A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

by William Smith

V

VĂCATĬO. [[Exercitus], [Emeriti].]

VĂDĬMŌNĬUM, VAS. [[Actio]; [Praes].]

VĀGĪNA. [[Gladius].]

VALLUM, a term applied either to the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. It is derived from vallus (a stake), and properly means the palisade which ran along the outer edge of the agger, but it very frequently includes the agger also. The vallum, in the latter sense, together with the fossa or ditch which surrounded the camp outside of the vallum, formed a complete fortification. The valli (χάρακες), of which the vallum, in the former and more limited sense, was composed, are described by Polybius and Livy, who make a comparison between the vallum of the Greeks and that of the Romans, very much to the advantage of the latter. Both used for valli young trees or arms of larger trees, with the side branches on them; but the valli of the Greeks were much larger and had more branches than those of the Romans, which had either two or three, or at the most four branches, and these generally on the same side. The Greeks placed their valli in the agger at considerable intervals, the spaces between them being filled up by the branches; the Romans fixed theirs close together, and made the branches interlace, and sharpened their points carefully. Hence the Greek vallus could easily be taken hold of by its large branches and pulled from its place, and when it was removed a large opening was left in the vallum. The Roman vallus, on the contrary, presented no convenient handle, required very great force to pull it down, and even if removed left a very small opening. The Greek valli were cut on the spot; the Romans prepared theirs beforehand, and each soldier carried three or four of them when on a march. They were made of any strong wood, but oak was preferred. The word vallus is sometimes used as equivalent to vallum. In the operations of a siege, when the place could not be taken by storm, and it became necessary to establish a blockade, this was done by drawing defences similar to those of a camp round the town, which was then said to be circumvallatum. Such a circumvallation, besides cutting off all communication between the town and the surrounding country, formed a defence against the sallies of the besieged. There was often a double line of fortifications, the inner against the town, and the outer against a force that might attempt to raise the siege. In this case the army was encamped between the two lines of works. This kind of circumvallation, which the Greeks called ἀποτειχισμός and περιτειχισμός, was employed by the Peloponnesians in the siege of Plataeae. Their lines consisted of two walls (apparently of turf) at the distance of 16 feet, which surrounded the city in the form of a circle. Between the walls were the huts of the besiegers. The wall had battlements (ἐπάλξεις), and at every tenth battlement was a tower, filling up by its depth the whole space between the walls. There was a passage for the besiegers through the middle of each tower. On the outside of each wall was a ditch (τάφρος). This description would almost exactly answer to the Roman mode of circumvallation, of which some of the best examples are that of Carthage by Scipio, that of Numantia by Scipio, and that of Alesia by Caesar. The towers in such lines were similar to those used in attacking fortified places, but not so high, and of course not moveable. [[Turris].]

VALVAE. [[Janua].]

VANNUS (λικμός, λίκνον), a winnowing-van, i.e. a broad basket, into which the corn mixed with chaff was received after thrashing, and was then thrown in the direction of the wind. Virgil dignifies this simple implement by calling it mystica vannus Iacchi. The rites of Bacchus, as well as those of Ceres, having a continual reference to the occupations of rural life, the vannus was borne in the processions celebrated in honour of both these divinities. In the cut annexed the infant Bacchus is carried in a vannus by two dancing bacchantes clothed in skins.

Bacchus carried in a Vannus. (From an Antefixa in the British Museum.)

VAS (pl. vasa), a general term for any kind of vessel. Thus we read of vas vinarium, vas argenteum, vasa Corinthia et Deliaca, vasa Samia, that is, made of Samian earthenware, vasa Murrhina. [[Murrhina Vasa].] The word vas was used in a still wider signification, and was applied to any kind of utensil used in the kitchen, agriculture, &c. The utensils of the soldiers were called vasa, and hence vasa colligere and vasa conclamare signify to pack up the baggage, to give the signal for departure.

VECTĪGĀLĬA, the general term for all the regular revenues of the Roman state. It means anything which is brought (vehitur) into the public treasury, like the Greek φόρος. The earliest regular income of the state was in all probability the rent paid for the use of the public land and pastures. This revenue was called pascua, a name which was used as late as the time of Pliny, in the tables or registers of the censors for all the revenues of the state in general. The senate was the supreme authority in all matters of finance, but as the state did not occupy itself with collecting the taxes, duties, and tributes, the censors were entrusted with the actual business. These officers, who in this respect may not unjustly be compared to modern ministers of finance, used to let the various branches of the revenue to the publicani for a fixed sum, and for a certain number of years. [[Censor]; [Publicani].] As most of the branches of the public revenues of Rome are treated of in separate articles, it is only necessary to give a list of them here, and to explain those which have not been treated of separately. 1. The tithes paid to the state by those who occupied the ager publicus. [[Decumae]; [Ager Publicus].] 2. The sums paid by those who kept their cattle on the public pastures. [[Scriptura].] 3. The harbour duties raised upon imported and exported commodities. [[Portorium].] 4. The revenue derived from the salt-works. [[Salinae].] 5. The revenues derived from the mines (metalla). This branch of the public revenue cannot have been very productive until the Romans had become masters of foreign countries. Until that time the mines of Italy appear to have been worked, but this was forbidden by the senate after the conquest of foreign lands. The mines of conquered countries were treated like the salinae. 6. The hundredth part of the value of all things which were sold (centesima rerum venalium). This tax was not instituted at Rome until the time of the civil wars; the persons who collected it were called coactores. Tiberius reduced this tax to a two-hundredth (ducentesima), and Caligula abolished it for Italy altogether, whence upon several coins of this emperor we read R. C. C., that is, Remissa Ducentesima. Respecting the tax raised upon the sale of slaves, see Quinquagesima. 7. The vicesima hereditatum et manumissionum. [[Vicesima].] 8. The tribute imposed upon foreign countries was by far the most important branch of the public revenue during the time of Rome’s greatness. It was sometimes raised at once, sometimes paid by instalments, and sometimes changed into a poll-tax, which was in many cases regulated according to the census. In regard to Cilicia and Syria we know that this tax amounted to one per cent. of a person’s census, to which a tax upon houses and slaves was added. In some cases the tribute was not paid according to the census, but consisted in a land-tax. 9. A tax upon bachelors. [[Aes Uxorium].] 10. A door-tax. [[Ostiarium].] 11. The octavae. In the time of Caesar all liberti living in Italy, and possessing property of 200 sestertia, and above it, had to pay a tax consisting of the eighth part of their property.—It would be interesting to ascertain the amount of income which Rome at various periods derived from these and other sources; but our want of information renders it impossible. We have only the general statement, that previously to the time of Pompey the annual revenue amounted to fifty millions of drachmas, and that it was increased by him to eighty-five millions.

VĒLĀRĬUM. [[Amphitheatrum], [p. 23].]

VĒLĬTES, the light-armed troops in a Roman army. [[Exercitus], [p. 169].]

VĒLUM (αὐλαία).—(1) A curtain. Curtains were used in private houses as coverings over doors, or they served in the interior of the house as substitutes for doors.—(2) Velum, and more commonly its derivative velamen, denoted the veil worn by women. That worn by a bride was specifically called flammeum. [[Matrimonium].]—(3) (Ἱστίον.) A sail. [[Navis], [p. 267].]

