinum=, a town of Etruria, where Sejanus was born.

=Uxama=, a town of Spain on the Iberus. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 3,
li. 384.

=Uxantis=, now _Ushant_, an island on the coast of Britany.

=Uxellodunum=, a town of Gaul defended by steep rocks, now _Puech
d’Issoiu_. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 8, ch. 33.

=Uxentum=, a town of Calabria, now _Ugento_.

=Uxii=, mountains of Armenia, with a nation of the same name,
conquered by Alexander. The Tigris rises in their country. _Strabo._
――_Diodorus._

=Uxisama=, an island in the western ocean.

=Uzita=, an inland town of Africa destroyed by Cæsar. _Hirtius_,
_African War_, ch. 41, &c.