Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1305

 VERULAMIUJI. ancient site is still occupied by the modern town of VeroU, which retains also some portions of the ancient walls in the polygonal or Cyclopean style. (Westphal, Bom. Kamp. p. 87 ; Abeken, Mittel- Italien, p. 147.) [E. H. B.J VERULAMIUM. [Veroi^vmium.] VERUEIUM {Ovepovpiov, Ptol. i. 5. § 7), a town in the N. part of Lusitania, perhaps S. Vincent de Beira. [T. H. D.] VESASPE (OJeo-aoTTT?, Ptol. vi. 2. § 12), a town in Jledia Atropatene, perhaps the same as the present Cashin. [V.] VESCELIA, a town of the Oretani in Hispania Tarraconensis (Liv. xsxv. 22), perhaps Vilches. (Ukert, ii. pt. i. p. 413.) [T. H. D.] VESCELLIUM or VERCELLIUM, a town of the Hirpini, of uncertain site. Its name is mentioned by Livy (xxiii. 37) as having been recovered by the praetor M. Valerius, after it had revolted to the Car- thaginians. The reading in Livy is very uncertain, but Pliny also mentions the Vescellani among the municipal communities of the Hirpini. (Plin. iii. U.S. 16.) [E. H. B.] VESCI FAVENTIA (OviffKis, Ptol. ii. 4. § 11), a town in Hispania Baetica, between Singili and Astigi. (Phn. iii. 1. s. 3.) [T. H. D.] VESCIA (^Eth. Vescinus), a city of Latium. in the most extended sense of that name, but ori- ginally a city of the Ausones, situated in a plain to the S. of the Liris (^Garigliano). Livy in one pas- sage tells us distinctly that the Ausones had three cities, Ausona, Minturnae, and Vescia, all of which were betrayed into the hands of the Romans by a party within their walls, and the inhabitants put to llie sword in b. c. 314. (Liv. ix. 25.) The name of Vescia is mentioned also about 25 years before as aifording shelter to the remains of the Latin army defeated by the consuls Manlius and Decius in B.C. 340. (Id. viii. 11.) But after the cap- ture of the city in 314, no mention of it again occurs, and it is probable that it never recovered from that calamity. Jlinturnae indeed is the only one of these three cities which again appears in history; but the " ager Vescinus " is repeatedly mentioned (Liv. x. 20, 21, 31), and would seem to have extended from the banks of the Liris as far as the extreme point of the ridge of Slount Massicus. The Roman colony of Sinuessa, which was situated just where that ridge abuts upon the sea, is expressly said to have been planted " in saltu Vescino." (Liv. x. 21.) But all trace of the city seems to have been lost. Pliny does not even notice the name among the extinct cities of Latium and Campania, and we are wholly without a clue to its precise situation. [E. H. B.] VESCITANIA, a district in Spain mentioned only by Pliny (iii. 3. s. 4). [Osca.] [T. H. D.] VESDIANTIL [Vediantii.] VESERIS, a river of Campania, the name of which is known only in connection with the great battle fought with the Latins by T. Manlius Torquatus and P. Decius Mus, B. c. 340. That battle is described by Livy as having been fought " baud procul ra- dicibus Vesuvii montis, qua via ad Veserim ferebat " (viii. 8), an expression which would leave us in doubt whether Veseris was the name of a town or of a river. In another passage he refers to the same hattle as having been fought " ad Veserim" (x. 28); and Cicero also twice notices it as " pugna ad Ve- serim" or " apud Veserim." (Cic. de Fin. i. 7, de Off. iii. 31.) Valerius Maximus uses the latter vol,. II. VESONTIO. 1281 phrase (vi. 4. § 1). The only author whose ex- pressions are free from ambiguity is Aurelius Vic- tor, who distinctly speaks of that celebrated battle as having been fought " apud Veserim fluvium " (c/e Vir. III. 28), and adds that the Romans had pitched their camp on its banks (" positis apud Ve- serim fluvium custris," lb. 26). The authority of Victor is not indeed worth much on points of detail, but there is no reason to reject it in this instance, as it is certainly not at variance with the phrases of Livy and Cicero. The Veseris was probably a small stream, and is not mentioned on any other occa.sion, or by any geographer, so that it is wholly impossible now to identify it. [E. H. B.] VESIO'NICA, a town of Umbria mentioned only by Pliny, who names the Vesionicates among the municipal communities of that country. (Plin. iii. 14. s. 19.) It is supposed to be represented by Civitella di Benezzone, in the upper valley of the Tiber, 7 miles SE. of Perugia. (Cluver. Itul. p. 627.) [E. H. B.] VESO'NTIO {Omcr6vTiov, Ptol. ii. 9. §21: Besango?i), in Gallia, the chief city of the Sequani. The name occurs in Dion Cassius (xxxviii. 34, Isiii. 24), where Reimarus has written Biaovrioipa for the MSS. reading OveaovTiuii'a, without any reason. In Ausonius {Gratia?-um Act.) the form Visontio oc- curs, and he speaks of a " municipalis schola " in the place. The orthography of the word varied, as we might expect; and other forms occur in Ammianus. D'Anville says that the name is Vesant on a mile- stone which bears the name of Trajan, and was found at Mandeure [Epamanduodurum, in which article the name is incorrectly printed Vesont]. When Caesar (b. c. 58) was marching through the country of the Sequani towards the German king Ariovistus, he heard that the German w;is intending to occupy Vesontio, but Caesar got there before him {B. G. i. 38.) He describes the town as nearly surrounded by the Doiihs [Ditbis], and he says that the part which was not surrounded by the river was only 600 Roman feet wide. This neck of land was filled by an eminence, the base of which on each side was washed by the river. There was a wall along this neck of land, which made it a strong fortress, and the wall connected the heights with the town. Caesar's description is exact except as to the width of the neck of land, which D'Anville says is about 1500 Roman feet; and accordingly either Caesar was mistaken, or there is an error in his text in the numerals, which is always a possible thing. Vesontio when Caesar took it was well supplied with everything for war, and its position matie it a strong place. Caesar set out from Vesontio to tight the German king, whom he defeated in the plain between the Vosges and the Rhine. The baitle-iicld was only 5 miles from the Rhine {B. G. i. 53, in which passage the true .-eading is " niilia pasuum .. . circiter quinque," not " quinquaginta.'') In the winter of B. c. 58 — 57 Ciiesar quartered his men among the Sequani, and we may asstune that Vesontio was one of the places where he fixed his trooj)s. Vesontio has been several times .sacked and de- stroyed by Alenianni, by Iluns, and others. It is a town built on the ruins of former towns. The ground has l>een raised above 20 feet, and where it lias been dug into, Roman remains, medals, and other anti(iuities have been discovered. The modern town of Bcsanqon consists of two parts. The upper town, once called [.a Villc, is built on the peninsula, and the citadel stands on the steep 4 N