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VAL VALERIUS,, surnamed , consul, 46, was an opponent of the Emperor Caligula. He was condemned to death by Claudius, at the instigation of Messalina. , author of a Latin version of Æsop's History of Alexander the Great (first edited by Cardinal Mai in 1835), nourished about the beginning of the fifth century.—, surnamed, a Roman historian, was a native of Antium, and flourished about the beginning of the first century His history extended from the earliest era of Rome down to the times of Sulla. He is the most untruthful of all Roman historians.—, a friend of Cesar's in the Gallic war.—, governor of Judæa, 15 to 27.—, surnamed , one of the most active popular leaders in Rome at the time of the expulsion of the Tarquins. He held the consulship four times; and during his first consulship, along with Horatius, he carried the celebrated Lex Valeria Horatia, which conferred legal power on the assemblies of the people. , surnamed, a Roman poet who flourished under Vespasian, was a native of Padua. His only extant poem is the "Argonautica," an imitation of the Greek poem of Apollonius Rhodius, which bore the same name. Quintilian speaks favourably of his poem.—D. M  VALERIUS MAXIMUS, a Roman historian of uncertain prænomen, lived under the Emperor Tiberius, whom he addresses with a servile adulation on several occasions in the course of his work. This bears the title "De Factis Dictisque Memorabilibus libri ix.," and is commonly known as the Memorabilia of Valerius Maximus. It consists of historical and biographical anecdotes, taken partly from Roman, partly from foreign history, but always so arranged as to inculcate some moral lesson. The book is of some value as throwing light on the legal and social institutions of the Romans; but the historical statements are loose and inaccurate, and it is evident the author was more anxious to point a moral or adorn a tale, than to narrate events as they really happened. The style is very bad—clumsy, verbose, and inelegant—whence many eminent critics have concluded that the work is not a genuine relic of the Augustan age. The general opinion of modern authorities seems, however, to be in favour of its authenticity. Like Cato and Seneca, Valerius Maximus was a favourite writer at the time of the revival of learning. Among the best of the old editions are the Variorum, 1670; the Delphin, 1679; and that of Torrenius, Leyden, 1726. There is no good modern edition.—G.  VALERO-Y-LOSA,, Archbishop of Toledo, was born in 1664 at Villanueva de la Xara, where he was afterwards curate. He soon became noted for his zeal and benevolence, rendering almost incredible services to the soldiers and the poor during the disastrous and distressful time of the war of Succession. Philip V. rewarded him with the bishopric of Badajoz, and in 1714 raised him to the archbishopric of Toledo. His humility and benevolence were even more conspicuous after his elevation to the highest ecclesiastical dignity of the realm, than when he was a poor curate. He was indefatigable in his holy labours; visiting, preaching, and catechizing, while the large revenues of his see were expended in public and private charity. This excellent prelate died, universally regretted, on the 23rd of April, 1720.—R. M., A.  VALESIUS. See.  VALETTE-PARISOT,, an illustrious grand-master of Malta, descended from an ancient family of Provence, born in 1494. The Maltese galleys during his sovereignty captured more than fifty Turkish vessels, which so exasperated Sultan Soliman II., that he determined to take Malta. La Valette, hearing that a great armament of sea and land forces was being prepared to attack the island, immediately summoned home the absent knights for its defence. The siege lasted four months, during which time the Turks lost twenty thousand men. The siege was ultimately raised by the arrival of a fleet from Sicily with succours. The destruction of buildings caused the grand-master to build a new city, which has been named La Valetta from him. He died in 1568.—W. J. P.  VALGERAN,, a celebrated Jesuit missionary, was born at Chieti in the hither Abruzzo, in the first part of the sixteenth century. He spent a part of his youth at the court of Pope Paul IV., in hopes that that pontiff, who had been a friend of his family, would advance his worldly interests. But he grew weary of waiting, and disgusted with the fashions and follies of the world. Turning his thoughts wholly to religion and the service of the church, he entered the order of Jesuits in March, 1566. His extraordinary zeal and sanctity soon pointed him out for the highest employments. Sent to India as a missionary priest, he was made superior general of all the missions in Asia. He made several voyages to Japan, and mightily advanced the cause of Romish Christianity in that benighted land. The splendid embassy sent by the Japanese princes in 1582 to Pope Gregory XIII. is said to have been suggested by Valgeran. It was this zealous missionary also who sent the father Matthieu Ricé, called the apostle of China, into that country. He died at Macao on the 20th January, 1606.