He was A few days before that solemnity, on the 9th of
proscribed by the triumvirs in B.
proscribed by the triumvirs in B.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
The sim-
the Batavi, who were situated near the mouth of plicity and frugality of his mode of life formed a
the Rhine. These Batavi furnished soldiers for striking contrast with the profusion and luxury of
the Roman armies in Germany and Britain, and some of his predecessors, and his example is said
were so far in the relation of subjects to Rome. to have done more to reform the morals of Rome
Claudius Civilis, a one-eyed nian like Hannibal than all the laws which had ever been enacted.
and Sertorius, and one of the most illustrious of He lived more like a private person than a man
the Batavi, had begun to excite his countrymen to who possessed supreme power: he was affable and
resistance by preventing the march of the new re- easy of access to all persons. The personal anec.
cruits whom Vitellius bad ordered to be enlisted. dotes of such a man are some of the most instruc-
Having induced the Caninefates to join them, the tive records of his reign. He was never ashamed
Batavi attacked and defeated the Romans under of the meanness of his origin, and ridiculed all
Aquilius. Hordeonius Flaccus, who commanded the attempts to make out for him a distinguished genea-
troops in Germany, sent Mummius Lupercus against logy. (Sueton. Vespas. 12. ) He often visited the
Civilis with two legions, part of which joined Civilis, villa in which he was born, and would not allow
and the rest were driven back to Castra Vetera, any change to be made in the place. When Volo-
perhaps Xanten in Clèves. Eight cohorts of Batavi geses, the Parthian king, addressed to him a letter
and Caninefates, which Vitellius had ordered to commencing in these terms, “ Arsaces, king of
march into Italy, turned back from Mainz and de- kings, to Flavius Vespasianus," the answer began,
feated Herennius Gallus near Bonn. (Tacit. Hist. “ Flavius Vespasianus to Arsaces, king of kings. '
iv. 19. ) Civilis made his troops take the oath to If it be true, as it is recorded, that he was not an.
Vespasian, and shortly after he was informed of noyed at satire or ridicule, he exhibited an eleva-
the defeat of the Vitellians at Cremona, and that tion of character almost unparalleled in one who
he ought now to lay down his arms, if he had taken filled so exalted a station. Vespasianus was mainly
them up for the cause of Vespasian ; but Civilis indebted to Mucianus, gorernor of Syria, for his
had no intention to do so, and he declared that his imperial title, and he was not ungrateful for the ser-
object was to free his country and the Gauls from vices that Mucianus had rendered him, though
the Roman yoke. (Tacit. Hist. iv. 32. ) The his- Mucianus was of an arrogant and ambitious dis-
tory of this war is told under CivilIS, CLAUDIUS. position, and gave Vespasian some trouble by his
Domitian left Rome on the news of the revolt of behaviour. He knew the bad character of his son
the Gauls with the intention of conducting the war Domitian, and as long as he lived he kept him
against Civilis, and Mucianus, knowing his cha- under proper restraint.
racter, thought it prudent to accompany him. On The stories that are told of his avarice and of
their route the news arrived that Cerealis had ended his modes of raising money, if true, detract from the
the war with Civilis, and Mucianus persuaded dignity of his character ; and it seems that he had
Domitian to go no farther than Lyon. Domitian a taste for little savings, and for coarse bumour.
returned to Italy before the end of the year to Yet it is admitted that he was liberal in all his
meet his father.
expenditure for purposes of public utility. Love of
2.
gorernor of Sri che
is, and išat his su Tits
12. ainst the Jert Tim
il the following seat ; 29
ied or gained oreribe to
put to death abeat the
an was in Ext when i
rictor which bis rues Band
the 25th of October; and
4, wbere he saw pala
kus sars that be bude
exandrines br increases the
w ones, and the dead
shion, retaliated by satire
1 in going to Egypi noci
rain from Alexadra u Rize
tius to yield; ba: thg 11 -
ian, the second sum of Peace
as proc'aimed Caesar apen eta
(Tacit
. Histe iz sa) The
on l'espasian the imperial che
ameration of powers, and related
: laurs from which trautz, 1
lips had been released; and the
am was confirmed bra la
is Ler still remains Tits 19
the following year with bis
## p. 1248 (#1264) ##########################################
1248
VESPASIANUS.
VESPILLO.
Gracchus into
the surname of
64; respecting
p. 359, 2, 2d ec
2. Q. LUCR
jurist, was pros
(Cic. Brat. 48
3. Q. LUCRE
served in the F
proscribed by
fortunate than
wife Thuria i
frends obtaine
one of the de
Augustus at a
getting money and niggardliness in personal mat- In A. D. 78 Agricola was sent to Britain, and he
ters are by no means inconsistent with bountiful reduced to submission North Wales and the island
outlay for great and noble objects.
of Anglesey, which had before been subjected by
In A. D. 71 Vespasianus was consul for the third the Romans, but had revolted under the adminis
time with M. Cocceius Nerra, the same probably tration of Suetonius Paullinns. The following year
who was afterwards emperor, for his collcague. (A. D. 79) Vespasian was guilty of an act of cruelty
The senate had decreed a triunph to Vespasian which marks his character with a stain. Julius
and Titus separately, for the conquest of the Jews ; Sabinus, who had assumed the title of Caesar in
but Vespasian thought that one triumph was enough Gaul at the beginning of A. D. 70, was at last dis-
for both, and for the first time, it is said, in the covered, after nine years' concealment, and brought
history of Rome, a father and a son triumphed to Rome with his wife Epponina. The faithful de.
