received much applause in the capital, and when he entered the
theatre, he was astonished and delighted to see the crowded audience
rise up to him as to an emperor, and welcome his approach by
reiterated plaudits. He was naturally modest, and of a timorous
disposition. When people crowded to gaze upon him, or pointed at him
with the finger with rapture, the poet blushed, and stole away from
them, and often hid himself in shops to be removed from the curiosity
and the admiration of the public. The most liberal and gratifying
marks of approbation he received were from the emperor and from
Octavia. He attempted in his Æneid to paint the virtues, and to
lament the premature death of the son of Octavia, and he was desired
by the emperor to repeat the lines in the presence of the afflicted
mother. He had no sooner begun _O nate_, &c., than Octavia burst
into tears; he continued, but he had artfully suppressed the name of
her son, and when he repeated in the 16th line the well-known words,
_Tu Marcellus eris_, the princess swooned away, and the poet withdrew,
but not without being liberally rewarded. Octavia presented him 10
sesterces for every one of his verses in praise of her son, the whole
of which was equivalent to 2000_l._ English money. As an instance
of his modesty, the following circumstance has been recorded. Virgil
wrote this distich, in which he compared his patron to Jupiter,
_Nocte pluit totâ, redeunt spectacula mane,
Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet,_
and placed it in the night on the gates of the palace of Augustus.
Inquiries were made for the author by order of Augustus, and when
Virgil had the diffidence not to declare himself, Bathyllus, a
contemptible poet of the age, claimed the verses as his own, and was
liberally rewarded. This displeased Virgil; he again wrote the verses
near the palace and under them
_Hos ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honores_;
with the beginning of another line in these words,
_Sic vos non vobis_,
four times repeated. Augustus wished the lines to be finished.
Bathyllus seemed unable, and Virgil at last, by completing the stanza
in the following order――
_Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves;
Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oves;
Sic vos non vobis mellificatis apes;
Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra boves;_
proved himself to be the author of the distich, and the poetical
usurper became the sport and ridicule of Rome. In the works of
Virgil we can find a more perfect and satisfactory account of the
religious ceremonies and customs of the Romans, than in all the other
Latin poets, Ovid excepted. Everything he mentions is founded upon
historical truth, and though he borrowed much from his predecessors,
and even whole lines from Ennius, yet he has had the happiness to
make it all his own. He was uncommonly severe in revising his own
poetry, and he used often to compare himself to a bear that licks
her cubs into shape. In his connections, Virgil was remarkable;
his friends enjoyed his unbounded confidence, and his library and
possessions seemed to be the property of the public. Like other great
men, he was not without his enemies and detractors in his lifetime,
but from their aspersions he received additional lustre. Among the
very numerous and excellent editions of Virgil, these few may be
collected as the best: that of Masvicius, 2 vols., 4to, Leovardiæ,
1717; of Baskerville, 4to, Birmingham, 1757; of the Variorum, in 8vo,
Leiden, 1661; of Heyne, 4 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1767; of Edinburgh,
2 vols., 12mo, 1755; and of Glasgow, 12mo, 1758. _Paterculus_,
bk. 2, ch. 36.――_Horace_, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 40.――_Propertius_,
bk. 2, poem 34, li. 61.――_Ovid_, _Tristia_, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 51.
――_Martial_, bk. 8, ltr. 56.――_Juvenal_, satire 11, li. 178.
――_Quintilian_, bk. 10, ch. 1.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ltr. 21.――――Caius, a
pretor of Sicily, who, when Cicero was banished, refused to receive
the exiled orator, though his friend, for fear of the resentment of
Clodius. _Cicero_, _Letters to his brother Quintus_.
