,
13, 753) and Isidorus (Orig.
13, 753) and Isidorus (Orig.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
How beautiful and refreshing are his
praises of a country life! how solemn and majestic his
encomiums on tho sage who had triumphed, as it were,
over the powers of destiny; who had shut his ears to
the murmurs of Acheron, and dispelled from his ima-
gination those invisible and inaudible phantoms which
wander on the other side of death! In these and
many other passages, it is evident that Virgil contends
with Lucretius, and strives hard to surpass him.
There is a close resemblance in the topics on which
these two poets descant, but a wide difference between
them in tone and manner. Lucretius is more bold and
simple than hie successor, and displays more of the
vivida ri. t mini; but his outlines are harder, and we
never find in Virgil any of those rugged verses or un-
polished expressions which we so frequently encoun-
ter in Lucretius. In the theological parts, and those
which relate to a state of future existence, Lucretius
? ? assumes, as it were, a tone of defiance, while Virgil
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? VIRGILIUS
Ai . settling rolonics (Catrou, CEuvra de Virgilt, vol.
3, p. 486), or to supply Augustus with political rules
for the government and legislation of a great empire;
but he evidently desigr. ed, not merely to deduce the
descent of Augustus and the Romans from . . ? Eneas and
his companions, but, by creating a perfect character in
his hero, to shadow out the eminent qualities of his im-
perial patron; to recommend bis virtues to his coun-
trymen, who would readily apply to him the amiable
portrait; and perhaps to suggest, that he was the ru-
ier of the world announced of old by the prophecies and
oracles of the Satumian land. (. K<< , 6, 789, *r//</. )
No one who has read the . Encul, and studied the histor-
ical character of Augustus, or the early events of his
reign, can doubt that Ajiras is an allegorical repre-
sentation of that emperor. --The chief objection which
critics in all ages have urged against the . Knoiil, or, at
least, against the poetical character of its author, is the
defect in what forms the most essential quality of a
poet, originality and the power of invention. It ha*
never, indeed, been denied that he possessed a species
of invention, if it may be so called, which consists in
placing ideas that have been preoccupied in a new
light, or presenting assemblages, which have been al-
ready exhibited, in a new point of view. Nor has it
been disputed that he often succeeds in bestowing on
them the charm of novelty, by the power of more per-
IIT. I diction, and by that poetic touch winch transmutes
whatever it lights on into gold. But it is alleged that
he has contrived few incidents, and opened up no
new veins of thought. It is well known that the Ro-
man dramatic writers, instead of contriving plots of
their own, translated the master-pieces of Sophocles,
Euripides, and Menandcr. The same imitative spirit
naturally enough prevailed in the first attempts at Epic
poetry. When any beautiful model exists in an art,
it so engrosses and intimidates the mind, that we are
apt to think that, in order to execute successfully any
work of a similar description, the approved prototype
must be imitated. It is supposed that what had pleas-
ed onre must please always; and circumstances, in
themselves unimportant, or perhaps accidental, are
converted into general and immutable rules. It was
natural, then, for the Romans, struck with admiration
at the sublimo and beautiful productions of the epic
muse of Greece, to follow her lessons with servility.
The mind of Virgil also led him to imitation. His
excellence lay in the propriety, beauty, and majesty of
his poetical character, in his judicious contrivance of
composition, his correctness of drawing, his purity of
taste, his artful adaptation of the conceptions of others
to his own purposes, and his skill in the combination of
materials. Accordingly, when Virgil first applied him-
self to frame a poem, which might celebrate his im-
perial master, and emulate the productions of Greece,
in a department of poetry wherein she was as yet unri-
valled, he first naturally bent a reverent eye on Ho-
mer; and, though he differed widely from his Grecian
master in the qualities of his mind and genius, ho be-
came his most strict and devoted disciple. The Lat-
in dramatists, in preparing their pieces for the stage,
had frequently compounded them of the plots of two
Greek plays, melted, as it were, into one; and thus
compensated for the want of invention and severe sim-
plicity of composition by greater richness and variety
of incident. From Bieir example, Virgil comprehend-
ed in his plan the arguments both of the Iliad and
Odyssey: the one serving him as a guide for the wan-
? ? derings and adventures of his hero previous to the land-
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? VIR
V 1T
translormation into the bird called Ciris, from which the
poem derives its title. That part which is introductory
to the complaint of Scylla is not very clear in language
or lofty in point of conception. The lamentation it-
>c! f is as good as might be expected, considering the
position in which it was uttered, Minos having, on his
voyage home, fastened her to the side of his vessel,
>>n'J thus dragged her along through the sea. Some
of the lines arc palpable imitations of the soliloquy of
Ariadne in Catullus. Perhaps the best passage is
one in which that poet has also, been closely imitated,
describing the effects of ungovernable love in the
breast of Scylla. From the Ciris, Spenser, who had
translated the Culcx, imitated a long passage, which
constitutes part of the Legend of Britomart, in the
third book of the Faery Queen. --The Morelum would
certainly be a curious and interesting production, could
it be authenticated as the work of Virgil or Septimius
Serenus, to whom Wernsdorff has ascribed it, and who
flourished at Rome during the reigns of the Flavian
family. Its subject is one concerning which few rel-
ics have descended to us from antiquity. It gives
an account of the occupations and daily life of an Ital-
ran peasant; and, so far as it goes, everything is re-
lated with the greatest minuteness; but the employ-
ments only of the morning are recorded. The peasant
Simulus rises with the dawn. He gathers together
the ashes of the yesterday's fire. He then bakes some
bread; and, with the assistance of an African fret d-
woman named Cybale, he prepares a sort of food call-
ed Morctum, which gives name to the poem, and was
chiefly composed of herbs culled from his garden.
This introduces a curious description of a peasant's
kitchen-garden, and the sort of plants which were rear-
ed in it. The poem concludes with the peasant's
yoking his oxen, and beginning to plough his field.