together. Vespasian was very wcary of the pompous votion of Epponina during these years of conceal-
ceremony before it was orer. The temple of ment and alarm, has immortalised her name. When
Janus was closed as the signal of war being ended, she was carried before Vespasian, she threw her.
and the emperor commenced the erection of a self at his fect with the two children whom she
temple of Peace. Titus at this time began to assist had borne to her husband, whom she used to visit
his father in the administration, and undertook the in his hiding-place. Vespasian, though moved to
important functions of Praefectus Praetorio. In tears, condemned both Sabinus and his wife to die.
A. D. 72 Caesennius Pactus, whom Vespasian had The two children were preserved. (Tacit. Hist.
made governor of Syria in place of Mucianus, iv. 55, 67. ) The story is told at length by Plu.
informed the emperor that Antiochus, king of tarch. (SABINUS, Julius. ).
Commagene, and his son Epiphanes, were in treaty Alienus Caecina and Marcellus, both of whom had
with the Parthian king and preparing to revolt. received favours from Vespasian, conspired against
Whether the charge was true or false, Vespasian him. The evidence was said to be complete. Titus
gave Paetus full powers to act, and the governor invited Caecina, against whom he had some cause of
entered Commagene and took possession of the complaint, to sup with him, and as he was leaving
country. Antiochus was ultimately settled at Rome, the palace, he ordered him to be put to death.
where his two sons joined him, and Commagene This irregular proceeding, whatever may have been
was made a Roman province. (Antiochus IV. , the guilt of Caecina, is a reproach to the memory
king of Commagene. )
of Titus and his father. Marcellus was tried by
Petilius Cerealis, who had terminated the war the Senate and condemned. He cut his throat.
with the Batavi at the close of A. D. 70, was after- In the summer of this year Vespasian, whose
wards sent into Britain, and reduced to subjuga health was failing, went to spend some time at his
tion a large part of the Brigantes. Julius Frontinus, paternal house in the mountains of the Sabini. By
after him, subdued the Silures, or people of South drinking to excess of cold water he damaged his
Wales. Frontinus was succeeded by Julius Agri- stomach, which was already disordered. But he
cola in the command in Britain.
still attended to business, just as if he had been in
A great disturbance at Alexandria (A. D. 73) is perfect health ; and on feeling the approach of
recorded by Eusebius, but little about it appears death he said that an emperor should die standing;
in other writers, It was at this time that Achaea, and in fact he did die in this attitude on the 24th
Lycia, Rhodes, Byzantium, Cilicia, and other of June A. D. 79, being 69 years of age, seven
places, which were up to this time either con. months and seven days. He reigned ten years all
sidered as free states or governed by kings, were but six days, for his reign is dated from his pro.
all subjected to a Roman governor, on the ground clamation as emperor at Alexandria on the first of
that their liberty was only used for the purposes of July A. D. 69.
disturbance. (Pausan. vii. 17. & 4. )
The wife of Vespasian died before her husband's
The execution of Helvidius Priscus (Priscus] elevation to the imperial dignity, and also her
took place under the reign of Vespasian, and by daughter Domitilla. After his wife's death he co-
his order ; but the extravagant behaviour of Priscus habited with a freed woman named Caenis, whom,
and the mild temper of Vespasian justify us in con- after he became emperor, he had, says Suetonius,
cluding that the emperor's conduct in this affair almost as a lawful wife. A marriage with Caenis
nay have had a reasonable justification. Priscus would not have been a Roman marriage, and she
was a Stoic, who carried his doctrines to an absurd was a concubine, in the Roman sense. Caenis is
excess ; and he and others of the same sect seem accused of selling places under the emperor. (Sue-
to have aimed at exciting insurrection. Vespasian tonius, Vespasianus ; Tacitus, Hist. ; Dion Cas-
banished the philosophers, as they were called, sius, lxvi. ; Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs,
from Rome, with the exception of Musonius Rufus. vol. ii. )
[G. L. )
Demetrius, one of these rabid sages, tried the em-
peror's patience by insulting him in the streets of
Rome. (Sueton. Vespas. 13. ) In A. D. 74 Ves-
pasian and Titus made a census or enumeration of
the Roman citizens, the last that was made. The
conversation which is the subject of the Dialogus
de Oratoribus (Tacitus] is represented as having
taken place in the sixth year of Vespasian, A. D.
75.
In the year A. D. 77, the eighth consulship of
Vespasianus and the sixth of Titus Caesar, Plinius VESPA'SIUS POʻLLIO. [Pollio. ]
addressed to Titus his great compilation, intitled VESPILLO, the name of a family of the Lui.
Naturalis Historia. In the same year Eusebius cretia gens. 1. LUCRETIUS VESPILLO, aedila
records a pestilence at Rome.
B. c. 133, is said to have thrown the corpse of Tib.
the consulship
clined the hon
accordingly
B. c. 19. (Ca
Val Mar, vi.