VĒNĀBŬLUM, a hunting-spear. This may have been distinguished from the spears used in warfare by being barbed; at least it is often so formed in ancient works of art. It was seldom, if ever, thrown, but held so as to slant downwards and to receive the attacks of the wild boars and other beasts of chace.

VĒNĀTĬO, hunting, was the name given among the Romans to an exhibition of wild beasts, which fought with one another and with men. These exhibitions originally formed part of the games of the circus. Julius Caesar first built a wooden amphitheatre for the exhibition of wild beasts, and others were subsequently erected; but we frequently read of venationes in the circus in subsequent times. The persons who fought with the beasts were either condemned criminals or captives, or individuals who did so for the sake of pay, and were trained for the purpose. [[Bestiarii].] The Romans were as passionately fond of this entertainment as of the exhibitions of gladiators, and during the latter days of the republic, and under the empire, an immense variety of animals was collected from all parts of the Roman world for the gratification of the people, and many thousands were frequently slain at one time. We do not know on what occasion a venatio was first exhibited at Rome; but the first mention we find of any thing of the kind is in the year B.C. 251, when L. Metellus exhibited in the circus 142 elephants, which he had brought from Sicily after his victory over the Carthaginians. But this can scarcely be regarded as an instance of a venatio, as it was understood in later times, since the elephants are said to have been only killed because the Romans did not know what to do with them, and not for the amusement of the people. There was, however, a venatio in the later sense of the word in B.C. 186, in the games celebrated by M. Fulvius in fulfilment of the vow which he had made in the Aetolian war; in these games lions and panthers were exhibited. It is mentioned as a proof of the growing magnificence of the age that in the ludi circenses, exhibited by the curule aediles P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica and P. Lentulus B.C. 168, there were 63 African panthers and 40 bears and elephants. From about this time combats with wild beasts probably formed a regular part of the ludi circenses, and many of the curule aediles made great efforts to obtain rare and curious animals, and put in requisition the services of their friends. Elephants are said to have first fought in the circus in the curule aedileship of Claudius Pulcher, B.C. 99; and twenty years afterwards, in the curule aedileship of the two Luculli, they fought against bulls. A hundred lions were exhibited by Sulla in his praetorship, which were destroyed by javelin-men sent by king Bocchus for the purpose. This was the first time that lions were allowed to be loose in the circus; they were previously always tied up. The games, however, in the curule aedileship of Scaurus, B.C. 58, surpassed anything the Romans had ever seen; among other novelties, he first exhibited an hippopotamos and five crocodiles in a temporary canal or trench (euripus). At the venatio given by Pompey in his second consulship, B.C. 55, upon the dedication of the temple of Venus Victrix, there was an immense number of animals slaughtered, among which we find mention of 600 lions, and 18 or 20 elephants; the latter fought with Gaetulians, who hurled darts against them, and they attempted to break through the railings (clathri) by which they were separated from the spectators. To guard against this danger Julius Caesar surrounded the arena of the amphitheatre with trenches (euripi). In the games exhibited by J. Caesar in his third consulship, B.C. 45, the venatio lasted for five days, and was conducted with extraordinary splendour. Cameleopards or giraffes were then for the first time seen in Italy. The venationes seem to have been first confined to the ludi circenses, but during the later times of the republic, and under the empire, they were frequently exhibited on the celebration of triumphs, and on many other occasions, with the view of pleasing the people. The passion for these shows continued to increase under the empire, and the number of beasts sometimes slaughtered seems almost incredible. Under the emperors we read of a particular kind of venatio, in which the beasts were not killed by bestiarii, but were given up to the people, who were allowed to rush into the area of the circus and carry away what they pleased. On such occasions a number of large trees, which had been torn up by the roots, was planted in the circus, which thus resembled a forest, and none of the more savage animals were admitted into it. One of the most extraordinary venationes of this kind was that given by Probus, in which there were 1000 ostriches, 1000 stags, 1000 boars, 1000 deer, and numbers of wild goats, wild sheep, and other animals of the same kind. The more savage animals were slain by the bestiarii in the amphitheatre, and not in the circus. Thus, in the day succeeding the venatio of Probus just mentioned, there were slain in the amphitheatre 100 lions and 100 lionesses, 100 Libyan and 100 Syrian leopards, and 300 bears.

Venationes. (From Bas-reliefs on the Tomb of Scaurus at Pompeii.)

VĔNĒFĬCĬUM, the crime of poisoning, is frequently mentioned in Roman history. Women were most addicted to it: but it seems not improbable that this charge was frequently brought against females without sufficient evidence of their guilt, like that of witchcraft in Europe in the middle ages. We find females condemned to death for this crime in seasons of pestilence, when the people are always in an excited state of mind, and ready to attribute the calamities under which they suffer to the arts of evil-disposed persons. Thus the Athenians, when the pestilence raged in their city during the Peloponnesian war, supposed the wells to have been poisoned by the Peloponnesians, and similar instances occur in the history of almost all states. Still, however, the crime of poisoning seems to have been much more frequent in ancient than in modern times; and this circumstance would lead persons to suspect it in cases when there was no real ground for the suspicion. At Athens the [Pharmacon Graphe] was brought against poisoners. At Rome the first legislative enactment especially directed against poisoning was a law of the dictator Sulla—Lex Cornelia de Sicariis et Veneficis—passed in B.C. 82, which continued in force, with some alterations, to the latest times. It contained provisions against all who made, bought, sold, possessed, or gave poison for the purpose of poisoning. The punishment fixed by this law was the interdictio aquae et ignis.

VER SACRUM (ἔτος ἱερόν). It was a custom among the early Italian nations, especially among the Sabines, in times of great danger and distress, to vow to the deity the sacrifice of everything born in the next spring, that is, between the first of March and the last day of April, if the calamity under which they were labouring should be removed. This sacrifice in the early times comprehended both men and domestic animals, and there is little doubt that in many cases the vow was really carried into effect. But in later times it was thought cruel to sacrifice so many infants, and accordingly the following expedient was adopted. The children were allowed to grow up, and in the spring of their twentieth or twenty-first year they were with covered faces driven across the frontier of their native country, whereupon they went whithersoever fortune or the deity might lead them. Many a colony had been founded by persons driven out in this manner; and the Mamertines in Sicily were the descendants of such devoted persons. In the two historical instances in which the Romans vowed a ver sacrum, that is, after the battle of lake Trasimenus and at the close of the second Punic war, the vow was confined to domestic animals.

VERBĒNA. [[Sagmina].]

VERBĒNĀRĬUS. [[Fetialis].]

VERNA. [[Servus].]

VERSŪRA. [[Fenus].]

VĔRU, VERŪTUM. [[Hasta].]

VESPAE, VESPILLŌNES. [[Funus], [p. 188].]

