the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, the queen of laughter,
the mistress of the graces and of pleasures, and the patroness
of courtesans. Some mythologists speak of more than one Venus.
Plato mentions two, Venus Urania the daughter of Uranus, and Venus
Popularia the daughter of Jupiter and Dione. Cicero speaks of four, a
daughter of Cœlus and Light, one sprung from the froth of the sea, a
third, daughter of Jupiter and the Nereid Dione, and a fourth born at
Tyre, and the same as the Astarte of the Syrians. Of these, however,
the Venus sprung from the froth of the sea, after the mutilated
part of the body of Uranus had been thrown there by Saturn, is the
most known, and of her in particular ancient mythologists, as well
as painters, make mention. She arose from the sea near the island
of Cyprus, or, according to Hesiod, of Cythera, whither she was
wafted by the zephyrs, and received on the sea-shore by the seasons,
daughters of Jupiter and Themis. She was soon after carried to
heaven, where all the gods admired her beauty, and all the goddesses
became jealous of her personal charms. Jupiter attempted to gain her
affections and even wished to offer her violence, but Venus refused,
and the god, to punish her obstinacy, gave her in marriage to his
ugly and deformed son Vulcan. This marriage did not prevent the
goddess of Love from gratifying her favourite passions, and she
defiled her husband’s bed by her amours with the gods. Her intrigue
with Mars is the most celebrated. She was caught in her lover’s arms,
and exposed to the ridicule and laughter of all the gods. _See:_
Alectryon. Venus became mother of Hermione, Cupid, and Anteros by
Mars; by Mercury she had Hermaphroditus; by Bacchus, Priapus; and
by Neptune, Eryx. Her great partiality for Adonis made her abandon
the seats of Olympus [_See:_ Adonis], and her regard for Anchises
obliged her often to visit the woods and solitary retreats of mount
Ida. _See:_ Anchises, Æneas. The power of Venus over the heart was
supported and assisted by a celebrated girdle, called _zone_ by
the Greeks, and _cestus_ by the Latins. This mysterious girdle gave
beauty, grace, and elegance, when worn even by the most deformed; and
it excited love and rekindled extinguished flames. Juno herself was
indebted to this powerful ornament to gain the favours of Jupiter,
and Venus, though herself possessed of every charm, no sooner put
on her cestus, than Vulcan, unable to resist the influence of love,
forgot all the intrigues and infidelities of his wife, and fabricated
arms even for her illegitimate children. The contest of Venus for
the golden apple of Discord is well known. She gained the prize over
Pallas and Juno [_See:_ Paris, Discordia], and rewarded her impartial
judge with the hand of the fairest woman in the world. The worship of
Venus was universally established; statues and temples were erected
to her in every kingdom, and the ancients were fond of paying homage
to a divinity who presided over generation, and by whose influence
alone mankind existed. In her sacrifices and in the festivals
celebrated in her honour, too much licentiousness prevailed, and
public prostitution was often part of the ceremony. Victims were
seldom offered to her, or her altars stained with blood, though we
find Aspasia making repeated sacrifices. No pigs, however, or male
animals were deemed acceptable. The rose, the myrtle, and the apple,
were sacred to Venus; and among birds, the dove, the swan, and the
sparrow, were her favourites; and among fishes, those called the
aphya and the lycostomus. The goddess of beauty was represented among
the ancients in different forms. At Elis she appeared seated on a
goat, with one foot resting on a tortoise. At Sparta and Cythera,
she was represented armed like Minerva, and sometimes wearing chains
on her feet. In the temple of Jupiter Olympius, she was represented
by Phidias, as rising from the sea, received by love, and crowned by
the goddess of persuasion. At Cnidos her statue, made by Praxiteles,
represented her naked, with one hand hiding what modesty keeps
concealed. Her statue at Elephantis was the same, with only a naked
Cupid by her side. In Sicyon she held a poppy in one hand, and in the
other an apple, while on her head she had a crown, which terminated
in a point, to intimate the pole. She is generally represented with
her son Cupid, on a chariot drawn by doves, or at other times by
swans and sparrows. The surnames of the goddess are numerous, and
only show how well established her worship was all over the earth.