VESTA,
identical with
import. She
therefore ins
for Aeneas *
fire of l'esta.
the Penates
tors, before
sacrificed no
at Larinig
744; Mac
house, the
it all the
mon meal
taken was
annong the
time an a
sacrifice
305 ; Vi
Erery do
a temple
but a pu
state into
in the
tine bil
Pedates
with a
bouses,
for as
Fast.
deas a
but the
vas b
tende
each
hadis
she
crific
Tbe
pare
COIN OF VESPASIANUS,
U 3
## p. 1249 (#1265) ##########################################
to Brizz, and the
1249
VESTA.
VETRANIO.
als and the ad
ve been fotected by
wide the so
Tte faloragrey
Er of an act of
with a smine
be title of Cassa
0. 70, was a: das 13
cealment, and love
enim. Ite for
These rears of
sed her name. Il ne
*28an, se torbe
ITO chcirea mese
wborn sie used to rest
rasan, thrash govega
Tribus a3d Esrite to de
Freserved. (Taci He
steld at Sergio Pa
arcelas, boti nf bzhi
paras ar, corspeed 2023
said to be compleza
whom he had stead
tim, and as he was larg
him to be put i det
ng, whatever har ane bez
s a reproach to the Best
er. Marcellus ruta
ced He cat la tira
this year l'escasas, v
ent to spend some ti 13
mountains of the go
cold water be damanis
already disorderet. the
Gracchus into the Tiber and thus to have obtained might enter it. (Ov. Fast. vi. 227, &c. ; Fest. p. 344,
the sumame of Vespillo. (Aurel. Vict. de Vir. II. ed. Müller. ) The day on which this took place
64 ; respecting the Vespillones, see Dict. of Antiq. was a dies nefustus, the first half of which was
P. 559, 2, 2d ed. )
thought to be so inauspicious, that the pricstess of
2. Q. LUCRETIUS VESPILLO, an orator and a Juno was not allowed to comb her hair, to cut her
jurist, was proscribed by Sulla and put to deuth. nails, or to approach her husband, while the second
(Cic. Brut. 48 ; Appian, B. C. iv. 44. )
half was very favourable to contracting a marriage
3. Q. LUCRETIUS VESPILLO, the son of No. 2, or entering upon other important undertakings.
served in the Pompeian fleet in B. C. 48.
He was A few days before that solemnity, on the 9th of
proscribed by the triumvirs in B. C. 43, out more June, the Vestalia was celebrated in honour of the
fortunate than his father, was concealed by his goddess, on which occasion none but women walked
wife Thuria in his own house at Rome, till his to the temple, and that with bare fect. On one of
friends obtained his pardon. In B. C. 20, he was these occasions an altar had been dedicated to Ju-
one of the deputation which the senate sent to piter Pistor. (Ov. Fust. vi. 3. 50 ; comp. Hartung,
Augustus at Athens to request the latter to assume Die clip. der kön. vol. ii. p. 111, đc. ) (L. S. ]
the consulship for the following year, but he de- VE'STIA OʻPPIA. (Orpia, No. 2. )
clined the honour, and nppointed Vespillo, who was VESTI'LIUS, SEX. , a man of prctorian rank,
accordingly consul with C. Sentius Saturninus in put to death, A. D. 32. (Tac. Ann. vi. 9. )
B. c. 19. (Cacs. B. C. iii. 7 ; Appinn, B. C. iv. 44; VESTI'NUS ATTICUS. (ATTICU8. ]
Val. Max. vi. 7. & 2 ; Dion Cass. liv. 10. )
VESTI'NUS, JUʻLIUS, a sophist, niade an
VESTA, one of the great Roman divinities, abridgment of the lexicon of Pamphilus (Pam-
identical with the Greek Hestia both in nan and PHILUS, No. 4], and a selection of words from
import. She was the goddess of the hearth, and Demosthenes, Thucydides, Isaeus, Isocrates and
therefore inseparably connected with the Penates, others. (Suidas, s. v. Ounotivos. ) The name of
for Aeneas was believed to have brought the eternal Julius Vestinus ought to be substituted for that of
fire of Vesta from Troy, along with the images of Julius Justinus, which is prefixed as the name of
the Penates ; and the praetors, consuls, and dicta- one of the lexicographers to the work of Suidas.
tors, before entering upon their official functions, C. VESTO'RIUS, of Puteoli, a money-lender,
sacrificed not only to the Penates, but also to Vesta with whom Cicero had large dealings, and who
at Lavinium. (Virg. Aen. ii. 296, &c. , X. 259, v. was also a friend of Atticus. (Cic. ad Att. iv. 6,
744; Macrob. Sat. iii. 4. ) In the ancient Roman 14, 16, vi. 2, v. 2, ad Att. xiv. 9, 12, 14, et alibi. )
house, the hearth was the central part, and around VESTRITIUS SPURINNA. (SPURINNA. ]
it all the inmates daily assembled for their com- P. VE'STRIUS, a Roman eques and a Pom.
mon meal (coena, koivń), and every meal thus peian, was taken prisoner in Africa in B. C. 46,
taken was a fresh bond of union and affection and pardoned by Caesar. (Hirt. B. Afr. 64. )
among the members of a family, and at the same VETI'LIUS. 1. C. or M. VETILius, praetor
time an act of worship of Vesta combined with a B. c. 147, was defeated in Spain by Viriathus,
sacrifice to her and the Penates. (Ov. Fast. vi. taken prisoner and put to death. For an account
305 ; Virg. Georg. iv. 384 ; Serv. ad Aen. i. 734. ) of his defeat, and the authorities, see VIRIATHUS.