—R. M., A.  VALGULIO,, was a native of Brescia in Italy, and was born probably a little after the middle of the fifteenth century. His translation into Latin of Plutarch's Dialogue on Music was printed at Brescia by Angelus Britannicus in 1507. It was afterwards reprinted, along with translations of several of the other minor works of Plutarch, at Basle and Paris. Valgulio prefixed to his translation of the dialogue above-mentioned a dissertation on ancient music. It is strange that this author has escaped the notice of Fabricius, who in his Bibliotheca Græca has taken special pains to enumerate the translators and commentators of Plutarch. A somewhat lengthy criticism on Valgulio's translation will be found in the Observationes touchant l'histoire litteraire du Dialogue de Plutarch sur la musique, by M. Burette, printed in the Mémoirs de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, tome huitiéme, pp. 44, et suiv.—R. M., A.  VALIODDIN, , an Arabian historian of the fifteenth century. He was first kadi or judge in Egypt, and followed the Mahometan army into Syria, where he fell into the hands of Tamerlane, and became a prisoner of war. His eloquence and insinuating address, however, soon made him a favourite with the conquering Tartar, who after a while permitted him to pay a visit to his wife and children at Cairo. This liberty was granted on the condition that he would quit Egypt with all his possessions, and return to the court of Timur. But the captive historian thought more of regaining his freedom than of the necessity of keeping a clear conscience, and bade a final farewell to his barbarian patron. The chronicle of Valioddin is a sort of universal history, from the creation of the world down to the times of Tamerlane. It cost him an immense labour, and is written with great vigour and eloquence.—R. M., A. <section end="483H" /> <section begin="483I" />VALLA or DALLA VALLE,, author and eminent Latin scholar, born in Rome (his parents belonged to Piacenza), about 1406; died in Rome, August, 1457. Having offended the reigning pope by his work, "De Donatione Constantini," which not merely disputed the fact of the donation, but failed in reverence to the pontiffs. Valla left Rome, and took refuge with Alfonso, king of Naples, who continued his firm friend ever after. When Nicholas V. succeeded to the popedom he, however, recalled Valla, and bestowed on him honourable emolument, which goes far to prove the frivolity of certain suspicions cast upon his faith; but that he was loose in morals, envenomed and foul-mouthed in literary controversies, and not backward in self-assertion, is indubitable. His great, although by no means his sole opponent, was Poggio, also a master of abusive language. On the other hand, Valla's talents and acquirements procured for him the suffrages of many warm admirers, amongst whom was Erasmus. Besides the work already mentioned. Valla has left—"Elegantiæ Sermonis Latini," still considered valuable; "Notæ in Novum Testamentum, sive de collatione Novi Testamenti;" treatises on Pleasure, Real Good, and Free Will; a "History of the Reign of Ferdinand, King of Arragon;" "Facetiæ;" and translations from Homer, Æsop, Thucydides, and Herodotus.—C. G. R. <section end="483I" /> <section begin="483Zcontin" />VALLADIER,, one of the court preachers of Henry IV., was born at Saint Pal in 1570. He studied at Billon in Auvergne, and afterwards went to Avignon, where he became noted for his eloquent preaching. He entered the Society of the Jesuits in 1585. For some time after this he led a very restless life. From Avignon he went to Lyons, from Lyons to Moulins, from Moulins to Dijon, and then back to Lyons again. Henry IV. about this time sent for him to come to Paris, meaning to engage him on the annals of his reign, which he was then getting prepared, and also to make him one of the preachers in the church of Notre-Dame. But Valladier's superior kept up the letters out of jealousy—a circumstance which in its consequences caused the former at length to withdraw from the Society <section end="483Zcontin" />