She was called _Cypria_, because particularly worshipped in the
island of Cyprus, and in that character she was often represented
with a beard, and the male parts of generation, with a sceptre in
her hand, and the body and dress of a female, whence she is called
_duplex Amathusia_ by Catullus. She received the name of _Paphia_,
because worshipped at Paphos, where she had a temple with an altar,
on which rain never fell, though exposed in the open air. Some
of the ancients called her _Apostrophia_ or _Epistrophia_, as
also Venus _Urania_, and Venus _Pandemos_. The first of these she
received as presiding over wantonness and incestuous enjoyments;
the second because she patronized pure love, and chaste and moderate
gratifications; and the third because she favoured the propensities
of the vulgar, and was fond of sensual pleasures. The Cnidians raised
her temples under the name of Venus _Acræa_, of _Doris_, and of
_Euploea_. In her temple under the name of Euploea, at Cnidos, was
the most celebrated of her statues, being the most perfect piece of
Praxiteles. It was made with white marble, and appeared so engaging,
and so much like life, that, according to some historians, a youth
of the place introduced himself in the night into her temple, and
attempted to gratify his passions on the lifeless image. Venus was
also surnamed _Cytheræa_, because she was the chief deity of Cythera;
_Exopolis_, because her statue was without the city of Athens;
_Phallommeda_, from her affection for the phallus; _Philommedis_,
because the queen of laughter; _Telessigama_, because she presided
over marriage; _Caliada_, _Colotis_, or _Colias_, because worshipped
on a promontory of the same name in Attica; _Area_, because armed
like Mars; _Verticordia_, because she could turn the hearts of women
to cultivate chastity; _Apaturia_, because she deceived; _Calva_,
because she was represented bald; _Ericyna_, because worshipped at
Eryx; _Etaira_, because the patroness of courtesans; _Acidalia_,
because of a fountain of Orchomenos: _Basilea_, because the queen of
love; _Myrtea_, because the myrtle was sacred to her; _Libertina_,
from her inclinations to gratify lust; _Mechanitis_, in allusion
to the many artifices practised in love, &c., &c. As goddess of
the sea, because born in the bosom of the waters, Venus was called
_Pontia_, _Marina_, _Limnesia_, _Epipontia_, _Pelagia_, _Saligenia_,
_Pontogenia_, _Aligena_, _Thalassia_, &c., and as rising from the sea,
the name of _Anadyomene_ is applied to her, and rendered immortal by
the celebrated painting of Apelles, which represented her as issuing
from the bosom of the waves, and wringing her tresses on her shoulder.
_See:_ Anadyomene. _Cicero_ _de Natura Deorum_, bk. 2, ch. 27;
bk. 3, ch. 23.――_Orpheus_, Hymn 54.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――_Sappho._
――_Homer_, _Hymn to Aphrodite_, &c.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li.
800, &c.――_Ovid_, _Heroides_, poems 15, 16, 19, &c.; _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 4, fable 5, &c.――_Diodorus_, bks. 1 & 5.――_Hyginus_, fables 94,
271.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 1; bk. 4, ch. 30; bk. 5, ch. 18.
――_Martial_, bk. 6, ltr. 13.――_Euripides_, _Helen_, _Iphigeneia
in Taurus_.――_Plutarch_, _Amatorius_.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_,
bk. 12, ch. 1.――_Athenæus_, bk. 12, &c.――_Catullus._――_Lactantius_,
_de Falsa Religione_.――_Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus]_, bk. 11.
――_Lucian_, _Dialogi_, &c.――_Strabo_, bk. 14.――_Tacitus_, _Annals_,
bk. 3, &c.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 8, ch. 11.――_Pliny_, bk. 36.