Every dwelling house therefore was, in some sense, 2. Verilius, a leno, was refused by Q. Me.
a temple of Vesta (August. De Civ. Dei, iv. 11), tellus, the praetor, the bonorum possessio in accord-
but a public sanctuary united all the citizens of the ance with the will of Juventius, on account of his
state into one large family. This sanctuary stood infamous mode of life. (Val. Max. vii. 7. $ 7. )
in the Forum, between the Capitoline and Pala- 3. P. VETILIUS, a relation of Sex. Aebutius,
tine hills, and not far from the temple of the and a witness in the case of Caecina. (Cic. pro
Penates. (Dionys. ii. 65. ) That temple was round Caecin. 9. )
with a vaulted roof, like the impluvium of private VETRANIO, an officer far advanced in years,
houses, so that there is no reason to regard that who had long served with high reputation, and who
form as an imitation of the vault of heaven (Ov. was much and generally beloved on account of his
Fast. vi. 269, &c. , 282 ; Plut. Num. 11. ) The god- simple manners and amiable temper, commanded
dess was not represented in her temple by a statue, the legions in Illyria and Pannonia, at the period
but the eternal fire burning on the hearth or altar (4. D. 350), when Constans was treacherously de-
was her living symbol, and was kept up and at- stroyed, and his throne seized by Magnentius.
tended to by the Vestals, her virgin priestesses. As The first impulse of the veteran induced him to
each house, and the city itself, so also the country write a letter to Constantius promising firm alle-
had its own Vesta, and the latter was worshipped giance, and urging him to advance with all speed
at Lavinium, the metropolis of the Latins, where that he might in person chastise the usurper.
she was worshipped and received the regular sa- Soon afterwards, however, he was prevailed upon
crifices at the hands of the highest magistrates. by the solicitations of his troops, and by the
The goddess herself was regarded as chaste and pressing representations of the notorious Constantina
pure like her symbol, the fire, and the Vestals, [CONSTANTINA), eldest sister of Constantine the
who kept up the sacred fire, were likewise pure Great, himself to assume the purple at Sirmium,
maidens. Respecting their duties and obligations, about the beginning of March, A. D. 350. Being
see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Vestales. As regards her now courted by both of the contending parties, he
worship, it is stated, that every year, on the 1st of concluded a treaty with Constantius whom he
March her sacred fire, and the laurel tree which soon abandoned ; he next entered into close alli-
shaded her hearth, were renewed (Macrob. Sat. ance with Magnentius, and finally, as detailed in
i. 12; Ov. Fast. iii. 143), and that on the 15th a former article [Constantius), was constrained
of June her temple was cleaned and purified. The by dextrous management at the famous confer-
dirt was carried into an angiportus behind the ence held on the 25th December near Sardica to
temple, which was locked by a gate that no one abdicate the power which he had exercised for
VOL. IL
4 L
iness, just as if he had been i
d on feeling the approach
emperor só old die serein
die in this attitude an 18:41
69 years of 24, UTE
dars. He reigned ten van zi
uis reign is dated from his po
eror at Alexandria on ile ist
being
em
spasian died before bar lasteae)
imperial dignity, and is be
Via After bis wife's death in a
Teed woman maped Csers, FS
emperor, he had, sare des
fal wife. A marriage sub (2005
been a Roman parte, 91
me, in the Roman sense (esi
ng paces under the empent,
spunus ; Tacitas, Hist; Dhee Live
Tiemont, Histoire des Enteras
(GL
1-6
COIN OF VESPASIANTX
ASIUS POʻLLIO. [POLLM]
TLLO, the name of a fire the
1. LUCRETIS l'ispilla de
is said to hare shown the curpee als
## p. 1250 (#1266) ##########################################
1250
VETTIUS.
VETTIUS.
ac.
COIN OP VETRANIO.
less than ten months, and to resign all his preten- of a L. Vettio judice. ) He was an unprincipled
sions in favour of Constantius, by whom he was fellow, who was ready to sell his services to any
treated with great kindness, and permitted to re- one who would pay him well. He again appears
tire to Prusa, in Bithynia, where he passed the in B. C. 59 as an informer. In that year he
remaining six years of his life in contented tran-cused Curio, Cicero, L. Lucullus, and many other
quillity, practising the virtues of the Christian distinguished men, of having formed a conspiracy
faith which he professed. It is tolerably clear, as to assassinate Pompey. Dion Cassius, who al.