VESTĀLES, the virgin priestesses of Vesta, who ministered in her temple and watched the eternal fire. Their existence at Alba Longa is connected with the earliest Roman traditions, for Silvia the mother of Romulus was a member of the sisterhood; their establishment in the city, in common with almost all other matters connected with state religion, is generally ascribed to Numa, who selected four, two from the Titienses and two from the Ramnes; and two more were subsequently added from the Luceres, by Tarquinius Priscus according to one authority, by Servius Tullius according to another. This number of six remained unchanged to the latest times. They were originally chosen (capere is the technical word) by the king, and during the republic and empire by the pontifex maximus. It was necessary that the maiden should not be under six nor above ten years of age, perfect in all her limbs, in the full enjoyment of all her senses, patrima et matrima [[Patrimi]], the daughter of free and freeborn parents who had never been in slavery, who followed no dishonourable occupation, and whose home was in Italy. The Lex Papia ordained that when a vacancy occurred the pontifex maximus should name at his discretion twenty qualified damsels, one of whom was publicly (in concione) fixed upon by lot, an exemption being granted in favour of such as had a sister already a vestal, and of the daughters of certain priests of a high class. The above law appears to have been enacted in consequence of the unwillingness of fathers to resign all control over a child, and this reluctance was manifested so strongly in later times, that in the age of Augustus libertinae were declared eligible. The casting of lots moreover does not seem to have been practised if any respectable person came forward voluntarily, and offered a daughter who fulfilled the necessary conditions. As soon as the election was concluded, the pontifex maximus took the girl by the hand and addressed her in a solemn form. After this was pronounced she was led away to the atrium of Vesta, and lived thenceforward within the sacred precincts, under the special superintendence and control of the pontifical college. The period of service lasted for thirty years. During the first ten the priestess was engaged in learning her mysterious duties, being termed discipula, during the next ten in performing them, during the last ten in giving instructions to the novices, and so long as she was thus employed she was bound by a solemn vow of chastity. But after the time specified was completed, she might, if she thought fit, throw off the emblems of her office, unconsecrate herself (exaugurare), return to the world, and even enter into the marriage state. Few however availed themselves of these privileges; those who did were said to have lived in sorrow and remorse (as might indeed have been expected from the habits they had formed); hence such a proceeding was considered ominous, and the priestesses for the most part died, as they had lived, in the service of the goddess. The senior sister was entitled Vestalis Maxima, or Virgo Maxima, and we find also the expressions Vestalium vetustissima and tres maximae. Their chief office was to watch by turns, night and day, the everlasting fire which blazed upon the altar of Vesta, its extinction being considered as the most fearful of all prodigies, and emblematic of the extinction of the state. If such misfortune befell, and was caused by the carelessness of the priestess on duty, she was stripped and scourged by the pontifex maximus, in the dark and with a screen interposed, and he rekindled the flame by the friction of two pieces of wood from a felix arbor. Their other ordinary duties consisted in presenting offerings to the goddess at stated times, and in sprinkling and purifying the shrine each morning with water, which according to the institution of Numa was to be drawn from the Egerian fount, although in later times it was considered lawful to employ any water from a living spring or running stream, but not such as had passed through pipes. When used for sacrificial purposes it was mixed with muries, that is, salt which had been pounded in a mortar, thrown into an earthen jar, and baked in an oven. They assisted moreover at all great public holy rites, such as the festivals of the Bona Dea, and the consecration of temples; they were invited to priestly banquets, and we are told that they were present at the solemn appeal to the gods made by Cicero during the conspiracy of Catiline. They also guarded the sacred relics which formed the fatale pignus imperii, the pledge granted by fate for the permanency of the Roman sway, deposited in the inmost adytum, which no one was permitted to enter save the virgins and the chief pontifex. What this object was no one knew; some supposed that it was the palladium, others the Samothracian gods carried by Dardanus to Troy, and transported from thence to Italy by Aeneas, but all agreed in believing that something of awful sanctity was here preserved, contained, it was said, in a small earthen jar closely sealed, while another exactly similar in form, but empty, stood by its side. We have seen above that supreme importance was attached to the purity of the vestals, and a terrible punishment awaited her who violated the vow of chastity. According to the law of Numa, she was simply to be stoned to death, but a more cruel torture was devised by Tarquinius Priscus, and inflicted from that time forward. When condemned by the college of pontifices, she was stripped of her vittae and other badges of office, was scourged, was attired like a corpse, placed in a close litter and borne through the forum attended by her weeping kindred, with all the ceremonies of a real funeral, to a rising ground called the Campus Sceleratus, just within the city walls, close to the Colline gate. There a small vault underground had been previously prepared, containing a couch, a lamp, and a table with a little food. The pontifex maximus, having lifted up his hands to heaven and uttered a secret prayer, opened the litter, led forth the culprit, and placing her on the steps of the ladder which gave access to the subterranean cell, delivered her over to the common executioner and his assistants, who conducted her down, drew up the ladder, and having filled the pit with earth until the surface was level with the surrounding ground, left her to perish deprived of all the tributes of respect usually paid to the spirits of the departed. In every case the paramour was publicly scourged to death in the forum. The honours which the vestals enjoyed were such as in a great measure to compensate for their privations. They were maintained at the public cost, and from sums of money and land bequeathed from time to time to the corporation. From the moment of their consecration they became as it were the property of the goddess alone, and were completely released from all parental sway, without going through the form of emancipatio or suffering any capitis deminutio. They had a right to make a will, and to give evidence in a court of justice without taking an oath. From the time of the triumviri each was preceded by a lictor when she went abroad; consuls and praetors made way for them, and lowered their fasces; even the tribunes of the plebs respected their holy character, and if any one passed under their litter he was put to death. Augustus granted to them all the rights of matrons who had borne three children, and assigned them a conspicuous place in the theatre, a privilege which they had enjoyed before at the gladiatorial shows. Great weight was attached to their intercession on behalf of those in danger and difficulty, of which we have a remarkable example in the entreaties which they addressed to Sulla on behalf of Julius Caesar, and if they chanced to meet a criminal as he was led to punishment, they had a right to demand his release, provided it could be proved that the encounter was accidental. Wills, even those of the emperors, were committed to their charge, for when in such keeping they were considered inviolable; and in like manner very solemn treaties, such as that of the triumvirs with Sextus Pompeius, were placed in their hands. That they might be honoured in death as in life, their ashes were interred within the pomoerium. They were attired in a stola over which was an upper vestment made of linen, and in addition to the infula and white woollen vitta, they wore when sacrificing a peculiar head-dress called suffibulum, consisting of a piece of white cloth bordered with purple, oblong in shape, and secured by a clasp. In dress and general deportment they were required to observe the utmost simplicity and decorum, any fanciful ornaments in the one or levity in the other being always regarded with disgust and suspicion. Their hair was cut off, probably at the period of their consecration: whether this was repeated from time to time does not appear, but they are never represented with flowing locks. The following cut represents the vestal Tuccia who, when wrongfully accused, appealed to the goddess to vindicate her honour, and had power given to her to carry a sieve full of water from the Tiber to the temple. The form of the upper garment is well shown.

Vestal Virgin. (From a Gem.)

VESTĬBŬLUM. [[Domus], [p. 142], a.]

VĔTĔRĀNUS. [[Tiro].]