Jt is probable, huwever, that what is now extant is
only a fragment at the commencement of the Morelum,
or the first of a scries of rustic eclogues, in which the
avocations of a peasant were described in succession
through the whole day. The Copa merely contains
in invitation from an hostess, who was a native of
Syria, to pass the hours merrily in a place of enter-
tainment which she kept beyond the gates of Rome;
but a good-humoured drinking-song by the majestic
author of the Georgics and ,T''. noid is in itself a curi-
osity. --The best edition of Virgil is that of Heyne,
which first appeared from the Leipsic press in 1767-
68, 4 vols. 8vo. It has been often reprinted: the most
complete is that with the additions of Wagner, Lips. ,
1831. The edition of Forbigcr, Lira. , 1826-9, 3 vols.
8vo, is also a very useful one. (Dunlop's Roman
Literature, vol. 3, p. 68, scqq. )
VIRGINIA, a daughter of the centurion L. Virginius.
The maiden had been betrothed to L. Icilius, one of the
tribunes, and the author of the law known by his name.
Her beauty, however, inflamed the passions of Appius
Claudius, the decemvir, and he caused one of his cli-
ents, M. Claudius, to seize her as his slave, intending
in this manner to get the person of the damsel within
his power. Intelligence was immediately sent to the
camp to Virginius, who, obtaining leave of absence,
battened to Rome to protect his daughter. But in
vain did he claim his child ; in vain appeal to the sym-
pathy of the people; in vain address himself to the
better mind of Appius. The decemvir, blind to ev-
erything but the beauty of Virginia, and deaf to all but
? ? the impulse of his own passion, passed sentence, as-
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? V IT
BIO
claimed emperor, and the exaltation of his rival was
no sooner heard in the camp, than he was likewise
invested with the purple hy his soldiers. He accept-
ed with pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly
marched against Otho. Three battles were fought,
tnd in all Vitellius was conquered. A fourfh, how-
ever, in the plains between Mantua and Cremona, left
him master of the field and of the Homan empire.
Vitellius bcgar. his reign by endeavouring to concili-
ate the favour of the populace and the troops by large
donations and expensive amusements. He then gave
t loose rein to his own debasing appetites, of which
the chief was absolute gluttony of the very grossest
kind. It is almost incredible, though stated by histo-
rians, that in less than four months he expended on
the mere luxuries of the table a sum equal to about
seven millions sterling. This bloated and pampered
ruler was soon regarded by all his subjects with con-
tempt and disgust. The unrestrained licentiousness
of the soldiery tended equally to make his reign hated
and feared by all who were exposed to the insults and
outrages in which they indulged. To supply the funds
necessary for the maintenance of his excessive luxury,
he resorted to the too prevalent custom of listening to
the accusations of spies, and putting to death all such
accused persons, that he might seize upon their prop-
erty. While thus wallowing in the indulgence of the
most debasing appetites, Vitellius was startled by ti-
dings of a very alarming nature. Vespasian, who had
been sent to take the command of the army in Syria
in the Jewish war, and had been detained there by the
desperate resistance of the Jews, had sent his own son
Titus to offer his allegiance to Galba. But, before
bis arrival, Galba was dead, and Uiho and Vitellius
were contending for the empire. Titus returned to
his father for instructions; and, though Vespasian ap-
peared ready to acknowledge Vitellius, his own troops
were eager to raise him to the sovereignty. Being at
length prevailed on to comply with the wishes of the
? rmy, he commenced his march towards Europe. The
Illyrian and Pannonian armies immediately declared
ir. his favour; and that of Illyricum, under the com-
mand of Antonius Primus, crossed the Alps and
marched towards Rome to dethrone Vitellius. The
Vitelliar army, commanded by Caecina, encountered
that of Antonius near Cremona, but was defeated with
great loss, and the city was taken. Antonius con-
tinued to advance on Rome, and crossed the passes
of the Apennines while the emperor was hastening to
secure them. Vitellius fled to Rome, which was soon
invested by the victorious army of Antonius. An in-
surrectionary tumult arose in the city itself, during
which the Capitol was burned tf> the ground, and Sa-
binus, the brother of Vespasian, was killed. The
troops of Antonius at length forced an entrance into
the city, stormed the quarters of the pratorian guards,
? nd put those turbulent bands to the sword. Vitel-
lius endeavoured to conceal himself, but was discov-
ered, dragged through the streets to the place of pun-
ishment for common malefactors, put to death in the
most ignominious manner, and his mangled carcass
cast into the Tiber amid the execrations of the multi-
hide. Eight months and five days had this despica-
oh wretch seemed to sway the sceptre of supreme do-
minion, when thus overtaken by the due reward of
ois debauchery and crimes. (Hctherinflon's History
of Rome, p. 185, seqq. )
? ? ViTRUv? 7s Por. Lio, M. , a celebrated writer on ar-
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? UMB
? ind Juvenal give us but a wretched idea of the place.
(Horut. , Ep. , 1, 11, 30. -- Juv. , 10, 101. -- Cramers
Ane. Italy, vol. 2, p. 85. )
ULYSSKS, a king of Ithaca, son of Amiclea and La-
ertes, or, according to r-mur, of Sisyphus. (Vid. Sis-
yphus, and Anticica. ) He became, like the other
princes of Greece, one of the suiters of Helen; but,
as he despaired of success in his application on ac-
count of the great number of his competitors, lie so-
licited the hand of Penelope, the daughter of Icarius.