far as we can pretend to draw any conclusion from ways thinks the worst about every man, asserts
the confused and contradictory accounts transmitted (xxxviii
. 9) as a positive fact that Vettius had
to us regarding the above transactions, that the been purchased by Cicero and L. Lucullus to
extraordinary conduct of Vetranio must be ascribed murder Caesar and Pompey ; but this statement is
to natural indecision or to the vacillating imbecility in opposition to all other authorities, and deserves
of old age, rather than to a system of complicated no credence. It seems almost certain that the
treachery altogether foreign to his character, which conspiracy was a sheer invention for the purpose
is painted in very favourable colours by almost all of injuring Cicero, Curio, and others; but there is
the historians of this epoch, except Aurelius Victor more difficulty in determining who were the in-
who describes him as little better than a mis- ventors of it. Cicero regarded it as the work of
chievous idiot. [CONSTANS; MAGNENTIUS; Con Caesar, who remained in the background while
STANTIUS. ] (Jnlian. Orat. i. i. ; Themist. Orat. its success was uncertain, and who used the tri-
iii. iv. ; Amm. Marc. xv. 1. $ 2, xxi.
the Batavi, who were situated near the mouth of plicity and frugality of his mode of life formed a
the Rhine. These Batavi furnished soldiers for striking contrast with the profusion and luxury of
the Roman armies in Germany and Britain, and some of his predecessors, and his example is said
were so far in the relation of subjects to Rome. to have done more to reform the morals of Rome
Claudius Civilis, a one-eyed nian like Hannibal than all the laws which had ever been enacted.
and Sertorius, and one of the most illustrious of He lived more like a private person than a man
the Batavi, had begun to excite his countrymen to who possessed supreme power: he was affable and
resistance by preventing the march of the new re- easy of access to all persons. The personal anec.
cruits whom Vitellius bad ordered to be enlisted. dotes of such a man are some of the most instruc-
Having induced the Caninefates to join them, the tive records of his reign. He was never ashamed
Batavi attacked and defeated the Romans under of the meanness of his origin, and ridiculed all
Aquilius. Hordeonius Flaccus, who commanded the attempts to make out for him a distinguished genea-
troops in Germany, sent Mummius Lupercus against logy. (Sueton. Vespas. 12. ) He often visited the
Civilis with two legions, part of which joined Civilis, villa in which he was born, and would not allow
and the rest were driven back to Castra Vetera, any change to be made in the place. When Volo-
perhaps Xanten in Clèves. Eight cohorts of Batavi geses, the Parthian king, addressed to him a letter
and Caninefates, which Vitellius had ordered to commencing in these terms, “ Arsaces, king of
march into Italy, turned back from Mainz and de- kings, to Flavius Vespasianus," the answer began,
feated Herennius Gallus near Bonn. (Tacit. Hist. “ Flavius Vespasianus to Arsaces, king of kings. '
iv. 19. ) Civilis made his troops take the oath to If it be true, as it is recorded, that he was not an.
Vespasian, and shortly after he was informed of noyed at satire or ridicule, he exhibited an eleva-
the defeat of the Vitellians at Cremona, and that tion of character almost unparalleled in one who
he ought now to lay down his arms, if he had taken filled so exalted a station. Vespasianus was mainly
them up for the cause of Vespasian ; but Civilis indebted to Mucianus, gorernor of Syria, for his
had no intention to do so, and he declared that his imperial title, and he was not ungrateful for the ser-
object was to free his country and the Gauls from vices that Mucianus had rendered him, though
the Roman yoke. (Tacit. Hist. iv. 32. ) The his- Mucianus was of an arrogant and ambitious dis-
tory of this war is told under CivilIS, CLAUDIUS. position, and gave Vespasian some trouble by his
Domitian left Rome on the news of the revolt of behaviour. He knew the bad character of his son
the Gauls with the intention of conducting the war Domitian, and as long as he lived he kept him
against Civilis, and Mucianus, knowing his cha- under proper restraint.
racter, thought it prudent to accompany him. On The stories that are told of his avarice and of
their route the news arrived that Cerealis had ended his modes of raising money, if true, detract from the
the war with Civilis, and Mucianus persuaded dignity of his character ; and it seems that he had
Domitian to go no farther than Lyon. Domitian a taste for little savings, and for coarse bumour.
returned to Italy before the end of the year to Yet it is admitted that he was liberal in all his
meet his father.
expenditure for purposes of public utility. Love of
2.
gorernor of Sri che
is, and išat his su Tits
12. ainst the Jert Tim
il the following seat ; 29
ied or gained oreribe to
put to death abeat the
an was in Ext when i
rictor which bis rues Band
the 25th of October; and
4, wbere he saw pala
kus sars that be bude
exandrines br increases the
w ones, and the dead
shion, retaliated by satire
1 in going to Egypi noci
rain from Alexadra u Rize
tius to yield; ba: thg 11 -
ian, the second sum of Peace
as proc'aimed Caesar apen eta
(Tacit
. Histe iz sa) The
on l'espasian the imperial che
ameration of powers, and related
: laurs from which trautz, 1
lips had been released; and the
am was confirmed bra la
is Ler still remains Tits 19
the following year with bis
## p. 1248 (#1264) ##########################################
1248
VESPASIANUS.
VESPILLO.