VEXILLĀRĬI. [[Exercitus], [p. 170], b.]

VEXILLUM. [[Signa Militaria].]

VIA, a public road. It was not until the period of the long protracted Samnite wars that the necessity was felt of securing a safe communication between the city and the legions, and then for the first time we hear of those famous paved roads, which, in after ages, connected Rome with her most distant provinces, constituting the most lasting of all her works. The excellence of the principles upon which they were constructed is sufficiently attested by their extraordinary durability, many specimens being found in the country around Rome which have been used without being repaired for more than a thousand years. The Romans are said to have adopted their first ideas upon this subject from the Carthaginians, and it is extremely probable that the latter people may, from their commercial activity and the sandy nature of their soil, have been compelled to turn their attention to the best means of facilitating the conveyance of merchandise to different parts of their territory. The first great public road made by the Romans was the Via Appia, which extended in the first instance from Rome to Capua, and was made in the censorship of Appius Claudius Caecus (B.C. 312.) The general construction of a Roman road was as follows:—In the first place, two shallow trenches (sulci) were dug parallel to each other, marking the breadth of the proposed road; this in the great lines is found to have been from 13 to 15 feet. The loose earth between the sulci was then removed, and the excavation continued until a solid foundation (gremium) was reached, upon which the materials of the road might firmly rest; if this could not be attained, in consequence of the swampy nature of the ground or from any peculiarity in the soil, a basis was formed artificially by driving piles (fistucationibus). Above the gremium were four distinct strata. The lowest course was the statumen, consisting of stones not smaller than the hand could just grasp; above the statumen was the rudus, a mass of broken stones cemented with lime, (what masons call rubble-work,) rammed down hard, and nine inches thick; above the rudus came the nucleus, composed of fragments of bricks and pottery, the pieces being smaller than in the rudus, cemented with lime, and six inches thick. Uppermost was the pavimentum, large polygonal blocks of the hardest stone (silex), usually, at least in the vicinity of Rome, basaltic lava, irregular in form, but fitted and jointed with the greatest nicety, so as to present a perfectly even surface, as free from gaps or irregularities as if the whole had been one solid mass. The general aspect will be understood from the cut given below.

Street at the entrance of Pompeii.

The centre of the way was a little elevated, so as to permit the water to run off easily. Occasionally, at least in cities, rectangular slabs of softer stone were employed instead of the irregular polygons of silex, and hence the distinction between the phrases silice sternere and saxo quadrato sternere. Nor was this all. Regular foot-paths (margines, crepidines, umbones) were raised upon each side and strewed with gravel, the different parts were strengthened and bound together with gomphi or stone wedges, and stone blocks were set up at moderate intervals on the side of the foot-paths, in order that travellers on horseback might be able to mount without assistance. Finally, Caius Gracchus erected mile-stones along the whole extent of the great highways, marking the distances from Rome, which appear to have been counted from the gate at which each road issued forth, and Augustus, when appointed inspector of the viae around the city, erected in the forum a gilded column (milliarium aureum), on which were inscribed the distances of the principal points to which the viae conducted. During the earlier ages of the republic the construction and general superintendence of the roads without, and the streets within the city, were committed like all other important works to the censors. These duties, when no censors were in office, devolved upon the consuls, and in their absence on the praetor urbanus, the aediles, or such persons as the senate thought fit to appoint. There were also under the republic four officers, called quatuorviri viarum, for superintending the streets within the city, and two called curatores viarum, for superintending the roads without. Under the empire the curatores viarum were officers of high rank. The chief roads which issued from Rome are:—1. The Via Appia, the Great South Road. It issued from the Porta Capena, and passing through Aricia, Tres Tabernae, Appii Forum, Tarracina, Fundi, Formiae, Minturnae, Sinuessa, and Carilinum, terminated at Capua, but was eventually extended through Calatia and Caudium to Beneventum, and finally from thence through Venusia, Tarentum, and Uria, to Brundusium.—2. The Via Latina, from the Porta Capena, another great line leading to Beneventum, but keeping a course farther inland than the Via Appia. Soon after leaving the city it sent off a short branch (Via Tusculana) to Tusculum, and passing through Compitum Anaginum, Ferentinum, Frusino, Fregellae, Fabrateria, Aquinum, Casinum, Venafrum, Teanum, Allifae, and Telesia, joined the Via Appia at Beneventum. A cross-road called the Via Hadriana, running from Minturnae through Suessa Aurunca to Teanum, connected the Via Appia with the Via Latina.—3. From the Porta Esquilina issued the Via Labicana, which passing Labicum fell into the Via Latina at the station ad Bivium, 30 miles from Rome.—4. The Via Praenestina, originally the Via Gabina, issued from the same gate with the former. Passing through Gabii and Praeneste, it joined the Via Latina just below Anagnia.—5. The Via Tiburtina, which issued from the Porta Tiburtina, and proceeding N. E. to Tibur, a distance of about 20 miles, was continued from thence, in the same direction, under the name of the Via Valeria, and traversing the country of the Sabines passed through Carseoli and Corfinium to Aternum on the Adriatic, thence to Adria, and so along the coast to Castrum Truentinum, where it fell into the Via Salaria.—6. The Via Nomentana, anciently Ficulnensis, ran from the Porta Collina, crossed the Anio to Nomentum, and a little beyond fell into the Via Salaria at Eretum.—7. The Via Salaria, also from the Porta Collina (passing Fidenae and Crustumerium) ran north and east through Sabinum and Picenum to Reate and Asculum Picenum. At Castrum Truentinum it reached the coast, which it followed until it joined the Via Flaminia at Ancona.—8. The Via Flaminia, the Great North Road, carried ultimately to Ariminum. It issued from the Porta Flaminia, and proceeded nearly north to Ocriculum and Narnia in Umbria. Here a branch struck off, making a sweep to the east through Interamna and Spoletium, and fell again into the main trunk (which passed through Mevania) at Fulginia. It continued through Fanum Flaminii and Nuceria, where it again divided, one line running nearly straight to Fanum Fortunae on the Adriatic, while the other diverging to Ancona continued from thence along the coast to Fanum Fortunae, where the two branches uniting passed on to Ariminum through Pisaurum. From thence the Via Flaminia was extended under the name of the Via Aemilia, and traversed the heart of Cisalpine Gaul through Bononia, Mutina, Parma, Placentia (where it crossed the Po), to Mediolanum.—9. The Via Aurelia, the Great Coast Road, issued originally from the Porta Janiculensis, and subsequently from the Porta Aurelia. It reached the coast at Alsium, and followed the shore of the lower sea along Etruria and Liguria by Genoa as far as Forum Julii in Gaul. In the first instance it extended no farther than Pisa.—10. The Via Portuensis kept the right bank of the Tiber to Portus Augusti.—11. The Via Ostiensis originally passed through the Porta Trigemina, afterwards through the Porta Ostiensis, and kept the left bank of the Tiber to Ostia. From thence it was continued under the name of Via Severiana along the coast southward through Laurentum, Antium, and Circaei, till it joined the Via Appia at Tarracina. The Via Laurentina, leading direct to Laurentum, seems to have branched off from the Via Ostiensis at a short distance from Rome.—12. The Via Ardeatina from Rome to Ardea. According to some this branched off from the Via Appia, and thus the circuit of the city is completed.