Tymlarus, the father of Helen, favoured the addresses
uf Ulysses, as by him ho was directed to choose one
of his daughter's suiters without offending the others,
and to bind them all by a solemn oath that they would
unite together in protecting Helen if any violence were
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 abduction
of Helen, however, by Paris, did not long permit him
to remain in his kingdom; and as he was bound, in
common with the rest, to defend her against every in-
truder, 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
hull together, and ploughed the seashore, where he
sowed salt instead of grain. The artifice, however,
was soon detected; and Pdamedes, by placing before
the plough of Ulysses his infant son Telemachus, con-
vinced the world that the father was not insane, who
had the foresight to turn away the plough from the
furrow, not to hurt his child. Ulysses was therefore
. liilii'rd to go to thewar; but he did not forget him
who had exposed his pretended insanity. (Vid Pala-
medcs ) During the Trojan war, the King of Iihaca
listinguished himself by his prudence and sagacity
<<s well as by his valour. By his means Achilles was
discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes, king
of Scyros (ml. Achilles); and Philocteles was in-
duced to abandon Lemnos. and to come to the Tro-
i,'ii> war with the arrows of Hercules. (Vid. Philoc-
letes. ) With the assistance of Diomcdes he slew
Rhesus, and destroyed many of the sleeping Thra-
cians in the midst of their camp (ml. Rhesus, and
Dolon); and, in conjunction with the same warrior,
he carried off the Palladium of Troy. (Vid. Palla-
dium, where, however, other accounts are given. )
These, as well as other services, obtained for-him the
armonr 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 ex-
posed 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 (vid. Lotophagi), and afterward that of the
Cyclopes, where his adventure in the cave of Poly-
phemus occurred. (Vid. Cyclopes, and Polyphemus. )
He came next, in the course of his wanderings, to '. he
island of ^Eolus, monarch of the winds, who gave
him, tied up in a bag of ox-hide, all the winds which
could obstruct his return to Ithaca; but the curi-
osity of his companions to know what the bag con-
tained proved nearly fatal. The winds rushed out,
and hurried tl em back to . i. 'ulin; the king of whjch,
judging, from what had befallen them, that they were
hated by the gods, drove them with reproaches from
his isle. Thence he was carried to the land of the
Lestrygonians (fill Ltestrygones), where he lost all
? ? his vessels except the one in which he himself was;
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? voc
TOl
serous nations of . he land (1,19). From his account,
at well as from Herodotus (1, 94), it would appear
that the Umbri were already settled in Italy long be-
fore the arrival of the Tyrrhenian colony. To the
Greeks they were known under the name of '0/t6piKoi,
a word which they supposed to be derived from 6/i-
6poc, under the idea that they were a people sared
from an unusual deluge. (Plin. , I. c. --Solin. , 6. )
Dionysius has farther acquainted us with some partic-
ulars respecting the Umbri, which he derived from
Zenodotus, a Greek of Troezene, who had written a
history of this people. This author appears to have
considered the Umbri an indigenous race, whose pri-
mary seat was the country around Keate, a district
which, according to Dionysius, was formerly occupied
by the Aborigines. Zenodotus was also of opinion
that the Sabmes were descended from the umbri.
Connected with the origin of the ancient Umbri,
there is another question not unworthy our attention.
It was confidently staled by Cornelius Bocchus, a Ro-
man writer quoted by Solinus (c. 8. --Serv. ad -En.
,
13, 753) and Isidorus (Orig. , 8, 2), that the Umbri
were of the same race with the ancient Gauls. This
opinion has been rejected, on the one hand, by Cluvcri-
us and Maffei, while it has served, on the other, as a
foundation for the systems of Frcret and BardeUi, who
contend for the Celtic origin of the Umbri. --On the
rise of the Etrurian nation, the Umbrian name began
to decline. They were forced to withdraw from the
right bank of the Tiber, while nearly the whole of
northern Italy fell under the power of their more en-
terprising and warlike neighbours, though an ancient
Greek historian makes honourable mention of the val-
our of the Umbri. (Nie. Damasc, ap. Slob. , 7, 89. )
It was then, probably, that the Tuscans, as we are told,
possessed themselves of three hundred towns previous-
4y occupied by the Umbri. (Plin, 3, 5. ) A spirit of ri-
valry was still kept up, however, between the two na-
tions; as we are assured by Strabo that, when either
made an expedition into a neighbouring district, the
t her immediately directed its efforts to the same
quarter. (Strub. , 22G. ) Both nations, however, had
sock to contend with a formidable foe in the Gauls
whe Invaded Italy; and, after vanquishing and expell-
ing the Tuscans from the Padus, penetrated still far-
ther, and drove the Umbri from the shores of the
Adriatic into the mountains. These were the Seno-
nes, who afterward defeated the Romans on the banks
of the AUia, and sacked their city. The Umbri, thus
reduced, appear to have offered but little resistance to
the Romans; nor is it improbable that this politic
people took advantage of their differences with the
Etruscans to induce them to remain neuter while
they were contending with the latter power. The
submission of Southern Umbria appears to have taken
place A. U. C. 446 (Liv. , 9, 41). The northern and
maritime parts were reduced after the total extirpation
of the Scnones, about twenty-five years afterward.
(Cramer'* Ane. Italy, vol. 1, p. 251, seqq. --Compare
Nicbuhr's Roman History, vol. 1, p. 119, seqq. ,
Cambridge transl. )
Unelli, a people of Gallia Lugdunensia Secunda,
whose country formed part of the Traetus Armoricus,
end answers to that part of modern Normandy in which
ire Valognes, Coutanccs, and Cherbourg, in the de-
partment de la Manchc. Their capital, at first, was
Crociatonom, answering to the modern Valognes.
? ? Afterward, however, their chief city was Constantini
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? U K A.
Voloubses, a name common to many of the kings
of 1'arihia, who made war against the Koman emper-
? ra. (Vid. Parthia. )
Volsci, a people of Latium, along the coast below
Antium. No notice appears to be taken by any Latin
writer of the origin of this people. According to Ca-
to, they occupied the country of the Aborigines (ap. -
Priscun. , 5), and were at one time subject to the
Etruscans. (Id. , ap. Sere. , Mti. , 11, 667. ) We
? earn from Titinnius, an old comic writer quoted by
Festus (. v >>. Oscum), that (he Volsci had a peculiar
idiom distinct from the Oscan and Latin dialects.
They used the Latin characters, however, both in their
inscriptions ard on their coin. Notwithstanding the
small extent of country which they occupied, reaching
only from Antium to Terracina, a line of coast of
about fifty miles, and little more than half that dis-
tance from the sea to the mountains, it swarmed with
cities filled with a hardy race, destined, says the Ro-
man historian, as it were by fortune, to train the Ro-
man soldier to arms by their perpetual hostility. (Lit. ,
6, 21. ) The Volsci were first attacked by the second
Tarquin, and war was carried on afterward between
the two nations, with short intervals, for upward of
two hundred years (lav. , 1, 53); and though this ac-
coui t is no doubt greatly exaggerated by Livy, and
the numbers much overrated, enough will remain to
prove that this part of Italy was at that time far more
populous and better cultivated than at present. (Cra-
mer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 82. )
Voltumn. e Fanum, a spot in Etruria where the
general assembly of tho Etrurians was held on solemn
occasions. (Lie. , 4, 23. --Id. , 5,17. ) Some trace of
the ancient name is preserved in that of a church
called Santa Maria in Volturno. (Lanxi, vol. 2, p.