Gracchus into
the surname of
64; respecting
p. 359, 2, 2d ec
2. Q. LUCR
jurist, was pros
(Cic. Brat. 48
3. Q. LUCRE
served in the F
proscribed by
fortunate than
wife Thuria i
frends obtaine
one of the de
Augustus at a
getting money and niggardliness in personal mat- In A. D. 78 Agricola was sent to Britain, and he
ters are by no means inconsistent with bountiful reduced to submission North Wales and the island
outlay for great and noble objects.
of Anglesey, which had before been subjected by
In A. D. 71 Vespasianus was consul for the third the Romans, but had revolted under the adminis
time with M. Cocceius Nerra, the same probably tration of Suetonius Paullinns. The following year
who was afterwards emperor, for his collcague. (A. D. 79) Vespasian was guilty of an act of cruelty
The senate had decreed a triunph to Vespasian which marks his character with a stain. Julius
and Titus separately, for the conquest of the Jews ; Sabinus, who had assumed the title of Caesar in
but Vespasian thought that one triumph was enough Gaul at the beginning of A. D. 70, was at last dis-
for both, and for the first time, it is said, in the covered, after nine years' concealment, and brought
history of Rome, a father and a son triumphed to Rome with his wife Epponina. The faithful de.
together. Vespasian was very wcary of the pompous votion of Epponina during these years of conceal-
ceremony before it was orer. The temple of ment and alarm, has immortalised her name. When
Janus was closed as the signal of war being ended, she was carried before Vespasian, she threw her.
and the emperor commenced the erection of a self at his fect with the two children whom she
temple of Peace. Titus at this time began to assist had borne to her husband, whom she used to visit
his father in the administration, and undertook the in his hiding-place. Vespasian, though moved to
important functions of Praefectus Praetorio. In tears, condemned both Sabinus and his wife to die.
A. D. 72 Caesennius Pactus, whom Vespasian had The two children were preserved. (Tacit. Hist.
made governor of Syria in place of Mucianus, iv. 55, 67. ) The story is told at length by Plu.
informed the emperor that Antiochus, king of tarch. (SABINUS, Julius. ).
Commagene, and his son Epiphanes, were in treaty Alienus Caecina and Marcellus, both of whom had
with the Parthian king and preparing to revolt. received favours from Vespasian, conspired against
Whether the charge was true or false, Vespasian him. The evidence was said to be complete. Titus
gave Paetus full powers to act, and the governor invited Caecina, against whom he had some cause of
entered Commagene and took possession of the complaint, to sup with him, and as he was leaving
country. Antiochus was ultimately settled at Rome, the palace, he ordered him to be put to death.
where his two sons joined him, and Commagene This irregular proceeding, whatever may have been
was made a Roman province. (Antiochus IV. , the guilt of Caecina, is a reproach to the memory
king of Commagene. )
of Titus and his father. Marcellus was tried by
Petilius Cerealis, who had terminated the war the Senate and condemned. He cut his throat.
with the Batavi at the close of A. D. 70, was after- In the summer of this year Vespasian, whose
wards sent into Britain, and reduced to subjuga health was failing, went to spend some time at his
tion a large part of the Brigantes. Julius Frontinus, paternal house in the mountains of the Sabini. By
after him, subdued the Silures, or people of South drinking to excess of cold water he damaged his
Wales. Frontinus was succeeded by Julius Agri- stomach, which was already disordered. But he
cola in the command in Britain.
still attended to business, just as if he had been in
A great disturbance at Alexandria (A. D. 73) is perfect health ; and on feeling the approach of
recorded by Eusebius, but little about it appears death he said that an emperor should die standing;
in other writers, It was at this time that Achaea, and in fact he did die in this attitude on the 24th
Lycia, Rhodes, Byzantium, Cilicia, and other of June A. D. 79, being 69 years of age, seven
places, which were up to this time either con. months and seven days. He reigned ten years all
sidered as free states or governed by kings, were but six days, for his reign is dated from his pro.
all subjected to a Roman governor, on the ground clamation as emperor at Alexandria on the first of
that their liberty was only used for the purposes of July A. D. 69.
disturbance. (Pausan. vii. 17. & 4. )
The wife of Vespasian died before her husband's
The execution of Helvidius Priscus (Priscus] elevation to the imperial dignity, and also her
took place under the reign of Vespasian, and by daughter Domitilla. After his wife's death he co-
his order ; but the extravagant behaviour of Priscus habited with a freed woman named Caenis, whom,
and the mild temper of Vespasian justify us in con- after he became emperor, he had, says Suetonius,
cluding that the emperor's conduct in this affair almost as a lawful wife. A marriage with Caenis
nay have had a reasonable justification. Priscus would not have been a Roman marriage, and she
was a Stoic, who carried his doctrines to an absurd was a concubine, in the Roman sense. Caenis is
excess ; and he and others of the same sect seem accused of selling places under the emperor. (Sue-
to have aimed at exciting insurrection. Vespasian tonius, Vespasianus ; Tacitus, Hist. ; Dion Cas-
banished the philosophers, as they were called, sius, lxvi. ; Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs,
from Rome, with the exception of Musonius Rufus. vol. ii. )
[G. L. )
Demetrius, one of these rabid sages, tried the em-
peror's patience by insulting him in the streets of
Rome. (Sueton. Vespas. 13. ) In A. D. 74 Ves-
pasian and Titus made a census or enumeration of
the Roman citizens, the last that was made. The
conversation which is the subject of the Dialogus
de Oratoribus (Tacitus] is represented as having
taken place in the sixth year of Vespasian, A. D.