――_Horace_, bk. 3, ode 26; bk. 4, ode 11, &c.――――A planet called
by the Greeks Phosphorus, and by the Latins Lucifer, when it rises
before the sun, but when it follows it, Hesperus or Vesper. _Cicero_,
_de Natura Deorum_, bk. 2, ch. 20; _Somnium Scipionis_.
=Venus Pyrenæa=, a town of Spain near the borders of Gaul.
=Venŭsia=, or =Venŭsium=, a town of Apulia, where Horace was born. Part
of the Roman army fled thither after the defeat at Cannæ. The town,
though in ruins, contains still many pieces of antiquity, especially
a marble bust preserved in the great square, and said falsely to be
an original representation of Horace. Venusia was on the confines of
Lucania, whence the poet said _Lucanus an Apulus anceps_, and it was
founded by Diomedes, who called it Venusia or Aphrodisia, after Venus,
whose divinity he wished to appease. _Strabo_, bks. 5 & 6.――_Horace_,
bk. 2, satire 1, li. 35.――_Livy_, bk. 22, ch. 54.――_Pliny_, bk. 3,
ch. 11.
=Veragri=, a people between the Alps and the Allobroges. _Livy_, bk. 21,
ch. 38.――_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 3, ch. 1.
=Verania=, the wife of Piso Licinianus, whom Galba adopted.
=Veranius=, a governor of Britain under Nero. He succeeded Didius
Gallus. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 14.
=Verbānus lacus=, now _Majora_, a lake of Italy, from which the Ticinus
flows. It is in the modern duchy of Milan, and extends 50 miles in
length from south to north, and five or six in breadth. _Strabo_,
bk. 4.
=Verbigenus=, a village in the country of the Celtæ.
=Verbinum=, a town in the north of Gaul.
=Vercellæ=, a town on the borders of Insubria, where Marius defeated
the Cimbri. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 17.――_Cicero_, _Letters to his
Friends_, bk. 11, ltr. 19.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 598.
=Vercingetŏrix=, a chief of the Gauls, in the time of Cæsar. He was
conquered and led in triumph, &c. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 7, ch. 4.
――_Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.
=Veresis=, a small river of Latium falling into the Anio.
=Vergasillaunus=, one of the generals and friends of Vercingetorix.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_.
=Vergæ=, a town of the Brutii. _Livy_, bk. 30, ch. 19.
=Vergellus=, a small river near Cannæ, falling into the Aufidus, over
which Annibal made a bridge with the slaughtered bodies of the Romans.
_Florus_, bk. 2, ch. 6.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 9, ch. 11.
=Vergilia=, the wife of Coriolanus, &c.
=Vergilia=, a town of Spain, supposed to be Murcia.
=Vergiliæ=, seven stars, called also _Pleiades_. When they set, the
ancients began to sow their corn. They received their name from the
spring, _quia vere oriantur_. _Propertius_, bk. 1, poem 8, li. 18.
――_Cicero_, _de Natura Deorum_, bk. 2, ch. 44.
=Verginius=, one of the officers of the Roman troops in Germany, who
refused the absolute power which his soldiers offered to him.
_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 1, ch. 8.――――A rhetorician in the age of
Nero, banished on account of his great fame. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk.
15, ch. 71.
=Vergium=, a town of Spain.
=Vergobretus=, one of the chiefs of the Ædui, in the age of Cæsar, &c.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 1, ch. 16.
=Verĭtas= (_truth_), was not only personified by the ancients, but
also made a deity, and called the daughter of Saturn and the mother
of Virtue. She was represented like a young virgin, dressed in white
apparel, with all the marks of youthful diffidence and modesty.
Democritus used to say that she hid herself at the bottom of a well,
to intimate the difficulty with which she is found.
=Verodoctius=, one of the Helvetii. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 1, ch. 7.