107-- Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 223. )
Volsinidm. Vid. Vulsinii.
VolubTlis, a city in Mauritania Tingitana, between
Tocolosida and Aquas Dacicto, in a. fruitfu) part of the
country. It is now Walili. (Itin. Ant. ,23. -- Mela,
3, . 10. )
Volumnia, the wife of Coriolanus. (Liv. , 2, 40. )
Vopiscus, one of the writers of the Augustan His-
tory. He was a native of Syracuse, and contemporary
with Trcbellius Pollio, having flourished towards the
close of the third and in the early part of the fourth
century. His father and grandfather lived on terms
of intimacy with the Emperor Dioclesian. In the year
291 or 292, the prefect of Rome, Junius Tiberianua,
prevailed upon Vopiscus to write a life of Aurelian,
wlfich no Latin historian had as yet taken up. He
supplied him with various materials from the private
papers of that prince, and also from the Ulpian library.
Among the books consulted by him, Vopiscus names
some Greek works. This biography was followed by
the lives of Tacitus, Florian, Probus, Firmus, Satur-
ninus, Proculus, Bonosus, Carus, Numerian, and Ca-
rinas. Flavius Vopiscus is distinguished from his
brethren in the Augustan collection by possessing more
of order and method: the letters and official papers,
moreover, which he has inserted in his history, impart
a considerable value to the work. As to style, how-
ever, he is on a level with the other writers in tho Au-
gustan History. He states, in his life of Aurelian, his
intention of writing the life of Apollonius of Tyana, a
project which he never executed. His works are giv-
en in the Histories Augusta Scripiores. (Scholl,
Hiil. Lit. Rom. , vol. 3, p. 156. )
? ? Urania, the muse of Astronomy, usually represent-
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? VUl
VUL
roiled mercenaries after the firat Punic war. {DM.
Sic. . 20, 54. --Polyb. , 1, 83, 88. ) The punishment
inflicted bv the Carthaginians on the people of Utica,
an the quelling of this rebellion, probably drew more
closely the connexion between the two cities ; at least
Scipio besieged Utica in vain during the second Punic
war. At the beginning of the third Punic contest,
however, the inhabitants of Ulica regarded it as the
safer course to separate their interests from those of
Carthage. They gave themselves up, therefore, vol-
untarily to the power of Rome, and this latter state
had now a firm foothold for the prosecution of all her
ambitious plans in relation to Africa. (J'ulyb. , 36, I. )
As some recompense to the TJticenses for the valuable
aid they had afforded during the war, the Romans, at
its close, bestowed upon them a large portion of the
territory immediately adjacent to Carthage (Appian,
Bell. Pun. , c. 135); and Utica was now, and remain-
ed as long as Carthage continued in ruins, the first city
of Africa in point of importance, and the aeat ol the
proconsul. And yet it never became a very flourish-
ing city, since in all the civil wars of the Romans de-
tachments of one party or the other invariably landed
near this place, and fought many of their battles here.
Thus, it was near Utica that Pompey defeated the op-
ponents of Sylla (Orotius, 5, 21); here, too, Curio
contended for Cesar, and, not long after, Caesar's op-
ponents selected' Utica as the chief aeat of the war.
The issue was an unfortunate one for the republican
party, and Cato (hence called Uticemis) found here a
death by his own hand. Hitherto Utica had remained
a free city, with its old constitution, and hence llir-
tius speaks of its senate. (Auct. , Bell. Afr. , c. 87,
90. ) Augustus declared the place a Roman colony.
(Dio Can. , 49, 16-- Plin. , 5, 4. ) It still, however,
retained, in some measure, its early constitution, and
hence is styled by Aulus Gellius a municipium (16,13).
At a later period, Utica was regarded, after Carthage,
the latter having been rebuilt, as the second in Africa.
Ulica had no harbour, but safe roads in front of the
town. Its ruins are to be seen at the present day near
Porlo Farina. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 2, p.
288, >>tqq. )
Vui. canai. ia. festivals in honour of Vulcan, brought
to Rome from Praenestc, and observed in tho month of
August. The streets were illuminated, fires kindled
everywhere, and animals thrown into the flames, as a
sacrifice to the deity. ( Varro, h. L. , 5, 3. --Plin. ,
18, 13. )
Vulcani Insula. Vid. AZoUte (Insula), and Li-
para.
Vdlcanus, the god of fire, the same with the He-
phaestus ("HdiuBToc) of the Greeks. Hephaestus, the
Olympian artist, is in Homer the son of Jupiter and
Juno. {II, 1, 572,578. ) According to Hesiod, how-
ever, he was the son of Juno alone, who was unwill-
ing to be outdone by Jupiter when he had given birth
to Minerva. (Theog. , 927 ) He was born lame, and
his mother was so shocked at the sight of him that
she flung him from Olympus. The Ocean-nymph Eu-
rynome and the Nereid Thetis saved and concealed
him in a cavern beneath tho Ocean, where, during
nine years, he employed himself in manufacturing for
them various ornaments and trinkets. (II. , 18, 394,
icqq. ) We are not informed how his returi. to Olym-
pus was effected ; but we find him, in the Iliad, firmly
filed there ; and all the mansions, furniture, ornaments,
? ? and arms of the Olympians were the work of his hands.
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? XA
XAN
A agastan History. He has the title of J'/r Clarissi-
mus, which indicates that he was a senator. Vulcii-
lius lived under Dioclesian, and proposed to himself
to write a history of all the Roman emperors; we
have from him, however, only the life of Avidius Cas-
? iiu. Some manuscripts even assign this biography
><i Spartianus.