VĬĀTĬCUM is, properly speaking, everything necessary for a person setting out on a journey, and thus comprehends money, provisions, dresses, vessels, &c. When a Roman magistrate, praetor, proconsul, or quaestor went to his province, the state provided him with all that was necessary for his journey. But as the state in this, as in most other cases of expenditure, preferred paying a sum at once to having any part in the actual business, it engaged contractors (redemptores), who for a stipulated sum had to provide the magistrates with the viaticum, the principal parts of which appear to have been beasts of burden and tents (muli et tabernacula). Augustus introduced some modification of this system, as he once for all fixed a certain sum to be given to the proconsuls (probably to other provincial magistrates also) on setting out for their provinces, so that the redemptores had no more to do with it.

VĬĀTOR, a servant who attended upon and executed the commands of certain Roman magistrates, to whom he bore the same relation as the lictor did to other magistrates. The name viatores was derived from the circumstance of their being chiefly employed on messages either to call upon senators to attend the meeting of the senate, or to summon people to the comitia, &c. In the earlier times of the republic we find viatores as ministers of such magistrates also as had their lictors: viatores of a dictator and of the consuls are mentioned by Livy. In later times, however, viatores are only mentioned with such magistrates as had only potestas and not imperium, such as the tribunes of the people, the censors, and the aediles.

VICTIMA. [[Sacrificium].]

VĪCĒSĬMA, a tax of five per cent. Every Roman, when he manumitted a slave, had to pay to the state a tax of one-twentieth of his value, whence the tax was called vicesima manumissionis. This tax was first imposed by the Lex Manlia (B.C. 357), and was not abolished when all other imposts were done away with in Rome and Italy. A tax called vicesima hereditatum et legatorum was introduced by Augustus (Lex Julia Vicesimaria): it consisted of five per cent., which every Roman citizen had to pay to the aerarium militare, upon any inheritance or legacy left to him, with the exception of such as were left to a citizen by his nearest relatives, and such as did not amount to above a certain sum. It was levied in Italy and the provinces by procuratores appointed for the purpose.

VĪCOMĂGISTRI. [[Vicus].]

VĪCUS, the name of the subdivisions into which the four regions occupied by the four city tribes of Servius Tullius were divided, while the country regions, according to an institution ascribed to Numa, were subdivided into pagi. This division, together with that of the four regions of the four city tribes, remained down to the time of Augustus, who made the vici subdivisions of the fourteen regions into which he divided the city. In this division each vicus consisted of one main street, including several smaller by-streets; their number was 424, and each was superintended by four officers, called vico-magistri, who had a sort of local police, and who, according to the regulation of Augustus, were every year chosen by lot from among the people who lived in the vicus. On certain days, probably at the celebration of the compitalia, they wore the praetexta, and each of them was accompanied by two lictors. These officers, however, were not a new institution of Augustus, for they had existed during the time of the republic, and had had the same functions as a police for the vici of the Servian division of the city.

VICTŌRĬĀTUS. [[Denarius].]

VĬGĬLES. [[Exercitus], [p. 171].]

VĬGĬLĬAE. [[Castra].]

VĪGINTĬSEXVĬRI, twenty-six magistratus minores, among whom were included the Triumviri Capitales, the Triumviri Monetales, the Quatuorviri Viarum Curandarum for the city, the two Curatores Viarum for the roads outside the city, the Decemviri Litibus (stlitibus) Judicandis, and the four praefects who were sent into Campania for the purpose of administering justice there. Augustus reduced the number of officers of this college to twenty (vigintiviri), as the two curatores viarum for the roads outside the city and the four Campanian praefects were abolished. Down to the time of Augustus the sons of senators had generally sought and obtained a place in the college of the vigintisexviri, it being the first step towards the higher offices of the republic; but in A.D. 13 a senatusconsultum was passed, ordaining that only equites should be eligible to the college of the vigintiviri. The consequence of this was that the vigintiviri had no seats in the senate, unless they had held some other magistracy which conferred this right upon them. The age at which a person might become a vigintivir appears to have been twenty.

VĪGINTĬVĬRI. [[Vigintisexviri].]

VILLA, a farm or country-house. The Roman writers mention two kinds of villa, the villa rustica or farm-house, and the villa urbana or pseudo-urbana, a residence in the country or in the suburbs of a town. When both of these were attached to an estate they were generally united in the same range of buildings, but sometimes they were placed at different parts of the estate. The interior arrangements of the villa urbana corresponded for the most part to those of a town-house. [[Domus].]

VILLĬCUS, a slave who had the superintendence of the villa rustica, and of all the business of the farm, except the cattle, which were under the care of the magister pecoris. The word was also used to describe a person to whom the management of any business was entrusted.

VĪNĀLĬA. There were two festivals of this name celebrated by the Romans: the Vinalia urbana or priora, and the Vinalia rustica or altera. The vinalia urbana were celebrated on the 23rd of April, when the wine-casks which had been filled the preceding autumn were opened for the first time, and the wine tasted. The rustic vinalia, which fell on the 19th of August, and was celebrated by the inhabitants of all Latium, was the day on which the vintage was opened. On this occasion the flamen dialis offered lambs to Jupiter, and while the flesh of the victims lay on the altar, he broke with his own hands a bunch of grapes from a vine, and by this act he, as it were, opened the vintage, and no must was allowed to be conveyed into the city until this solemnity was performed. This day was sacred to Jupiter, and Venus too appears to have had a share in it.

VINDĒMĬĀLIS FĒRĬA. [[Feriae].]

VINDEX. [[Actio].]

VINDICTA. [[Manumissio].]

VĪNĔA, in its literal signification, is a bower formed of the branches of vines; and, from the protection which such a leafy roof affords, the name was applied by the Romans to a roof under which the besiegers of a town protected themselves against darts, stones, fire, and the like, which were thrown by the besieged upon the assailants. The whole machine formed a roof, resting upon posts eight feet in height. The roof itself was generally sixteen feet long and seven broad. The wooden frame was in most cases light, so that it could be carried by the soldiers; sometimes, however, when the purpose which it was to serve required great strength, it was heavy, and then the whole fabric probably was moved by wheels attached to the posts. The roof was formed of planks and wicker-work, and the uppermost layer or layers consisted of raw hides or wet cloth, as a protection against fire, by which the besieged frequently destroyed the vineae. The sides of a vinea were likewise protected by wicker-work. Such machines were constructed in a safe place at some distance from the besieged town, and then carried or wheeled (agere) close to its walls. Here several of them were frequently joined together, so that a great number of soldiers might be employed under them. When vineae had taken their place close to the walls, the soldiers began their operations, either by undermining the walls, and thus opening a breach, or by employing the battering-ram (aries).