=Virgĭnia=, a daughter of the centurion Lucius Virginius. Appius
Claudius the decemvir became enamoured of her, and attempted to
remove her from the place where she resided. She was claimed by one
of his favourites as the daughter of a slave, and Appius, in the
capacity and with the authority of judge, had pronounced the sentence,
and delivered her into the hands of his friend, when Virginius,
informed of his violent proceedings, arrived from the camp. The
father demanded to see his daughter, and when this request was
granted, he snatched a knife and plunged it into Virginia’s breast,
exclaiming, “This is all, my dearest daughter, I can give thee, to
preserve thy chastity from the lust and violence of a tyrant.” No
sooner was the blow given, than Virginius ran to the camp with the
bloody knife in his hand. The soldiers were astonished and incensed,
not against the murderer, but the tyrant that was the cause of
Virginia’s death, and they immediately marched to Rome. Appius
was seized, but he destroyed himself in prison, and prevented the
execution of the law. Spurius Oppius, another of the decemvirs who
had not opposed the tyrant’s views, killed himself also, and Marcus
Claudius the favourite of Appius was put to death, and the decemviral
power abolished, about 449 years before Christ. _Livy_, bk. 3, ch. 44,
&c.――_Juvenal_, satire 10, li. 294.
=Virginius=, the father of Virginia, made tribune of the people. _See:_
Virginia.――――A tribune of the people who accused Quinctius Cæso the
son of Cincinnatus. He increased the number of the tribunes to 10,
and distinguished himself by his seditions against the patricians.
――――Another tribune in the age of Camillus, fined for his opposition
to a law which proposed going to Veii.――――An augur who died of the
plague.――――Caius, a pretor of Sicily, who opposed the entrance of
Cicero into his province, though under many obligations to the orator.
Some read Virgilius.――――A tribune who encouraged Cinna to criminate
Sylla.――――One of the generals of Nero in Germany. He made war against
Vindex and conquered him. He was treated with great coldness by Galba,
whose interest he had supported with so much success. He refused all
dangerous stations, and though twice offered the imperial purple,
he rejected it with disdain. _Plutarch._――――A Roman orator and
rhetorician.
=Viriāthus=, a mean shepherd of Lusitania, who gradually rose to power,
and by first heading a gang of robbers, saw himself at last followed
by a numerous army. He made war against the Romans with uncommon
success, and for 14 years enjoyed the envied title of protector of
public liberty in the provinces of Spain. Many generals were defeated,
and Pompey himself was ashamed to find himself beaten. Cæpio was at
last sent against him. But his despair of conquering him by force
of arms, obliged him to have recourse to artifice, and he had the
meanness to bribe the servants of Viriathus to murder their master,
B.C. 40. _Florus_, bk. 2, ch. 17.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 6, ch. 4.
――_Livy_, bks. 52 & 54.
=Viridomărus=, a young man of great power among the Ædui. Cæsar greatly
honoured him, but he fought at last against the Romans. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 7, ch. 39, &c.
=Viriplāca=, a goddess among the Romans who presided over the peace of
families, whence her name (_virum placare_). If any quarrel happened
between a man and his wife, they generally repaired to the temple of
the goddess, which was erected on the Palatine mount, and came back
reconciled. _Valerius Maximus_, bk. 2, ch. 1.
=Virro=, a fictitious name introduced in Juvenal’s fifth satire.
=Virtus.= All virtues were made deities among the Romans. Marcellus
erected two temples, one to Virtue, and the other to Honour. They
were built in such a manner, that to see the temple of Honour it was
necessary to pass through that of Virtue; a happy allegory among a
nation free and independent. The principal Virtues were distinguished,
each by their attire. Prudence was known by her rule, and her
pointing to a globe at her feet; Temperance had a bridle; Justice had
an equal balance, and Fortitude leant against her sword; Honesty was
clad in a transparent vest; Modesty appeared veiled; Clemency wore an
olive branch, and Devotion threw incense upon an altar; Tranquillity
was seen to lean on a column; Health was known by her serpent,
Liberty by her cap, and Gaiety by her myrtle. _Cicero_, _de Natura
Deorum_, bk. 2, ch. 23.――_Plautus_, _Amphitruo_, _Prologue_.――_Livy_,
bk. 29, ch. 11.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 1, ch. 1.――_Augustine_,
_City of God_, bk. 4, ch. 20.