VULSINII or VOLSINII, and also VCLSINIUM orVoL-
? INIUM, a city of Etruria, situate on the northern shore
of the Lacus Vulsiniensis. It is generally allowed to
rank among the first cities of the country. An account
of its early contest with Rome is to be found in Livy
(5, 31).
praises of a country life! how solemn and majestic his
encomiums on tho sage who had triumphed, as it were,
over the powers of destiny; who had shut his ears to
the murmurs of Acheron, and dispelled from his ima-
gination those invisible and inaudible phantoms which
wander on the other side of death! In these and
many other passages, it is evident that Virgil contends
with Lucretius, and strives hard to surpass him.
There is a close resemblance in the topics on which
these two poets descant, but a wide difference between
them in tone and manner. Lucretius is more bold and
simple than hie successor, and displays more of the
vivida ri. t mini; but his outlines are harder, and we
never find in Virgil any of those rugged verses or un-
polished expressions which we so frequently encoun-
ter in Lucretius. In the theological parts, and those
which relate to a state of future existence, Lucretius
? ? assumes, as it were, a tone of defiance, while Virgil
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? VIRGILIUS
Ai . settling rolonics (Catrou, CEuvra de Virgilt, vol.
3, p. 486), or to supply Augustus with political rules
for the government and legislation of a great empire;
but he evidently desigr. ed, not merely to deduce the
descent of Augustus and the Romans from . . ? Eneas and
his companions, but, by creating a perfect character in
his hero, to shadow out the eminent qualities of his im-
perial patron; to recommend bis virtues to his coun-
trymen, who would readily apply to him the amiable
portrait; and perhaps to suggest, that he was the ru-
ier of the world announced of old by the prophecies and
oracles of the Satumian land. (. K<< , 6, 789, *r//</. )
No one who has read the . Encul, and studied the histor-
ical character of Augustus, or the early events of his
reign, can doubt that Ajiras is an allegorical repre-
sentation of that emperor. --The chief objection which
critics in all ages have urged against the . Knoiil, or, at
least, against the poetical character of its author, is the
defect in what forms the most essential quality of a
poet, originality and the power of invention. It ha*
never, indeed, been denied that he possessed a species
of invention, if it may be so called, which consists in
placing ideas that have been preoccupied in a new
light, or presenting assemblages, which have been al-
ready exhibited, in a new point of view. Nor has it
been disputed that he often succeeds in bestowing on
them the charm of novelty, by the power of more per-
IIT. I diction, and by that poetic touch winch transmutes
whatever it lights on into gold. But it is alleged that
he has contrived few incidents, and opened up no
new veins of thought. It is well known that the Ro-
man dramatic writers, instead of contriving plots of
their own, translated the master-pieces of Sophocles,
Euripides, and Menandcr. The same imitative spirit
naturally enough prevailed in the first attempts at Epic
poetry. When any beautiful model exists in an art,
it so engrosses and intimidates the mind, that we are
apt to think that, in order to execute successfully any
work of a similar description, the approved prototype
must be imitated. It is supposed that what had pleas-
ed onre must please always; and circumstances, in
themselves unimportant, or perhaps accidental, are
converted into general and immutable rules. It was
natural, then, for the Romans, struck with admiration
at the sublimo and beautiful productions of the epic
muse of Greece, to follow her lessons with servility.
The mind of Virgil also led him to imitation. His
excellence lay in the propriety, beauty, and majesty of
his poetical character, in his judicious contrivance of
composition, his correctness of drawing, his purity of
taste, his artful adaptation of the conceptions of others
to his own purposes, and his skill in the combination of
materials. Accordingly, when Virgil first applied him-
self to frame a poem, which might celebrate his im-
perial master, and emulate the productions of Greece,
in a department of poetry wherein she was as yet unri-
valled, he first naturally bent a reverent eye on Ho-
mer; and, though he differed widely from his Grecian
master in the qualities of his mind and genius, ho be-
came his most strict and devoted disciple. The Lat-
in dramatists, in preparing their pieces for the stage,
had frequently compounded them of the plots of two
Greek plays, melted, as it were, into one; and thus
compensated for the want of invention and severe sim-
plicity of composition by greater richness and variety
of incident. From Bieir example, Virgil comprehend-
ed in his plan the arguments both of the Iliad and
Odyssey: the one serving him as a guide for the wan-
? ? derings and adventures of his hero previous to the land-
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? VIR
V 1T
translormation into the bird called Ciris, from which the
poem derives its title. That part which is introductory
to the complaint of Scylla is not very clear in language
or lofty in point of conception. The lamentation it-
>c! f is as good as might be expected, considering the
position in which it was uttered, Minos having, on his
voyage home, fastened her to the side of his vessel,
>>n'J thus dragged her along through the sea. Some
of the lines arc palpable imitations of the soliloquy of
Ariadne in Catullus. Perhaps the best passage is
one in which that poet has also, been closely imitated,
describing the effects of ungovernable love in the
breast of Scylla. From the Ciris, Spenser, who had
translated the Culcx, imitated a long passage, which
constitutes part of the Legend of Britomart, in the
third book of the Faery Queen. --The Morelum would
certainly be a curious and interesting production, could
it be authenticated as the work of Virgil or Septimius
Serenus, to whom Wernsdorff has ascribed it, and who
flourished at Rome during the reigns of the Flavian
family. Its subject is one concerning which few rel-
ics have descended to us from antiquity. It gives
an account of the occupations and daily life of an Ital-
ran peasant; and, so far as it goes, everything is re-
lated with the greatest minuteness; but the employ-
ments only of the morning are recorded. The peasant
Simulus rises with the dawn. He gathers together
the ashes of the yesterday's fire. He then bakes some
bread; and, with the assistance of an African fret d-
woman named Cybale, he prepares a sort of food call-
ed Morctum, which gives name to the poem, and was
chiefly composed of herbs culled from his garden.
This introduces a curious description of a peasant's
kitchen-garden, and the sort of plants which were rear-
ed in it. The poem concludes with the peasant's
yoking his oxen, and beginning to plough his field.