VĪNUM (οἴνος). The general term for the fermented juice of the grape. In the Homeric poems the cultivation of the grape is represented as familiar to the Greeks. It is worth remarking that the only wine upon whose excellence Homer dilates in a tone approaching to hyperbole is represented as having been produced on the coast of Thrace, the region from which poetry and civilisation spread into Hellas, and the scene of several of the more remarkable exploits of Bacchus. Hence we might infer that the Pelasgians introduced the culture of the vine when they wandered westward across the Hellespont, and that in like manner it was conveyed to the valley of the Po, when at a subsequent period they made their way round the head of the Adriatic. It seems certain that wine was both rare and costly in the earlier ages of Roman history. As late as the time of the Samnite wars, Papirius the dictator, when about to join in battle with the Samnites, vowed to Jupiter only a small cupful (vini pocillum) if he should gain the victory. In the times of Marius and Sulla foreign wines were considered far superior to native growths; but the rapidity with which luxury spread in this matter is well illustrated by the saying of M. Varro, that Lucullus when a boy never saw an entertainment in his father’s house, however splendid, at which Greek wine was handed round more than once, but when in manhood he returned from his Asiatic conquests he bestowed on the people a largess of more than a hundred thousand cadi. Four different kinds of wine are said to have been presented for the first time at the feast given by Julius Caesar in his third consulship (B.C. 46.), these being Falernian, Chian, Lesbian, and Mamertine, and not until after this date were the merits of the numerous varieties, foreign and domestic, accurately known and fully appreciated. But during the reign of Augustus and his immediate successors the study of wines became a passion, and the most scrupulous care was bestowed upon every process connected with their production and preservation. Pliny calculates that the number of wines in the whole world deserving to be accounted of high quality (nobilia) amounted to eighty, of which his own country could claim two-thirds; and that 195 distinct kinds might be reckoned up, and that if all the varieties of these were to be included in the computation, the sum would be almost doubled.—The process followed in wine-making was essentially the same among both the Greeks and the Romans. After the grapes had been gathered they were first trodden with the feet in a vat (ληνός, torcular); but as this process did not press out all the juice of the grapes, they were subjected to the more powerful pressure of a thick and heavy beam (prelum) for the purpose of obtaining all the juice yet remaining in them. From the press the sweet unfermented juice flowed into another large vat, which was sunk below the level of the press, and therefore called the under wine-vat, in Greek ὑπολήνιον, in Latin lacus. A portion of the must was used at once, being drunk fresh after it had been clarified with vinegar. When it was desired to preserve a quantity in the sweet state, an amphora was taken and coated with pitch within and without, and corked so as to be perfectly air-tight. It was then immersed in a tank of cold fresh water or buried in wet sand, and allowed to remain for six weeks or two months. The contents after this process were found to remain unchanged for a year, and hence the name ἀεὶ γλεῦκος, i.e. semper mustum. A considerable quantity of must from the best and oldest vines was inspissated by boiling, being then distinguished by the Greeks under the general names of ἕψημα or γλύξις, while the Latin writers have various terms according to the extent to which the evaporation was carried. Thus, when the must was reduced to two-thirds of its original volume it became carenum, when one-half had evaporated defrutum, when two-thirds sapa (known also by the Greek names siraeum and hepsema), but these words are frequently interchanged. Similar preparations are at the present time called in Italy musto cotto and sapa, and in France sabe. The process was carried on in large caldrons of lead (vasa defrutaria), over a slow fire of chips, on a night when there was no moon, the scum being carefully removed with leaves, and the liquid constantly stirred to prevent it from burning. These grape-jellies, for they were nothing else, were used extensively for giving body to poor wines and making them keep, and entered as ingredients into many drinks, such as the burranica potio, so called from its red colour, which was formed by mixing sapa with milk. The whole of the mustum not employed for some of the above purposes was conveyed from the lacus to the cella vinaria, an apartment on the ground-floor or a little below the surface. Here were the dolia (πίθοι), otherwise called seriae or cupae, long bell-mouthed vessels of earthenware, very carefully formed of the best clay, and lined with a coating of pitch. They were usually sunk (depressa, defossa, demersa) one-half or two-thirds in the ground; to the former depth, if the wine to be contained was likely to prove strong, to the latter if weak. In these dolia the process of fermentation took place, which usually lasted for about nine days, and as soon as it had subsided, and the mustum had become vinum, the dolia were closely covered. The lids (opercula doliorum), were taken off about once every thirty-six days, and oftener in hot weather, in order to cool and give air to the contents, to add any preparation required to preserve them sound, and to remove any impurities that might be thrown up. The commoner sorts of wine were drunk direct from the dolium, and hence draught wine was called vinum doliare or vinum de cupa, but the finer kinds were drawn off (diffundere, μεταγγίζειν), into amphorae. On the outside the title of the wine was painted, the date of the vintage being marked by the names of the consuls then in office. [[Amphora].] The amphorae were then stored up in repositories (apothecae, horrea, tabulata), completely distinct from the cella vinaria, and usually placed in the upper story of the house (whence descende, testa, and deripere horreo in Horace), for a reason explained afterwards. It is manifest that wine prepared and bottled in the manner described above must have contained a great quantity of dregs and sediment, and it became absolutely necessary to separate these before it was drunk. This was sometimes effected by fining with yolks of eggs, those of pigeons being considered most appropriate by the fastidious, but more commonly by simply straining through small cup-like utensils of silver or bronze perforated with numerous small holes. Occasionally a piece of linen cloth (σάκκος, saccus) was placed over the colum, and the wine filtered through. [[Colum].] In all the best wines hitherto described the grapes are supposed to have been gathered as soon as they were fully ripe, and fermentation to have run its full course. But a great variety of sweet wines were manufactured by checking the fermentation, or by partially drying the grapes, or by converting them completely into raisins. Passum or raisin-wine was made from grapes dried in the sun until they had lost half their weight, or they were plunged into boiling oil, which produced a similar effect, or the bunches after they were ripe were allowed to hang for some weeks upon the vine, the stalks being twisted or an incision made into the pith of the bearing shoot so as to put a stop to vegetation. The stalks and stones were removed, the raisins were steeped in must or good wine, and then trodden or subjected to the gentle action of the press. The quantity of juice which flowed forth was measured, and an equal quantity of water added to the pulpy residuum, which was again pressed, and the product employed for an inferior passum called secundarium. The passum of Crete was most prized, and next in rank were those of Cilicia, Africa, Italy, and the neighbouring provinces. The kinds known as Psythium and Melampsythium possessed the peculiar flavour of the grape and not that of wine. The grapes most suitable for passum were those which ripened early, especially the varieties Apiana, Scirpula, and Psithia. The Greeks recognised three colours in wines: red (μέλας), white, i.e. pale straw-colour (λευκός), and brown or amber-coloured (κιῤῥός). The Romans distinguish four: albus, answering to λευκός, fulvus to κιῤῥός, while μέλας is subdivided into sanguineus and niger, the former being doubtless applied to bright glowing wines like Tent and Burgundy, while the niger or ater would resemble Port. We have seen that wine intended for keeping was racked off from the dolia into amphorae. When it was necessary in the first instance to transport it from one place to another, or when carried by travellers on a journey, it was contained in bags made of goat-skin (ἀσκοί, utres) well pitched over so as to make the seams perfectly tight.

Silenus astride upon a Wine-skin. (Museo Borbonico. vol. iii. tav. 28.)