=Visargis=, a river of Germany, now called the _Weser_, and falling
into the German ocean. Varus and his legions were cut to pieces there
by the Germans. _Velleius Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 105.――_Tacitus_,
_Annals_, bk. 1, ch. 70; bk. 2, ch. 9.
=Viscellæ=, now _Weltz_, a town of Noricum, between the Ens and Mure.
=Spurius Cassius Viscellinus=, _Cicero_, _De Amicitia_, ch. 11.
=Visellia lex=, was made by Visellius Varro the consul, A.U.C. 776, to
restrain the introduction of improper persons into the offices of the
state.
=Lucius Visellius Varro=, a lieutenant in Germany under Tiberius.
_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 3, ch. 41; bk. 4, ch. 17.
=Visellus=, a man whose father-in-law the commentators of Horace
believe to have been afflicted with a hernia, on their observations
on this verse (bk. 1, satire 1, li. 105), _Est inter Tanaim quiddam,
socerumque Viselli_.
=Vistŭla=, a river falling into the Baltic, the eastern boundary of
ancient Germany.
=Vitellia=, a Roman colony on the borders of the Æqui. _Livy_, bk. 5,
ch. 29.
=Vitellius Aulus=, a Roman raised by his vices to the throne. He was
descended from one of the most illustrious families of Rome, and as
such he gained an easy admission to the palace of the emperors. The
greatest part of his youth was spent at Capreæ, where his willingness
and compliance to gratify the most vicious propensities of Tiberius
raised his father to the dignity of consul and governor of Syria.
The applause he gained in this school of debauchery was too great
and flattering to induce Vitellius to alter his conduct, and no
longer to be one of the votaries of vice. Caligula was pleased
with his skill in driving a chariot. Claudius loved him because
he was a great gamester, and he recommended himself to the favours
of Nero by wishing him to sing publicly in the crowded theatre.
With such an insinuating disposition, it is not to be wondered
that Vitellius became so great. He did not fall with his patrons,
like the other favourites, but the death of an emperor seemed to
raise him to greater honours, and to procure him fresh applause.
He passed through all the offices of the state, and gained over the
soldiery by donations and liberal promises. He was at the head of the
♦Roman legions in Germany when Otho was proclaimed emperor, and the
exaltation of his rival was no sooner heard in the camp, than he was
likewise invested with the purple by his soldiers. He accepted with
pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly marched against Otho.
Three battles were fought, and in all Vitellius was conquered. A
fourth, however, in the plains between Mantua and Cremona, left him
master of the field and of the Roman empire. He feasted his eyes in
viewing the bodies of the slain and the ground covered with blood,
and regardless of the insalubrity of the air, proceeding from so many
carcases, he told his attendants that the smell of a dead enemy was
always sweet. His first care was not like that of a true conqueror,
to alleviate the distresses of the conquered, or patronize the
friends of the dead, but it was to insult their misfortunes, and
to intoxicate himself with the companions of his debauchery in the
field of battle. Each successive day exhibited a scene of greater
extravagance. Vitellius feasted four or five times a day, and such
was his excess that he often made himself vomit to begin his repast
afresh, and to gratify his palate with more luxury. His food was of
the most rare and exquisite nature; the deserts of Libya, the shores
of Spain, and the waters of the Carpathian sea, were diligently
searched to supply the table of the emperor. The most celebrated of
his feasts was that with which he was treated by his brother Lucius.
The table, among other meats, was covered with 2000 different dishes
of fish, and 7000 of fowls, and so expensive was he in everything,
that above seven millions sterling were spent in maintaining his
table in the space of four months; and Josephus has properly observed,
that if Vitellius had reigned long, the great opulence of all
the Roman empire would have been found insufficient to defray the
expenses of his banquets. This extravagance, which delighted the
favourites, soon raised the indignation of the people. Vespasian was
proclaimed emperor by the army, and his minister Primus was sent to
destroy the imperial glutton. Vitellius concealed himself under the
bed of the porter of his palace, but this obscure retreat betrayed
him; he was dragged naked through the streets, his hands were tied
behind his back, and a drawn sword was placed under his chin to
make him lift his head. After suffering the greatest insults from
the populace, he was at last carried to the place of execution, and
put to death with repeated blows. His head was cut off and fixed
to a pole, and his mutilated body dragged with a hook and thrown
into the Tiber, A.D. 69, after a reign of one year, except 12 days.