Jt is probable, huwever, that what is now extant is
only a fragment at the commencement of the Morelum,
or the first of a scries of rustic eclogues, in which the
avocations of a peasant were described in succession
through the whole day. The Copa merely contains
in invitation from an hostess, who was a native of
Syria, to pass the hours merrily in a place of enter-
tainment which she kept beyond the gates of Rome;
but a good-humoured drinking-song by the majestic
author of the Georgics and ,T''. noid is in itself a curi-
osity. --The best edition of Virgil is that of Heyne,
which first appeared from the Leipsic press in 1767-
68, 4 vols. 8vo. It has been often reprinted: the most
complete is that with the additions of Wagner, Lips. ,
1831. The edition of Forbigcr, Lira. , 1826-9, 3 vols.
8vo, is also a very useful one. (Dunlop's Roman
Literature, vol. 3, p. 68, scqq. )
VIRGINIA, a daughter of the centurion L. Virginius.
The maiden had been betrothed to L. Icilius, one of the
tribunes, and the author of the law known by his name.
Her beauty, however, inflamed the passions of Appius
Claudius, the decemvir, and he caused one of his cli-
ents, M. Claudius, to seize her as his slave, intending
in this manner to get the person of the damsel within
his power. Intelligence was immediately sent to the
camp to Virginius, who, obtaining leave of absence,
battened to Rome to protect his daughter. But in
vain did he claim his child ; in vain appeal to the sym-
pathy of the people; in vain address himself to the
better mind of Appius. The decemvir, blind to ev-
erything but the beauty of Virginia, and deaf to all but
? ? the impulse of his own passion, passed sentence, as-
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? V IT
BIO
claimed emperor, and the exaltation of his rival was
no sooner heard in the camp, than he was likewise
invested with the purple hy his soldiers. He accept-
ed with pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly
marched against Otho. Three battles were fought,
tnd in all Vitellius was conquered. A fourfh, how-
ever, in the plains between Mantua and Cremona, left
him master of the field and of the Homan empire.
Vitellius bcgar. his reign by endeavouring to concili-
ate the favour of the populace and the troops by large
donations and expensive amusements. He then gave
t loose rein to his own debasing appetites, of which
the chief was absolute gluttony of the very grossest
kind. It is almost incredible, though stated by histo-
rians, that in less than four months he expended on
the mere luxuries of the table a sum equal to about
seven millions sterling. This bloated and pampered
ruler was soon regarded by all his subjects with con-
tempt and disgust. The unrestrained licentiousness
of the soldiery tended equally to make his reign hated
and feared by all who were exposed to the insults and
outrages in which they indulged. To supply the funds
necessary for the maintenance of his excessive luxury,
he resorted to the too prevalent custom of listening to
the accusations of spies, and putting to death all such
accused persons, that he might seize upon their prop-
erty. While thus wallowing in the indulgence of the
most debasing appetites, Vitellius was startled by ti-
dings of a very alarming nature. Vespasian, who had
been sent to take the command of the army in Syria
in the Jewish war, and had been detained there by the
desperate resistance of the Jews, had sent his own son
Titus to offer his allegiance to Galba. But, before
bis arrival, Galba was dead, and Uiho and Vitellius
were contending for the empire. Titus returned to
his father for instructions; and, though Vespasian ap-
peared ready to acknowledge Vitellius, his own troops
were eager to raise him to the sovereignty. Being at
length prevailed on to comply with the wishes of the
? rmy, he commenced his march towards Europe. The
Illyrian and Pannonian armies immediately declared
ir. his favour; and that of Illyricum, under the com-
mand of Antonius Primus, crossed the Alps and
marched towards Rome to dethrone Vitellius. The
Vitelliar army, commanded by Caecina, encountered
that of Antonius near Cremona, but was defeated with
great loss, and the city was taken. Antonius con-
tinued to advance on Rome, and crossed the passes
of the Apennines while the emperor was hastening to
secure them. Vitellius fled to Rome, which was soon
invested by the victorious army of Antonius. An in-
surrectionary tumult arose in the city itself, during
which the Capitol was burned tf> the ground, and Sa-
binus, the brother of Vespasian, was killed. The
troops of Antonius at length forced an entrance into
the city, stormed the quarters of the pratorian guards,
? nd put those turbulent bands to the sword. Vitel-
lius endeavoured to conceal himself, but was discov-
ered, dragged through the streets to the place of pun-
ishment for common malefactors, put to death in the
most ignominious manner, and his mangled carcass
cast into the Tiber amid the execrations of the multi-
hide. Eight months and five days had this despica-
oh wretch seemed to sway the sceptre of supreme do-
minion, when thus overtaken by the due reward of
ois debauchery and crimes. (Hctherinflon's History
of Rome, p. 185, seqq. )
? ? ViTRUv? 7s Por. Lio, M. , a celebrated writer on ar-
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? UMB
? ind Juvenal give us but a wretched idea of the place.
(Horut. , Ep. , 1, 11, 30. -- Juv. , 10, 101. -- Cramers
Ane. Italy, vol. 2, p. 85. )
ULYSSKS, a king of Ithaca, son of Amiclea and La-
ertes, or, according to r-mur, of Sisyphus. (Vid. Sis-
yphus, and Anticica. ) He became, like the other
princes of Greece, one of the suiters of Helen; but,
as he despaired of success in his application on ac-
count of the great number of his competitors, lie so-
licited the hand of Penelope, the daughter of Icarius.
