Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1248

Rh 1236 VEIANIUS. which followed the 30th of the fourth, since this is the point at which the precepts regarding naval affairs commence. We can speak with little respect of this com- pilation. The usages of periods the most remote from each other, of the early ages of the common- wealth, of the era of Marius and Caesar, of the first emperors and of the successors of Constantine, are mixed together into one confused mass, and not un- frequently, we have reason to suspect, are blended with armngements which never existed except in the fancy of the author. From the circumstance that we are here presented with something like a regular and systematic exposition of the Roman art of war, the statements have been frequently adopted without modification in manuals of an- tiquities ; and notwithstanding the warning of Salmasius, have been too often quoted with respect by scholars who ought to have been fully aware of their worthlessness. That it is possible to glean some curious and even important information from these pages, may be admitted, but we must act with the utmost caution, and scrutinise with jealous eye every addition thus made to our store of know- ledge. We know nothing of the personal history of Vegetius, but it has been inferred from the tone in which he speaks of the military oath (ii. 5) that he was a Christian. The three earliest editions of Vegetius are with- out date and have no name of place or printer, but are known, from the researches of bibliographers, to have been printed respectively at Utrecht, Paris, and Cologne between the years 1473 — 1478, The first with a date is that which appeared at Rome, 4to. 1487, and was reprinted in 1494. The best edition is that of Schwebelius (4to. Norimberg, 1767), containing a selection from the commentaries of Stewechius and Scriverius, together with a French translation. It was reprinted (omitting the translation) with additional remarks by Ouden- dorp and Bessel, 8vo. Argent. 1806. This treatise will be found also in all the collections of the Latin best edition is that printed at Wesel (Vesalia Clivorum), 8vo. 1670. There is a version of Vegetius in German, printed as early as 1474, and in French, printed in 1488, but in neither is the name of the trans- lator given. In 1489 Caxton published " The fayt of armes and chyvalry from Vegetius," to which is appended the following curious notice : (Christina of Pisa) " made and drewe out of the boke named Vegecius de Re Militari, which boke, beyng in frensche, was delyvered to me Willm Caxton by the most crysten kynge, henry vii, the xxxiij day of Janyuere, the iiij yere of his regne, and desired and wylled me to translate this said boke, and reduce it into our english and natural tonge, and to put it in emprynte. Whiche transla- cyon was finysshed the viij day of Juyll the said yere and emprynted the xiiij day of Juyll next fol- io wyng, and fill fynyshed." [W. R.] VEHI'LIUS, praetor B.C. 44, refused to re- ceive a province from Antony, and said that he would obey the senate alone. (Cic. PhU. iii. 10.) VEIA'NIUS. 1. Two brothers of this name belonging to the Faliscus ager are mentioned by Varro (it ft. iii. 16. §10). 2. A celebrated gladiator in the thne of Horace, who had retired to a small estate in the country, VELEDA. after dedicating his arms to the temple of Her. cules at Fundi m Latium. (Hor. Ep. i 1. 5, with the Schol.) 3. Veianius Niger, a tribune of the soldiers under Nero, put Subrius Flavus to death. (Tac. Ann. XV. 67.) VEIANTA'NUS POMPO'NIUS. [Pom- PONius, p. 495, a.] VEIENTO, was left in the command of Syria by Bibulus, when he quitted the province in B. c. 50. (Cic. ad Att. vii. 3. § 5.) Manutius supposes that Veiento was the quaestor of Bibulus, but we know that Sallust held this office (Cic. ad Fam. ii. 17) ; and we may therefore conclude that Veiento was the legatus of Bibulus. The gentile name of Veiento is not mentioned, but it is not im- probable that it was Fabricius, and that he was an ancestor of the following person. VEIENTO, FABRl'CIUS, was accused in the reign of Nero, a. d. 62, because he had published many libels against the fathers and the priests in books to which he had given the name of Codicilli ; and his accuser Fabius Geminus added that he had sold the honours which the emperor was accustomed to grant. Nero thereupon banished him from Italy and ordered his books to be burnt. He is probably the same as the A. Fabricius, whom Dion Cassius mentions as praetor in the reign of Nero. (Tac. Ann. xiv. 50 ; Dion Cass. Ixi. 6.) Veiento after- wards returned to Rome, and became in the reign of Domitian one of the most infamous informers and flatterers of that tyrant. He also enjoyed the intimate friendship of Nerva. Aurelius Victor says that Veiento held the consulship under Domitian ; but his name does not occur in the Fasti, nor is his consulship mentioned by any other ancient writer. (Juv. iii. 185, iv. 113, vi. 113, Plin. Ep. iv. 22 ; Aurel. Yict Epit. 12 ; Plin. Ep. ix. 13.) VEIOVIS, is explained by Festus (p. 379, ed. Miiller) to mean " little Jupiter " (comp. Ov. Fast. iii. 445) ; while others interpret it " the destructive Jupiter," and identify him with Pluto. (Gell. v. 12 ; Macrob. Sat. iii. 9.) But Veiovis and Vedius (Martian. Capell. ii. p. 40), which are only dif- ferent forms of the same name, seem to designate an Etruscan divinity of a destructive nature, whose fearful lightnings produced deafness in those who were to be struck by them, even before they were actually hurled. (Amm. Marc. xvii. 10.) His temple at Rome stood between the Capitol and the Tarpeian rock ; he was represented as a youthfiil god armed with arrows, and his festival fell before the nones of March. (Gell. I. c. ; Vitruv. iv. 8.) [L. S.] Q. VELA'NIUS, a tribune of the soldiers, whom Caesar sent in b. c. 5Q among the Veneti for the purpose of obtaining corn. (Caes. B. G. iii. 7.) VELEDA, a prophetic virgin, by birth belonged to the Bructeri, and was regarded as a divine being by most of the nations in central Germany in the reign of Vespasian. She inhabited a lofty tower in the neighbourhood of the river Luppia (Lippe) ; but none save her own immediate rela- tions were allowed to enter her presence, in order to preserve the veneration in which she was held. She encouraged Civilis in his revolt against the Romans, and predicted the success which he at first obtained, but she was afterwards taken pri- soner and carried to Rome. (Tac. Hist. iv. 61, 6.% V. 22, 24, Germ. 8 ; Stat. Silv. i. 4. 90, captivaeqm preces VelMae ; Dion Cass. Ixvii. 5, who makes the penultimate long, 6e)5a.)
 * ' Veteres de Re militari Scriptores," of which the
 * ' Thus endeth this boke, which Xyne of Pyse "