_Suetonius._――_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 2.――_Eutropius._――_Dio
Cassius._――_Plutarch._――――Lucius, the father of the emperor, obtained
great honours by his flattery to the emperors. He was made governor
of Syria, and in this distant province he obliged the Parthians
to sue for peace. His adulation to Messalina is well known, and he
obtained as a particular favour the honourable office of pulling off
the shoes of the empress, &c. _Suetonius_, &c.――――A brother of the
emperor, who enjoyed his favours by encouraging his gluttony, &c.
――――Publius, an uncle of the emperor of that name. He was accused
under Nero of attempts to bribe the people with money from the
treasury against the emperor. He killed himself before his trial.
――――One of the flatterers of Tiberius.――――An officer of the
pretorians under Otho.――――A son of the emperor Vitellius, put to
death by one of his father’s friends.――――Some of the family of the
Vitellii conspired with the Aquilii and other illustrious Romans to
restore Tarquin to his throne. Their conspiracy was discovered by the
consuls, and they were severely punished. _Plutarch_, &c.
♦ ‘Romans’ replaced with ‘Roman’
=Viterbum=, a town of Tuscany, where Fanum Volumnæ stood. It is not
mentioned by classical writers. _Livy_, bk. 4, chs. 23 & 61; bk. 5,
ch. 17.
=Vitia=, a mother put to death by Tiberius for weeping at the death of
her son, &c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 7, ch. 10.
=Vītrĭcus=, a surname of Mars. _Ovid._
=Marcus Vitruvius Pollio=, a celebrated architect in the age of
Augustus, born at Formiæ. He is known only by his writings, and
nothing is recorded in history of his life or private character. He
wrote a treatise on his profession, which he dedicated to Augustus,
and it is the only book on architecture now extant written by the
ancients. In this work he plainly shows that he was master of his
profession, and that he possessed both genius and abilities. The best
edition of Vitruvius is that of De Laet, Amsterdam, 1649.
=Vitŭla=, a deity among the Romans who presided over festivals and
rejoicings. _Macrobius_, bk. 3, ch. 2.
=Vitularia via=, a road in the country of Arpinum. _Cicero_, _Letters
to his brother Quintus_, bk. 3, ltr. 1.
=Ulpia Trajāna=, a Roman colony planted in Sarmatia by Trajan.
=Ulpiānus Domitius=, a lawyer in the reign of Alexander Severus,
of whom he became the secretary and principal minister. He raised a
persecution against the christians, and was at last murdered by the
pretorian guards, of which he had the command, A.D. 226. There are
some fragments of his compositions on civil law still extant. The
Greek commentaries of Ulpian on Demosthenes were printed in folio,
1527, _with Aldus Manutius_.――――Marcellus, an officer in the age of
Commodus.――――Julianus, a man sent to oppose Heliogabalus, &c.
=Ulŭbræ=, a small town of Latium on the river Astura, where Augustus
was educated. _Juvenal_, satire 10, li. 102.――_Horace_, bk. 1,
ltr. 11.