Tymlarus, the father of Helen, favoured the addresses
uf Ulysses, as by him ho was directed to choose one
of his daughter's suiters without offending the others,
and to bind them all by a solemn oath that they would
unite together in protecting Helen if any violence were
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 abduction
of Helen, however, by Paris, did not long permit him
to remain in his kingdom; and as he was bound, in
common with the rest, to defend her against every in-
truder, 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
hull together, and ploughed the seashore, where he
sowed salt instead of grain. The artifice, however,
was soon detected; and Pdamedes, by placing before
the plough of Ulysses his infant son Telemachus, con-
vinced the world that the father was not insane, who
had the foresight to turn away the plough from the
furrow, not to hurt his child. Ulysses was therefore
. liilii'rd to go to thewar; but he did not forget him
who had exposed his pretended insanity. (Vid Pala-
medcs ) During the Trojan war, the King of Iihaca
listinguished himself by his prudence and sagacity
<<s well as by his valour. By his means Achilles was
discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes, king
of Scyros (ml. Achilles); and Philocteles was in-
duced to abandon Lemnos. and to come to the Tro-
i,'ii> war with the arrows of Hercules. (Vid. Philoc-
letes. ) With the assistance of Diomcdes he slew
Rhesus, and destroyed many of the sleeping Thra-
cians in the midst of their camp (ml. Rhesus, and
Dolon); and, in conjunction with the same warrior,
he carried off the Palladium of Troy. (Vid. Palla-
dium, where, however, other accounts are given. )
These, as well as other services, obtained for-him the
armonr 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 ex-
posed 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 (vid. Lotophagi), and afterward that of the
Cyclopes, where his adventure in the cave of Poly-
phemus occurred. (Vid. Cyclopes, and Polyphemus. )
He came next, in the course of his wanderings, to '. he
island of ^Eolus, monarch of the winds, who gave
him, tied up in a bag of ox-hide, all the winds which
could obstruct his return to Ithaca; but the curi-
osity of his companions to know what the bag con-
tained proved nearly fatal. The winds rushed out,
and hurried tl em back to . i. 'ulin; the king of whjch,
judging, from what had befallen them, that they were
hated by the gods, drove them with reproaches from
his isle. Thence he was carried to the land of the
Lestrygonians (fill Ltestrygones), where he lost all
? ? his vessels except the one in which he himself was;
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? voc
TOl
serous nations of . he land (1,19). From his account,
at well as from Herodotus (1, 94), it would appear
that the Umbri were already settled in Italy long be-
fore the arrival of the Tyrrhenian colony. To the
Greeks they were known under the name of '0/t6piKoi,
a word which they supposed to be derived from 6/i-
6poc, under the idea that they were a people sared
from an unusual deluge. (Plin. , I. c. --Solin. , 6. )
Dionysius has farther acquainted us with some partic-
ulars respecting the Umbri, which he derived from
Zenodotus, a Greek of Troezene, who had written a
history of this people. This author appears to have
considered the Umbri an indigenous race, whose pri-
mary seat was the country around Keate, a district
which, according to Dionysius, was formerly occupied
by the Aborigines. Zenodotus was also of opinion
that the Sabmes were descended from the umbri.
Connected with the origin of the ancient Umbri,
there is another question not unworthy our attention.
It was confidently staled by Cornelius Bocchus, a Ro-
man writer quoted by Solinus (c. 8. --Serv. ad -En.
,
13, 753) and Isidorus (Orig. , 8, 2), that the Umbri
were of the same race with the ancient Gauls. This
opinion has been rejected, on the one hand, by Cluvcri-
us and Maffei, while it has served, on the other, as a
foundation for the systems of Frcret and BardeUi, who
contend for the Celtic origin of the Umbri. --On the
rise of the Etrurian nation, the Umbrian name began
to decline. They were forced to withdraw from the
right bank of the Tiber, while nearly the whole of
northern Italy fell under the power of their more en-
terprising and warlike neighbours, though an ancient
Greek historian makes honourable mention of the val-
our of the Umbri. (Nie. Damasc, ap. Slob. , 7, 89. )
It was then, probably, that the Tuscans, as we are told,
possessed themselves of three hundred towns previous-
4y occupied by the Umbri. (Plin, 3, 5. ) A spirit of ri-
valry was still kept up, however, between the two na-
tions; as we are assured by Strabo that, when either
made an expedition into a neighbouring district, the
t her immediately directed its efforts to the same
quarter. (Strub. , 22G. ) Both nations, however, had
sock to contend with a formidable foe in the Gauls
whe Invaded Italy; and, after vanquishing and expell-
ing the Tuscans from the Padus, penetrated still far-
ther, and drove the Umbri from the shores of the
Adriatic into the mountains. These were the Seno-
nes, who afterward defeated the Romans on the banks
of the AUia, and sacked their city. The Umbri, thus
reduced, appear to have offered but little resistance to
the Romans; nor is it improbable that this politic
people took advantage of their differences with the
Etruscans to induce them to remain neuter while
they were contending with the latter power. The
submission of Southern Umbria appears to have taken
place A. U. C. 446 (Liv. , 9, 41). The northern and
maritime parts were reduced after the total extirpation
of the Scnones, about twenty-five years afterward.
(Cramer'* Ane. Italy, vol. 1, p. 251, seqq. --Compare
Nicbuhr's Roman History, vol. 1, p. 119, seqq. ,
Cambridge transl. )
Unelli, a people of Gallia Lugdunensia Secunda,
whose country formed part of the Traetus Armoricus,
end answers to that part of modern Normandy in which
ire Valognes, Coutanccs, and Cherbourg, in the de-
partment de la Manchc. Their capital, at first, was
Crociatonom, answering to the modern Valognes.
? ? Afterward, however, their chief city was Constantini
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? U K A.
Voloubses, a name common to many of the kings
of 1'arihia, who made war against the Koman emper-
? ra. (Vid. Parthia. )
Volsci, a people of Latium, along the coast below
Antium. No notice appears to be taken by any Latin
writer of the origin of this people. According to Ca-
to, they occupied the country of the Aborigines (ap. -
Priscun. , 5), and were at one time subject to the
Etruscans. (Id. , ap. Sere. , Mti. , 11, 667. ) We
? earn from Titinnius, an old comic writer quoted by
Festus (. v >>. Oscum), that (he Volsci had a peculiar
idiom distinct from the Oscan and Latin dialects.
They used the Latin characters, however, both in their
inscriptions ard on their coin. Notwithstanding the
small extent of country which they occupied, reaching
only from Antium to Terracina, a line of coast of
about fifty miles, and little more than half that dis-
tance from the sea to the mountains, it swarmed with
cities filled with a hardy race, destined, says the Ro-
man historian, as it were by fortune, to train the Ro-
man soldier to arms by their perpetual hostility. (Lit. ,
6, 21. ) The Volsci were first attacked by the second
Tarquin, and war was carried on afterward between
the two nations, with short intervals, for upward of
two hundred years (lav. , 1, 53); and though this ac-
coui t is no doubt greatly exaggerated by Livy, and
the numbers much overrated, enough will remain to
prove that this part of Italy was at that time far more
populous and better cultivated than at present. (Cra-
mer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 82. )
Voltumn. e Fanum, a spot in Etruria where the
general assembly of tho Etrurians was held on solemn
occasions. (Lie. , 4, 23. --Id. , 5,17. ) Some trace of
the ancient name is preserved in that of a church
called Santa Maria in Volturno. (Lanxi, vol. 2, p.