75.
In the year A. D. 77, the eighth consulship of
Vespasianus and the sixth of Titus Caesar, Plinius VESPA'SIUS POʻLLIO. [Pollio. ]
addressed to Titus his great compilation, intitled VESPILLO, the name of a family of the Lui.
Naturalis Historia. In the same year Eusebius cretia gens. 1. LUCRETIUS VESPILLO, aedila
records a pestilence at Rome.
B. c. 133, is said to have thrown the corpse of Tib.
the consulship
clined the hon
accordingly
B. c. 19. (Ca
Val Mar, vi.
VESTA,
identical with
import. She
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mountains of the go
cold water be damanis
already disorderet. the
Gracchus into the Tiber and thus to have obtained might enter it. (Ov. Fast. vi. 227, &c. ; Fest. p. 344,
the sumame of Vespillo. (Aurel. Vict. de Vir. II. ed. Müller. ) The day on which this took place
64 ; respecting the Vespillones, see Dict. of Antiq. was a dies nefustus, the first half of which was
P. 559, 2, 2d ed. )
thought to be so inauspicious, that the pricstess of
2. Q. LUCRETIUS VESPILLO, an orator and a Juno was not allowed to comb her hair, to cut her
jurist, was proscribed by Sulla and put to deuth. nails, or to approach her husband, while the second
(Cic. Brut. 48 ; Appian, B. C. iv. 44. )
half was very favourable to contracting a marriage
3. Q. LUCRETIUS VESPILLO, the son of No. 2, or entering upon other important undertakings.
served in the Pompeian fleet in B. C. 48.
He was A few days before that solemnity, on the 9th of
proscribed by the triumvirs in B. C. 43, out more June, the Vestalia was celebrated in honour of the
fortunate than his father, was concealed by his goddess, on which occasion none but women walked
wife Thuria in his own house at Rome, till his to the temple, and that with bare fect. On one of
friends obtained his pardon. In B. C. 20, he was these occasions an altar had been dedicated to Ju-
one of the deputation which the senate sent to piter Pistor. (Ov. Fust. vi. 3. 50 ; comp. Hartung,
Augustus at Athens to request the latter to assume Die clip. der kön. vol. ii. p. 111, đc. ) (L. S. ]
the consulship for the following year, but he de- VE'STIA OʻPPIA. (Orpia, No. 2. )
clined the honour, and nppointed Vespillo, who was VESTI'LIUS, SEX. , a man of prctorian rank,
accordingly consul with C. Sentius Saturninus in put to death, A. D. 32. (Tac. Ann. vi. 9. )
B. c. 19. (Cacs. B. C. iii. 7 ; Appinn, B. C. iv. 44; VESTI'NUS ATTICUS. (ATTICU8. ]
Val. Max. vi. 7. & 2 ; Dion Cass. liv. 10. )
VESTI'NUS, JUʻLIUS, a sophist, niade an
VESTA, one of the great Roman divinities, abridgment of the lexicon of Pamphilus (Pam-
identical with the Greek Hestia both in nan and PHILUS, No. 4], and a selection of words from
import. She was the goddess of the hearth, and Demosthenes, Thucydides, Isaeus, Isocrates and
therefore inseparably connected with the Penates, others. (Suidas, s. v. Ounotivos. ) The name of
for Aeneas was believed to have brought the eternal Julius Vestinus ought to be substituted for that of
fire of Vesta from Troy, along with the images of Julius Justinus, which is prefixed as the name of
the Penates ; and the praetors, consuls, and dicta- one of the lexicographers to the work of Suidas.
tors, before entering upon their official functions, C. VESTO'RIUS, of Puteoli, a money-lender,
sacrificed not only to the Penates, but also to Vesta with whom Cicero had large dealings, and who
at Lavinium. (Virg. Aen. ii. 296, &c. , X. 259, v. was also a friend of Atticus. (Cic. ad Att. iv. 6,
744; Macrob. Sat. iii. 4. ) In the ancient Roman 14, 16, vi. 2, v. 2, ad Att. xiv. 9, 12, 14, et alibi. )
house, the hearth was the central part, and around VESTRITIUS SPURINNA. (SPURINNA. ]
it all the inmates daily assembled for their com- P. VE'STRIUS, a Roman eques and a Pom.
mon meal (coena, koivń), and every meal thus peian, was taken prisoner in Africa in B. C. 46,
taken was a fresh bond of union and affection and pardoned by Caesar. (Hirt. B. Afr. 64. )
among the members of a family, and at the same VETI'LIUS. 1. C. or M. VETILius, praetor
time an act of worship of Vesta combined with a B. c. 147, was defeated in Spain by Viriathus,
sacrifice to her and the Penates. (Ov. Fast. vi. taken prisoner and put to death. For an account
305 ; Virg. Georg. iv. 384 ; Serv. ad Aen. i. 734. ) of his defeat, and the authorities, see VIRIATHUS.