=Veromandui=, a people of Gaul, the modern Vermandois. The capital is
now St. Quintin. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 2.
=Vērōna=, a town of Venetia, on the Athesis, in Italy, founded, as
some suppose, by Brennus the leader of the Gauls. Cornelius Nepos,
Catullus, and Pliny the elder were born there. It was adorned with a
circus and an amphitheatre by the Roman emperors, which still exist,
and it still preserves its ancient name. _Pliny_, bk. 9, ch. 22.
――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Ovid_, _Amores_, bk. 3, poem 15, li. 7.
=Verōnes=, a people of Hispania Tarraconensis. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 3,
li. 578.
=Verrecīnum=, a town in the country of the Volsci. _Livy_, bk. 4, ch. 1,
&c.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 6, ch. 5.
=Caius Verres=, a Roman who governed the province of Sicily as pretor.
The oppression and rapine of which he was guilty, while in office, so
offended the Sicilians, that they brought an accusation against him
before the Roman senate. Cicero undertook the cause of the Sicilians,
and pronounced those celebrated orations which are still extant.
Verres was defended by Hortensius, but as he despaired of the success
of his defence, he left Rome without waiting for his sentence, and
lived in great affluence in one of the provinces. He was at last
killed by the soldiers of Antony the triumvir, about 26 years after
his voluntary exile from the capital. _Cicero_, _Against Verres_.
――_Pliny_, bk. 34, ch. 2.――_Lactantius_, bk. 2, ch. 4.
=Verritus=, a general of the Frisii in the age of Nero, &c. _Tacitus_,
_Annals_, bk. 13, ch. 54.
=Verrius Flaccus=, a freedman and grammarian famous for his powers
in instructing. He was appointed over the grandchildren of Augustus,
and also distinguished himself by his writings. _Aulus Gellius_,
bk. 4, ch. 5.――_Suetonius_, _Lives of the Grammarians_.――――A Latin
critic, B.C. 4, whose works have been edited with Dacier’s and
Clerk’s notes, 4to, Amsterdam, 1699.
=Verrūgo=, a town in the country of the Volsci. _Livy_, bk. 4, ch. 1.
=Vertico=, one of the Nervii who deserted to Cæsar’s army, &c. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 6, ch. 45.
=Verticordia=, one of the surnames of Venus, the same as the
_Apostrophia_ of the Greeks, because her assistance was implored to
turn the hearts of the Roman matrons, and teach them to follow virtue
and modesty. _Valerius Maximus_, bk. 8.
=Vertiscus=, one of the Rhemi, who commanded a troop of horse in
Cæsar’s army. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 8, ch. 12.
=Vertumnus=, a deity among the Romans, who presided over the spring and
over orchards. He endeavoured to gain the affections of the goddess
Pomona; and to effect this, he assumed the shape and dress of a
fisherman, of a soldier, a peasant, a reaper, &c., but all to no
purpose, till, under the form of an old woman, he prevailed upon
his mistress and married her. He is generally represented as a young
man crowned with flowers, covered up to the waist, and holding in
his right hand fruit, and a crown of plenty in his left. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 14, li. 642, &c.――_Propertius_, bk. 4, poem 2,
li. 2.――_Horace_, bk. 2, satire 7, li. 14.
=Verulæ=, a town of the Hernici. _Livy_, bk. 9, ch. 42.
=Verulānus=, a lieutenant under Corbulo, who drove away Tiridates from
Media, &c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 14, ch. 26.
