Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1295

 VOPISCUS. (lib. 1) mentions Marciamis, in place of which it is proposed to read Maecianus, but Marcus does not speak of him as a jurist. Vulcatiiis (Avid. Cass. c. 7) says that Maecianus was entrusted with tlie government of Alexandria, and that he was killed by the army for having joined Cassius in his usur- pation, A. D. 175. Maecianus wrote sixteen books on Fideicommissa, and fourteen books on Judicia Publica. A Liber Quaestionum is also mentioned (Dig. 29. tit. 2. s. 86), but it may have been a part of the work on Fideicommissa. He also wrote that Legem Rho- diam, from which there is a single excerpt in the Digest (14. tit. 2. s. 9) in Greek, from which we may conclude that this was a collection of the Rho- dian laws relating to maritime affairs, and Mae- cianus may have accompanied the collection with a commentary. This work is not mentioned in the Florentine Index. There are forty-four excerpts from Maecianus in the Digest. He is cited by Cervidius Scaevola, Papinian, Ulpian and Paulus. A treatise, De Asse et Ponderibus, is attributed to Volusius Maecianus, but there is some doubt about the authorship. It is printed in Graevius, Antiq. Roman, xi., and at Paris, 1565, 8vo. There is a dissertation by Wun- derlich, De L. Volusio Maeciano ; and a recent edition of Maecianus de Asse., and of Balbus by E. Rocking, Bonn, 1831, 12mo. [G. L.] VOLU'SIUS PRO'CULUS. [Proculus.] VOLU'SIUS SATURNPNUS. [Satur- NINUS.] VOLUSUS or VOLESUS, the reputed an- cestor of the Valeria gens, who is said to have settled at Rome with Titus Tatius [Valeria Gens]. The name afterwards became a cognomen in the Valeria gens. Thus we read of M. Vale- rius VoLUSUs, the brother of Publicola, who was consul B. c. 505, the fifth year of the republic, with P. Postumius Tubertus. He fought, together with his colleague, against the Sabines, and ob- tained a triumph on account of his victory over them. He fell at the battle of the Lake Regillus, B. c. 498 or 496 (Li v. ii. 16, 20 ; Dionys. v. 37 ; Plut. Public. 20). We also read of another brother of Publicola, v. ho bore the same cognomen, namely, M'. Valerius Volusus Maximus, who was dictator in B. c. 494, and to whom the family of the Valerii Maximi traced their origin. [Max- imus, p. 1001, a.] It may be, however, that a mistake has been made in the Annals, and that Manius, the dictator, was the same person as Marcus^ the consul : his praenomen would have been changed, because it was stated in some of the Annals that the consul fell at the battle of the Lake Regillus. Volusus likewise occurs as a praenomen of one of the Valerii Potiti. [Po- TiTUS, No. 3.] Ac a later period the name was revived in the Valeria gens, and was borne as an agnomen by L. Valerius Messalla, who was consul A. D. 5. [Messalla, No. 11.] VOLUX, the son of Bocchus, king of Maure- tania. (Sail. Jug. 101, 105, 107.) [Bocchus.] VONONES, the name of two kings of Parthia. [Arsaces XVIII., XXIL] VOPISCUS, a Roman praenomen, signified a twin-child, who was born safe, while the other twin died before birth. (Plin. H. N'. vii. 8. s. 10; Solin. 1. ; Val. Max. Epit. De Nominum Ratione, pp. 878, 879, ed. Torrenius.) Like many other UPIS. ancient Roman praenomens, it was afterwards used as a cognomen. _ VOPISCUS, FLA'VIUS,%racMseMS, one of the six "' Scriptores Historiae Augustae " [see Capi- TOLiNUS], probably the latest, since he refers di- fectly to three, Trebellius Pollio, Julius Capito- linus, and Aelius Lampridius, the last being very probably the same with Spartianus [Lampridius ; Spartianus]. Vulcatius Gallicanus, the sixth, is alike unknown and insignificant. The name of Vopiscus is prefixed to the biographies of, 1. Au- relianus : 2. Tacitus ; 3. Florianus ; 4. Probus ; 5. The four tyrants, Firmus, Satuminus, Proculus and Bonosus ; 6. Carus ; 7. Numerianus ; 8. Ca- rinus ; at this point he stops, declaring that Dio- cletian, and those who follow, demand a more elevated style of composition. Although we ob- serve the same want of judgment in selecting, arranging, and combining his materials, which cha- racterises the other authors of this collection, yet he appears to have exercised considerable industry in consulting the Greek writers who had preceded him in the same department, in availing himself of the treasures of the Ulpian and other public libraries, and in examining the public records of different branches of the administration, and the private papers of various distinguished individuals, especi- ally the journals and commentaries of the emperor Aurelianus. Considerable authority and interest are communicated to his narrative by the insertion of original letters written by Hadrianus, Valerianus, Claudius, Aurelianus, Zenobia, Tacitus, Probus, Carus, and other public characters, together with quotations from acts of the senate, and orations deli- vered on great occasions. From the epithet St/ra- cusius we conclude that Vopiscus was by birth a Sicilian : he informs us that he undertook the task of writing the life of Aurelianus, at the suggestion and by the request of Junius Tiberianus, prefect of the city (about A. D. 291), who placed at his disposal a variety of important documents, and we find that the life of Carinus was written after the elevation of Constantius Chlorus to the rank of Caesar, that is, later than A. d. 292. For editions, translations, &c. see Capitolinus. [W. R.]

VOPISCUS, JU'LIUS CAESAR. [, No. 10.]

 VOPISCUS, P. MANI'LIUS, consul under Trajan, A. n. 114 with Q. Ninnius Hasta. (Fasti.)

 VOPISCUS, MA'NLIUS, a friend of the poet Statins. (Silv. i, 3.)

 VOPISCUS, L.POMPEIUS or POPPAEUS, was consul suffectus with T. Virginius Rufus, A. D. 69. (Tac. Hist. i. 77.)

 VORANUS, a thief mentioned by Horace, is said by the scholiast to have been a freedman of Q. Lutatius Catulus. (Hor. Sat. i. 8. 39.)

 VOTIE'NUS MONTANUS. [

 UPIS. (🇬🇷) 1. A surname of Artemis, as the goddess assisting women in child-birth. (Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 240.)

 2. The name of a mythical being said to have reared Artemis (Schol. ad Callim. l. c.), and who is mentioned by Virgil as one of the nymphs in her train. (Aen. xi. 532.) The masculine Upis is mentioned by Cicero (De Nat. Deor. iii. 23), as the father of Artemis.

<section end="Upis 2."/> <section begin="Upis 3."/>3. A Hyperborean maiden, who together with Arge carried an offering, which had been vowed for the birth of Apollo and Artemis, to Eileithyia, at Delos. (Herod. iv. 35.)<section end="Upis 3."/>