Every dwelling house therefore was, in some sense, 2. Verilius, a leno, was refused by Q. Me.
a temple of Vesta (August. De Civ. Dei, iv. 11), tellus, the praetor, the bonorum possessio in accord-
but a public sanctuary united all the citizens of the ance with the will of Juventius, on account of his
state into one large family. This sanctuary stood infamous mode of life. (Val. Max. vii. 7. $ 7. )
in the Forum, between the Capitoline and Pala- 3. P. VETILIUS, a relation of Sex. Aebutius,
tine hills, and not far from the temple of the and a witness in the case of Caecina. (Cic. pro
Penates. (Dionys. ii. 65. ) That temple was round Caecin. 9. )
with a vaulted roof, like the impluvium of private VETRANIO, an officer far advanced in years,
houses, so that there is no reason to regard that who had long served with high reputation, and who
form as an imitation of the vault of heaven (Ov. was much and generally beloved on account of his
Fast. vi. 269, &c. , 282 ; Plut. Num. 11. ) The god- simple manners and amiable temper, commanded
dess was not represented in her temple by a statue, the legions in Illyria and Pannonia, at the period
but the eternal fire burning on the hearth or altar (4. D. 350), when Constans was treacherously de-
was her living symbol, and was kept up and at- stroyed, and his throne seized by Magnentius.
tended to by the Vestals, her virgin priestesses. As The first impulse of the veteran induced him to
each house, and the city itself, so also the country write a letter to Constantius promising firm alle-
had its own Vesta, and the latter was worshipped giance, and urging him to advance with all speed
at Lavinium, the metropolis of the Latins, where that he might in person chastise the usurper.
she was worshipped and received the regular sa- Soon afterwards, however, he was prevailed upon
crifices at the hands of the highest magistrates. by the solicitations of his troops, and by the
The goddess herself was regarded as chaste and pressing representations of the notorious Constantina
pure like her symbol, the fire, and the Vestals, [CONSTANTINA), eldest sister of Constantine the
who kept up the sacred fire, were likewise pure Great, himself to assume the purple at Sirmium,
maidens. Respecting their duties and obligations, about the beginning of March, A. D. 350. Being
see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Vestales. As regards her now courted by both of the contending parties, he
worship, it is stated, that every year, on the 1st of concluded a treaty with Constantius whom he
March her sacred fire, and the laurel tree which soon abandoned ; he next entered into close alli-
shaded her hearth, were renewed (Macrob. Sat. ance with Magnentius, and finally, as detailed in
i. 12; Ov. Fast. iii. 143), and that on the 15th a former article [Constantius), was constrained
of June her temple was cleaned and purified. The by dextrous management at the famous confer-
dirt was carried into an angiportus behind the ence held on the 25th December near Sardica to
temple, which was locked by a gate that no one abdicate the power which he had exercised for
VOL. IL
4 L
iness, just as if he had been i
d on feeling the approach
emperor só old die serein
die in this attitude an 18:41
69 years of 24, UTE
dars. He reigned ten van zi
uis reign is dated from his po
eror at Alexandria on ile ist
being
em
spasian died before bar lasteae)
imperial dignity, and is be
Via After bis wife's death in a
Teed woman maped Csers, FS
emperor, he had, sare des
fal wife. A marriage sub (2005
been a Roman parte, 91
me, in the Roman sense (esi
ng paces under the empent,
spunus ; Tacitas, Hist; Dhee Live
Tiemont, Histoire des Enteras
(GL
1-6
COIN OF VESPASIANTX
ASIUS POʻLLIO. [POLLM]
TLLO, the name of a fire the
1. LUCRETIS l'ispilla de
is said to hare shown the curpee als
## p. 1250 (#1266) ##########################################
1250
VETTIUS.
VETTIUS.
ac.
COIN OP VETRANIO.
less than ten months, and to resign all his preten- of a L. Vettio judice. ) He was an unprincipled
sions in favour of Constantius, by whom he was fellow, who was ready to sell his services to any
treated with great kindness, and permitted to re- one who would pay him well. He again appears
tire to Prusa, in Bithynia, where he passed the in B. C. 59 as an informer. In that year he
remaining six years of his life in contented tran-cused Curio, Cicero, L. Lucullus, and many other
quillity, practising the virtues of the Christian distinguished men, of having formed a conspiracy
faith which he professed. It is tolerably clear, as to assassinate Pompey. Dion Cassius, who al.
far as we can pretend to draw any conclusion from ways thinks the worst about every man, asserts
the confused and contradictory accounts transmitted (xxxviii
. 9) as a positive fact that Vettius had
to us regarding the above transactions, that the been purchased by Cicero and L. Lucullus to
extraordinary conduct of Vetranio must be ascribed murder Caesar and Pompey ; but this statement is
to natural indecision or to the vacillating imbecility in opposition to all other authorities, and deserves
of old age, rather than to a system of complicated no credence. It seems almost certain that the
treachery altogether foreign to his character, which conspiracy was a sheer invention for the purpose
is painted in very favourable colours by almost all of injuring Cicero, Curio, and others; but there is
the historians of this epoch, except Aurelius Victor more difficulty in determining who were the in-
who describes him as little better than a mis- ventors of it. Cicero regarded it as the work of
chievous idiot. [CONSTANS; MAGNENTIUS; Con Caesar, who remained in the background while
STANTIUS. ] (Jnlian. Orat. i. i. ; Themist. Orat. its success was uncertain, and who used the tri-
iii. iv. ; Amm. Marc. xv. 1. $ 2, xxi.