As the process of wine-making among the ancients was for the most part conducted in an unscientific manner, it was found necessary, except in the case of the finest varieties, to have recourse to various devices for preventing or correcting acidity, heightening the flavour, and increasing the durability of the second growths. The object in view was accomplished sometimes by merely mixing different kinds of wine together, but more frequently by throwing into the dolia or amphorae various condiments or seasonings (ἀρτύσεις, medicamina, conditurae). The principal substances employed as conditurae were, 1. sea-water; 2. turpentine, either pure, or in the form of pitch (pix), tar (pix liquida), or resin (resina). 3. Lime, in the form of gypsum, burnt marble, or calcined shells. 4. Inspissated must. 5. Aromatic herbs, spices, and gums; and these were used either singly, or cooked up into a great variety of complicated confections. But not only were spices and gums steeped in wine or incorporated during fermentation, but even the precious perfumed essential oils (unguenta) were mixed with it before it was drunk (μυῤῥίνη, murrhina.) Of these compound beverages the most popular was the oenomeli (οἰνόμελι) of the Greeks, the mulsum of the Romans. This was of two kinds; in the one honey was mixed with wine, in the other with must. The former was said to have been invented by the legendary hero Aristaeus, the first cultivator of bees, and was considered most perfect and palatable when made of some old rough (austerum) wine, such as Massic or Falernian (although Horace objects to the latter for this purpose), and new Attic honey. The proportions were four, by measure, of wine to one of honey, and various spices and perfumes, such as myrrh, cassia, costum, malobathrum, nard, and pepper, might be added. The second kind was made of must evaporated to one half of its original bulk, Attic honey being added in the proportion of one to ten. This, therefore, was merely a very rich fruit syrup, in no way allied to wine. Mulsum was considered the most appropriate draught upon an empty stomach, and was therefore swallowed immediately before the regular business of a repast began and hence the whet (gustatio) coming before the cup of mulsum was called the promulsis. Mulsum was given at a triumph by the imperator to his soldiers. Mulsum (sc. vinum) or oenomeli (οἰνόμελι) is perfectly distinct from mulsa (sc. aqua). The latter, or mead, being made of honey and water mixed and fermented, is the melicraton (μελίκρατον) or hydromeli (ὑδρόμελι) of the Greeks. The ancients considered old wine not only more grateful to the palate, but also more wholesome and invigorating. Generally speaking the Greek wines do not seem to have required a long time to ripen. Nestor in the Odyssey, indeed, drinks wine ten years old; but the connoisseurs under the empire pronounced that all transmarine wines arrived at a moderate degree of maturity in six or seven. Many of the Italian varieties, however, required to be kept for twenty or twenty-five years before they were drinkable (which is now considered ample for our strongest ports), and even the humble growths of Sabinum were stored up for from four to fifteen. Hence it became a matter of importance to hasten, if possible, the natural process. This was attempted in various ways, sometimes by elaborate condiments, sometimes by sinking vessels containing the must in the sea, by which an artificial mellowness was induced (praecox vetustas) and the wine in consequence termed thalassites; but more usually by the application of heat. Thus it was customary to expose the amphorae for some years to the full fervour of the sun’s rays, or to construct the apothecae in such a manner as to be exposed to the hot air and smoke of the bath-furnaces, and hence the name fumaria applied to such apartments, and the phrases fumosos, fumum bibere, fuligine testae, in reference to the wines. If the operation was not conducted with care, and the amphorae not stoppered down perfectly tight, a disagreeable effect would be produced on the contents. In Italy, in the first century of the Christian aera, the lowest market price of the most ordinary quality of wine was 300 sesterces for 40 urnae, that is, 15 sesterces for the amphora, or 6d. a gallon nearly. At a much earlier date, the triumph of L. Metellus during the first Punic war (B.C. 250), wine was sold at the rate of 8 asses the amphora. The price of native wine at Athens was four drachmas for the metretes, that is, about 4½d. the gallon, when necessaries were dear, and we may perhaps assume one half of this sum as the average of cheaper times. On the other hand, high prices were given freely for the varieties held in esteem, since as early as the time of Socrates a metretes of Chian sold for a mina.—With respect to the way in which wine was drunk, and the customs observed by the Greeks and Romans at their drinking entertainments, the reader is referred to the article [Symposium].—The wine of most early celebrity was that which the minister of Apollo, Maron, who dwelt upon the skirts of Thracian Ismarus, gave to Ulysses. It was red (ἐρυθρόν), and honey-sweet (μελιηδέα), so precious, that it was unknown to all in the mansion save the wife of the priest and one trusty house-keeper; so strong, that a single cup was mingled with twenty of water; so fragrant, that even when thus diluted it diffused a divine and most tempting perfume. Homer mentions also more than once Pramnian wine (οἴνος Πραμνεῖος), an epithet which is variously interpreted by different writers. In after times a wine bearing the same name was produced in the island of Icaria, around the hill village of Latorea in the vicinity of Ephesus, in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, near the shrine of Cybele, and in Lesbos. But the wines of greatest renown at a later period were grown in the islands of Thasos, Lesbos, Chios, and Cos, and in a few favoured spots on the opposite coast of Asia, such as the slopes of Mount Tmolus, the ridge which separates the valley of the Hermus from that of the Caÿster, Mount Messogis, which divides the tributaries of the Caÿster from those of the Meander, the volcanic region of the Catacecaumene, which still retains its fame, the environs of Ephesus, of Cnidus, of Miletus, and of Clazomenae. Among these the first place seems to have been by general consent conceded to the Chian, of which the most delicious varieties were brought from the heights of Ariusium in the central parts, and from the promontory of Phanae at the southern extremity of the island. The Thasian and Lesbian occupied the second place, and the Coan disputed the palm with them. In Lesbos the most highly prized vineyards were around Mytilene and Methymna. There is no foundation whatever for the remark that the finest Greek wines, especially the products of the islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas, belonged for the most part to the luscious sweet class. The very reverse is proved by the epithets αὐστηρός, σκληρός, λεπτός, and the like, applied to a great number, while γλυκύς and γλυκάζων are designations comparatively rare, except in the vague language of poetry.—The most noble Italian wines, with a very few exceptions, were derived from Latium and Campania, and for the most part grew within a short distance of the sea. In the first rank we must place the Setinum, which fairly deserves the title of Imperial, since it was the chosen beverage of Augustus and most of his courtiers. It grew upon the hills of Setia, above Forum Appii, looking down upon the Pomptine marshes. Before the age of Augustus the Caecubum was the most prized of all. It grew in the poplar swamps bordering on the gulf of Amyclae, close to Fundi. In the time of Pliny its reputation was entirely gone, partly in consequence of the carelessness of the cultivators, and partly from its proper soil, originally a very limited space, having been cut up by the canal of Nero extending from Baiae to Ostia. It was full-bodied and heady, not arriving at maturity until it had been kept for many years. The second rank was occupied by the Falernum, of which the Faustianum was the most choice variety, having gained its character from the care and skill exercised in the cultivation of the vines. The Falernus ager commenced at the Pons Campanus, on the left hand of those journeying towards the Urbana Colonia of Sulla, the Faustianus ager at a village about six miles from Sinuessa, so that the whole district in question may be regarded as stretching from the Massic hills to the river Vulturnus. Falernian became fit for drinking in ten years, and might be used until twenty years old, but when kept longer gave headaches, and proved injurious to the nervous system. Pliny distinguishes three kinds, the rough (austerum), the sweet (dulce), and the thin (tenue). Others arranged the varieties differently; that which grew upon the hill tops they called Caucinum, that on the middle slopes Faustianum, and that on the plain Falernum. In the third rank was the Albanum, from the Mons Albanus, of various kinds, very sweet (praedulce), sweetish, rough, and sharp; it was invigorating (nervis utile), and in perfection after being kept for fifteen years. Here too we place the Surrentinum, from the promontory forming the southern horn of the bay of Naples, which was not drinkable until it had been kept for five-and-twenty years, for, being destitute of richness, and very dry, it required a long time to ripen, but was strongly recommended to convalescents, on account of its thinness and wholesomeness. Of equal reputation were the Massicum, from the hills which formed the boundary between Latium and Campania, although somewhat harsh, and the Gauranum, from the ridge above Baiae and Puteoli, produced in small quantity, but of very high quality, full-bodied, and thick. In the same class are to be included the Calenum from Cales, and the Fundanum from Fundi. The Calenum was light and better for the stomach than Falernian; the Fundanum was full-bodied and nourishing, but apt to attack both stomach and head; therefore little sought after at banquets. This list is closed by the Veliturninum, Privernatinum, and Signinum, from Velitrae, Privernum, and Signia, towns on the Volscian hills; the first was a sound wine, but had this peculiarity, that it always tasted as if mixed with some foreign substance; the second was thin and pleasant; the last was looked upon only in the light of a medicine valuable for its astringent qualities. We may safely bring in one more, the Formianum, from the Gulf of Caieta, associated by Horace with the Caecuban, Falernian, and Calenian. The fourth rank contained the Mamertinum, from the neighbourhood of Messana, first brought into fashion by Julius Caesar. The finest was sound, light, and at the same time not without body.