=Verus Lucius Ceionius Commodus=, a Roman emperor, son of Ælius and
Domitia Lucilla. He was adopted in the 7th year of his age by Marcus
Aurelius, at the request of Adrian, and he married Lucilia the
daughter of his adopted father, who also took him as his colleague on
the throne. He was sent by Marcus Aurelius to oppose the barbarians
in the east. His arms were attended with success, and he obtained
a victory over the Parthians. He was honoured with a triumph at his
return home, and soon after he marched with his imperial colleague
against the Marcomanni in Germany. He died in this expedition of
an apoplexy, in the 39th year of his age, after a reign of eight
years and some months. His body was brought back to Rome, and buried
by Marcus Aurelius with great pomp and solemnity. Verus has been
greatly censured for his debaucheries, which appeared more enormous
and disgusting, when compared with the temperance, meekness, and
popularity of Aurelius. The example of his father did not influence
him, and he often retired from the frugal and moderate repast of
Aurelius, to the profuse banquets of his own palace, where the night
was spent in riot and debauchery, with the meanest of the populace,
with stage-dancers, buffoons, and lascivious courtesans. At one
entertainment alone, where there were no more than 12 guests, the
emperor spent no less than six millions of sesterces, or about
32,200_l._ sterling. But it is to be observed, that whatever was most
scarce and costly was there; the guests never drank twice out of the
same cup; and whatever vessels they had touched, they received as a
present from the emperor when they left the palace. In his Parthian
expedition, Verus did not check his vicious propensities; for four
years he left the care of the war to his officers, while he retired
to the voluptuous retreats of Daphne, and the luxurious banquets
of Antioch. His fondness for a horse has been faithfully recorded.
The animal had a statue of gold, he was fed with almonds and raisins
by the hand of the emperor, he was clad in purple, and kept in the
most splendid of the halls of the palace, and when dead, the emperor,
to express his sorrow, raised him a magnificent monument on mount
Vatican. Some have suspected Marcus Aurelius of despatching Verus
to rid the world of his debaucheries and guilty actions, but this
seems to be the report of malevolence.――――Lucius Annæus, a son of the
emperor Aurelius, who died in Palestine.――――The father of the emperor
Verus. He was adopted by the emperor Adrian, but like his son he
disgraced himself by his debaucheries and extravagance. He died
before Adrian.
=Vesbius=, or =Vesubius.= _See:_ Vesuvius.
=Vescia=, a town of Campania. _Livy_, bk. 8, ch. 11.
=Vescianum=, a country house of Cicero in Campania, between Capua and
Nola. _Cicero_ bk. 15, _Letters to Atticus_, ltr. 2.
=Flaccus Vescularius=, a Roman knight intimate with Tiberius, &c.
_Tacitus_, _Annals_.
♦=Vesontio=, a town of Gaul, now _Besancon_. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
♠bk. 1, ch. 38.
♦ ‘Vesentio’ replaced with ‘Vesontio’
♠ Book reference omitted in text.
=Vesentium=, a town of Tuscany.
=Veseris=, a place or river near mount Vesuvius. _Livy_, bk. 8, ch. 8.
――_Cicero_, _De Officiis_, bk. 3, ch. 31.
=Vesēvius= and =Vesēvus.= _See:_ Vesuvius.
=Vesidia=, a town of Tuscany.
=Vesonna=, a town of Gaul, now _Perigueux_.
=Vespaciæ=, a small village of Umbria, near Nursia. _Suetonius_,
_Vespasian_, ch. 1.
=Vespasiānus Titus Flavius=, a Roman emperor, descended from an obscure
family at Reate. He was honoured with the consulship, not so much by
the influence of the imperial courtiers, as by his own private merit,
and his public services. He accompanied Nero into Greece, but he
offended the prince by falling asleep while he repeated one of his
poetical compositions. This momentary resentment of the emperor did
not prevent Vespasian from being sent to carry on a war against the
Jews. His operations were crowned with success; many of the cities
of Palestine surrendered, and Vespasian began the siege of Jerusalem.