107-- Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 223. )
Volsinidm. Vid. Vulsinii.
VolubTlis, a city in Mauritania Tingitana, between
Tocolosida and Aquas Dacicto, in a. fruitfu) part of the
country. It is now Walili. (Itin. Ant. ,23. -- Mela,
3, . 10. )
Volumnia, the wife of Coriolanus. (Liv. , 2, 40. )
Vopiscus, one of the writers of the Augustan His-
tory. He was a native of Syracuse, and contemporary
with Trcbellius Pollio, having flourished towards the
close of the third and in the early part of the fourth
century. His father and grandfather lived on terms
of intimacy with the Emperor Dioclesian. In the year
291 or 292, the prefect of Rome, Junius Tiberianua,
prevailed upon Vopiscus to write a life of Aurelian,
wlfich no Latin historian had as yet taken up. He
supplied him with various materials from the private
papers of that prince, and also from the Ulpian library.
Among the books consulted by him, Vopiscus names
some Greek works. This biography was followed by
the lives of Tacitus, Florian, Probus, Firmus, Satur-
ninus, Proculus, Bonosus, Carus, Numerian, and Ca-
rinas. Flavius Vopiscus is distinguished from his
brethren in the Augustan collection by possessing more
of order and method: the letters and official papers,
moreover, which he has inserted in his history, impart
a considerable value to the work. As to style, how-
ever, he is on a level with the other writers in tho Au-
gustan History. He states, in his life of Aurelian, his
intention of writing the life of Apollonius of Tyana, a
project which he never executed. His works are giv-
en in the Histories Augusta Scripiores. (Scholl,
Hiil. Lit. Rom. , vol. 3, p. 156. )
? ? Urania, the muse of Astronomy, usually represent-
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? VUl
VUL
roiled mercenaries after the firat Punic war. {DM.
Sic. . 20, 54. --Polyb. , 1, 83, 88. ) The punishment
inflicted bv the Carthaginians on the people of Utica,
an the quelling of this rebellion, probably drew more
closely the connexion between the two cities ; at least
Scipio besieged Utica in vain during the second Punic
war. At the beginning of the third Punic contest,
however, the inhabitants of Ulica regarded it as the
safer course to separate their interests from those of
Carthage. They gave themselves up, therefore, vol-
untarily to the power of Rome, and this latter state
had now a firm foothold for the prosecution of all her
ambitious plans in relation to Africa. (J'ulyb. , 36, I. )
As some recompense to the TJticenses for the valuable
aid they had afforded during the war, the Romans, at
its close, bestowed upon them a large portion of the
territory immediately adjacent to Carthage (Appian,
Bell. Pun. , c. 135); and Utica was now, and remain-
ed as long as Carthage continued in ruins, the first city
of Africa in point of importance, and the aeat ol the
proconsul. And yet it never became a very flourish-
ing city, since in all the civil wars of the Romans de-
tachments of one party or the other invariably landed
near this place, and fought many of their battles here.
Thus, it was near Utica that Pompey defeated the op-
ponents of Sylla (Orotius, 5, 21); here, too, Curio
contended for Cesar, and, not long after, Caesar's op-
ponents selected' Utica as the chief aeat of the war.
The issue was an unfortunate one for the republican
party, and Cato (hence called Uticemis) found here a
death by his own hand. Hitherto Utica had remained
a free city, with its old constitution, and hence llir-
tius speaks of its senate. (Auct. , Bell. Afr. , c. 87,
90. ) Augustus declared the place a Roman colony.
(Dio Can. , 49, 16-- Plin. , 5, 4. ) It still, however,
retained, in some measure, its early constitution, and
hence is styled by Aulus Gellius a municipium (16,13).
At a later period, Utica was regarded, after Carthage,
the latter having been rebuilt, as the second in Africa.
Ulica had no harbour, but safe roads in front of the
town. Its ruins are to be seen at the present day near
Porlo Farina. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 2, p.
288, >>tqq. )
Vui. canai. ia. festivals in honour of Vulcan, brought
to Rome from Praenestc, and observed in tho month of
August. The streets were illuminated, fires kindled
everywhere, and animals thrown into the flames, as a
sacrifice to the deity. ( Varro, h. L. , 5, 3. --Plin. ,
18, 13. )
Vulcani Insula. Vid. AZoUte (Insula), and Li-
para.
Vdlcanus, the god of fire, the same with the He-
phaestus ("HdiuBToc) of the Greeks. Hephaestus, the
Olympian artist, is in Homer the son of Jupiter and
Juno. {II, 1, 572,578. ) According to Hesiod, how-
ever, he was the son of Juno alone, who was unwill-
ing to be outdone by Jupiter when he had given birth
to Minerva. (Theog. , 927 ) He was born lame, and
his mother was so shocked at the sight of him that
she flung him from Olympus. The Ocean-nymph Eu-
rynome and the Nereid Thetis saved and concealed
him in a cavern beneath tho Ocean, where, during
nine years, he employed himself in manufacturing for
them various ornaments and trinkets. (II. , 18, 394,
icqq. ) We are not informed how his returi. to Olym-
pus was effected ; but we find him, in the Iliad, firmly
filed there ; and all the mansions, furniture, ornaments,
? ? and arms of the Olympians were the work of his hands.
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? XA
XAN
A agastan History. He has the title of J'/r Clarissi-
mus, which indicates that he was a senator. Vulcii-
lius lived under Dioclesian, and proposed to himself
to write a history of all the Roman emperors; we
have from him, however, only the life of Avidius Cas-
? iiu. Some manuscripts even assign this biography
><i Spartianus.
VULSINII or VOLSINII, and also VCLSINIUM orVoL-
? INIUM, a city of Etruria, situate on the northern shore
of the Lacus Vulsiniensis. It is generally allowed to
rank among the first cities of the country. An account
of its early contest with Rome is to be found in Livy
(5, 31).