=Ulysses=, a king of the islands of Ithaca and Dulichium, son of
Anticlea and Laertes, or, according to some, of Sisyphus. _See:_
Sisyphus and Anticlea. He became, like the other princes of Greece,
one of the suitors of Helen, but as he despaired of success in his
applications, on account of the great numbers of his competitors, he
solicited the hand of Penelope the daughter of Icarius. Tyndarus the
father of Helen favoured the addresses of Ulysses, as by him he was
directed to choose one of his daughter’s suitors without offending
the others, and to bind them all by a solemn oath, that they would
unite together in protecting Helen if any violence was ever offered
to her person. Ulysses had no sooner obtained the hand of Penelope,
than he returned to Ithaca, where his father resigned him the crown,
and retired to peace and rural solitude. The rape of Helen, however,
by Paris, did not long permit him to remain in his kingdom, and as
he was bound to defend her against every intruder, he was summoned
to the war with the other princes of Greece. Pretending to be insane,
not to leave his beloved Penelope, he yoked a horse and a bull
together, and ploughed the sea-shore, where he sowed salt instead
of corn. This dissimulation was soon discovered, and Palamedes,
by placing before the plough of Ulysses his infant son Telemachus,
convinced the world that the father was not mad who had the
providence to turn away the plough from the furrow, not to hurt
his child. Ulysses was therefore obliged to go to the war, but he
did not forget him who had discovered his pretended insanity. _See:_
Palamedes. During the Trojan war, the king of Ithaca was courted
for his superior prudence and sagacity. By his means Achilles was
discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes king of Scyros [_See:_
Achilles], and Philoctetes was induced to abandon Lemnos, and to
fight the Trojans with the arrows of Hercules. _See:_ Philoctetes.
He was not less distinguished for his activity and valour. With
the assistance of Diomedes he murdered Rhesus, and slaughtered the
sleeping Thracians in the midst of their camp, [_See:_ Rhesus and
Dolon], and he introduced himself into the city of Priam, and carried
away the Palladium of the Trojans. _See:_ Palladium. For these
eminent services he was universally applauded by the Greeks, and
he was rewarded with the arms of Achilles, which Ajax had disputed
with him. After the Trojan war Ulysses embarked on board his ships
to return to Greece, but he was exposed to a number of misfortunes
before he reached his native country. He was thrown by the winds
upon the coasts of Africa, and visited the country of the Lotophagi,
and of the Cyclops in Sicily. Polyphemus, who was the king of the
Cyclops, seized Ulysses with his companions, five of whom he devoured
[_See:_ Polyphemus], but the prince of Ithaca intoxicated him and
put out his eye, and at last escaped from the dangerous cave where
he was confined, by tying himself under the belly of the sheep of
the Cyclops when led to pasture. In Æolia he met with a friendly
reception, and Æolus gave him, confined in bags, all the wind
which could obstruct his return to Ithaca, but the curiosity of
his companions to know what the bags contained proved nearly fatal.
The winds rushed with impetuosity, and all the fleet was destroyed,
except the ship which carried Ulysses. From thence he was thrown
upon the coasts of the Læstrygones, and of the island Æea, where
the magician Circe changed all his companions into pigs for their
voluptuousness. He escaped their fate by means of an herb which he
had received from Mercury, and after he had obliged the magician by
force of arms to restore his companions to ♦their original shape, he
yielded to her charms, and made her mother of Telegonus. He visited
the infernal regions and consulted Tiresias how to regain his country
in safety; and after he had received every necessary information,
he returned on earth. He passed along the coasts of the Sirens
unhurt, by the directions of Circe [_See:_ Sirenes], and escaped
the whirlpools and shoals of Scylla, and Charybdis. On the coast of
Sicily his companions stole and killed some oxen that were sacred to
Apollo, for which the god destroyed the ships, and all were drowned
except Ulysses, who saved himself on a plank, and swam to the island
of Calypso, in Ogygia. There, for seven years, he forgot Ithaca,
in the arms of the goddess, by whom he had two children. The gods
at last interfered, and Calypso, by order of Mercury, suffered him
to depart, after she had furnished him with a ship, and everything
requisite for the voyage. He had almost reached the island of Corcyra,
when Neptune, still mindful that his son Polyphemus had been robbed
of his sight by the perfidy of Ulysses, raised a storm and sunk his
ship. Ulysses swam with difficulty to the island of the Phæacians,
where the kindness of Nausicaa, and the humanity of her father king
Alcinous, entertained him for a while. He related the series of
his misfortunes to the monarch, and at last, by his benevolence,
he was conducted in a ship to Ithaca. The Phæacians laid him on the
sea-shore as he was asleep, and Ulysses found himself safely restored
to his country after a long absence of 20 years. He was well informed
that his palace was besieged by a number of suitors, who continually
disturbed the peace of Penelope, and therefore he assumed the habit
of a beggar, by the advice of Minerva, and made himself known to his
son, and his faithful shepherd Eumæus. With them he took measures to
re-establish himself on his throne; he went to the palace, and was
personally convinced of the virtues and of the fidelity of Penelope.