This was, however, achieved by the hands of his son Titus, and the
death of Vitellus and the affection of his soldiers hastened his
rise, and he was proclaimed emperor at Alexandria. The choice of
the army was approved by every province of the empire; but Vespasian
did not betray any signs of pride at so sudden and so unexpected
an exaltation, and though once employed in the mean office of a
horse-doctor, he behaved, when invested with the imperial purple,
with all the dignity and greatness which became a successor of
Augustus. In the beginning of his reign Vespasian attempted to reform
the manners of the Romans, and he took away an appointment which
he had a few days before granted to a young nobleman who approached
him to return him thanks, all smelling of perfumes and covered
with ointment, adding, “I had rather you had smelt of garlic.” He
repaired the public buildings, embellished the city, and made the
great roads more spacious and convenient. After he had reigned with
great popularity for 10 years, Vespasian died with a pain in his
bowels, A.D. 79, in the 70th year of his age. He was the first Roman
emperor that died a natural death, and he was also the first who was
succeeded by his own son on the throne. Vespasian has been admired
for his great virtues. He was clement, he gave no ear to flattery,
and for a long time refused the title of father of his country, which
was often bestowed upon the most worthless and tyrannical of the
emperors. He despised informers, and rather than punish conspirators,
he rewarded them with great liberality. When the king of Parthia
addressed him with the subscription of “Arsaces king of kings to
Flavius Vespasianus,” the emperor was no way dissatisfied with the
pride and insolence of the monarch, and answered him again in his
own words, “Flavius Vespasianus to Arsaces king of kings.” To men
of learning and merit, Vespasian was very liberal: 100,000 sesterces
were annually paid from the public treasury to the different
professors that were appointed to encourage and promote the arts and
sciences. Yet in spite of this apparent generosity, some authors have
taxed Vespasian with avarice. According to their accounts, he loaded
the provinces with new taxes, he bought commodities, that he might
sell them to a greater advantage, and even laid an impost upon urine,
which gave occasion to Titus to ridicule the meanness of his father.
Vespasian, regardless of his son’s observation, was satisfied to show
him the money that was raised from so productive a tax, asking him
at the same time whether it smelt offensive. His ministers were the
most avaricious of his subjects, and the emperor used very properly
to remark that he treated them as sponges, by wetting them when dry,
and squeezing them when they were wet. He has been accused of selling
criminals their lives, and of condemning the most opulent to make
himself master of their possessions. If, however, he was guilty of
these meaner practices, they were all under the name of one of his
concubines, who wished to enrich herself by the avarice and credulity
of the emperor. _Suetonius_, _Lives_.――_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 4.
=Vesper=, or =Vespĕrus=, a name applied to the planet Venus when it was
the evening star. _Virgil._
=Vessa=, a town of Sicily.
=Vesta=, a goddess, daughter of Rhea and Saturn, sister to Ceres and
Juno. She is often confounded by the mythologists with Rhea, Ceres,
Cybele, Proserpine, Hecate, and Tellus. When considered as the
mother of the gods, she is the mother of Rhea and Saturn; and when
considered as the patroness of the vestal virgins and the goddess
of fire, she is called the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. Under this
last name she was worshipped by the Romans. Æneas was the first
who introduced her mysteries into Italy, and Numa built her a
temple where no males were permitted to go. The palladium of Troy
was supposed to be preserved within her sanctuary, and a fire was
continually kept lighted by a certain number of virgins, who had
dedicated themselves to the service of the goddess. _See:_ Vestales.
If the fire of Vesta was ever extinguished, it was supposed to
threaten the republic with some sudden calamity. The virgin by whose
negligence it had been extinguished, was severely punished, and it
was kindled again by the rays of the sun. The temple of Vesta was of
a round form, and the goddess was represented in a long, flowing robe,
with a veil on her head, holding in one hand a lamp, or a two-eared
vessel, and in the other a javelin, or sometimes a palladium. On some
medals she appears holding a drum in one hand, and a small figure
of victory in the other. _Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 454.――_Cicero_,
_de Legibus_, bk. 2, ch. 12.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 1.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 2, li. 296.――_Diodorus_, bk. 5.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 6;
_Tristia_, bk. 3.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 1, ch. 1.――_Plutarch_,
_Numa_.――_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 14.