Before his arrival was publicly known, all the importuning suitors
were put to death, and Ulysses restored to the peace and bosom of
his family. _See:_ Laertes, Penelope, Telemachus, Eumæus. He lived
about 16 years after his return, and was at last killed by his son
Telegonus, who had landed in Ithaca, with the hopes of making himself
known to his father. This unfortunate event had been foretold to
him by Tiresias, who assured him that he should die by the violence
of something that was to issue from the bosom of the sea. _See:_
Telegonus. According to some authors, Ulysses went to consult the
oracle of Apollo after his return to Ithaca, and he had the meanness
to seduce Erippe the daughter of a king of Epirus, who had treated
him with great kindness. Erippe had a son by him whom she called
Euryalus. When come to years of puberty, Euryalus was sent to Ithaca
by his mother, but Penelope no sooner knew who he was than she
resolved to destroy him. Therefore, when Ulysses returned, he put to
immediate death his unknown son on the crimination of Penelope his
wife, who accused him of attempts upon her virtue. The adventures
of Ulysses in his return to Ithaca from the Trojan war are the
subject of Homer’s Odyssey. _Homer_, _Iliad_ & _Odyssey_.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bks. 2, 3, &c.――_Dictys Cretensis_, bk. 1, &c.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 13; _Heroides_, poem 1.――_Hyginus_, fable 201,
&c.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, chs. 17 & 22;
bk. 3, ch. 12; bk. 7, ch. 4.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 13,
ch. 12.――_Horace_, bk. 3, ode 29, li. 8.――_Parthenius_, _Narrationes
Amatoriæ_, ch. 3.――_Plutarch._――_Pliny_, bk. 35.――_Tzetzes_, _ad
Lycurgus_.
♦ ‘his’ replaced with ‘their’
=Ulysseum=, a promontory of Sicily, west of Pachinus.
=Umber=, a lake of Umbria near the Tiber. _Propertius_, bk. 4, poem 1,
li. 124.
=Umbra Pompeia=, a portico of Pompey at Rome. _Martial_, bk. 5, ltr. 10.
=Umbria=, a country of Italy, separated from Etruria by the Tiber,
bounded on the north by the Adriatic sea, east by Picenum and the
country of the Sabines, and south by the river Nar. Some derive the
word Umbria _ab imbribus_, the frequent showers that were supposed
to fall there, or from the shadow (_umbra_) of the Apennines which
hung over it. Umbria had many cities of note. The Umbrians opposed
the Romans in the infancy of their empire, but afterwards they
became their allies, about the year ♦A.U.C. 434. _Catullus_, bk. 40,
li. 11.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 12.――_Dionysius of
Halicarnassus._
♦ ‘U.C.’ replaced with ‘A.U.C.’
=Umbrigius=, a soothsayer, who foretold approaching calamities to Galba.
_Juvenal_, satire 3, li. 21.――_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 1, ch. 27.
=Umbro=, a navigable river of Italy. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――――A
general who assisted Turnus against Æneas, and was killed during
the war. He could assuage the fury of serpents by his songs, and
counteract the poisonous effects of their bite. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 7, li. 752; bk. 10, li. 544.
=Unca=, a surname of Minerva among the Phœnicians and Thebans.
=Unchæ=, a town of Mesopotamia.
=Undecemvĭri=, magistrates at Athens, to whom such as were publicly
condemned were delivered to be executed. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Phocion_.