VIRGĬNES VESTĀLES. [[Vestales Virgines].]

VIS. Leges were passed at Rome for the purpose of preventing acts of violence. The Lex Plotia or Plautia was enacted against those who occupied public places and carried arms. The lex proposed by the consul Q. Catulus on the subject, with the assistance of Plautius the tribunus, appears to be the Lex Plotia. There was a Lex Julia of the dictator Caesar on this subject, which imposed the penalty of exile. Two Juliae Leges were passed as to this matter in the time of Augustus, which were respectively entitled De Vi Publica and De Vi Privata.

VISCĔRĀTĬO. [[Funus], [p. 190], b.]

VĪTIS. [[Centurio].]

VITRUM (ὕαλος), glass. A story has been preserved by Pliny, that glass was first discovered accidentally by some merchants who, having landed on the Syrian coast at the mouth of the river Belus, and being unable to find stones to support their cooking-pots, fetched for this purpose from their ships some of the lumps of nitre which composed the cargo. This being fused by the heat of the fire, united with the sand upon which it rested, and formed a stream of vitrified matter. No conclusion can be drawn from this tale, even if true, in consequence of its vagueness; but it probably originated in the fact, that the sand of the district in question was esteemed peculiarly suitable for glass-making, and exported in great quantities to the workshops of Sidon and Alexandria, long the most famous in the ancient world. Alexandria sustained its reputation for many centuries: Rome derived a great portion of its supplies from this source, and as late as the reign of Aurelian we find the manufacture still flourishing. There is some difficulty in deciding by what Greek author glass is first mentioned, because the term ὕαλος unquestionably denotes not only artificial glass but rock-crystal, or indeed any transparent stone or stone-like substance. Thus the ὕελος of Herodotus, in which the Ethiopians encased the bodies of their dead, cannot be glass, for we are expressly told that it was dug in abundance out of the earth; and hence commentators have conjectured that rock-crystal or rock-salt, or amber, or oriental alabaster, or some bituminous or gummy product, might be indicated. But when the same historian, in his account of sacred crocodiles, states that they were decorated with ear-rings made of melted stone, we may safely conclude that he intends to describe some vitreous ornament for which he knew no appropriate name. Glass is, however, first mentioned with certainty by Theophrastus, who notices the circumstance alluded to above, of the fitness of the sand at the mouth of the river Belus for the fabrication of glass. Among the Latin writers Lucretius appears to be the first in which the word vitrum occurs; but it must have been well known to his countrymen long before, for Cicero names it along with paper and linen, as a common article of merchandise brought from Egypt. Scaurus, in his aedileship (B.C. 58), made a display of it such as was never witnessed even in after-times; for the scena of his gorgeous theatre was divided into three tiers, of which the under portion was of marble, the upper of gilded wood, and the middle compartment of glass. In the poets of the Augustan age it is constantly introduced, both directly and in similes, and in such terms as to prove that it was an object with which every one must be familiar. Strabo declares that in his day a small drinking-cup of glass might be purchased at Rome for half an as, and so common was it in the time of Juvenal and Martial, that old men and women made a livelihood by trucking sulphur matches for broken fragments. When Pliny wrote, manufactories had been established not only in Italy, but in Spain and Gaul also, and glass drinking-cups had entirely superseded those of gold and silver; and in the reign of Alexander Severus we find vitrearii ranked along with curriers, coachmakers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, and other ordinary artificers whom the emperor taxed to raise money for his thermae. The numerous specimens transmitted to us prove that the ancients were well acquainted with the art of imparting a great variety of colours to their glass; they were probably less successful in their attempts to render it perfectly pure and free from all colour, since we are told that it was considered most valuable in this state. It was wrought according to the different methods now practised, being fashioned into the required shape by the blowpipe, cut, as we term it, although ground (teritur) is a more accurate phrase, upon a wheel, and engraved with a sharp tool like silver. The art of etching upon glass, now so common, was entirely unknown, since it depends upon the properties of fluoric acid, a chemical discovery of the last century. The following were the chief uses to which glass was applied:—1. Bottles, vases, cups, and cinerary urns. 2. Glass pastes, presenting fac-similes either in relief or intaglio of engraved precious stones. 3. Imitations of coloured precious stones, such as the carbuncle, the sapphire, the amethyst, and, above all, the emerald. 4. Thick sheets of glass of various colours appear to have been laid down for paving floors, and to have been attached as a lining to the walls and ceilings of apartments in dwelling houses, just as scagliuola is frequently employed in Italy, and occasionally in our own country also. Rooms fitted up in this way were called vitreae camerae, and the panels vitreae quadraturae. Such was the kind of decoration introduced by Scaurus for the scene of his theatre, not columns nor pillars of glass as some, nor bas-reliefs as others have imagined. 5. Glass was also used for windows. [[Domus], [p. 144].]

VITTA, or plural VITTAE, a ribbon or fillet, is to be considered, 1. As an ordinary portion of female dress. 2. As a decoration of sacred persons and sacred things. 1. When considered as an ordinary portion of female dress, it was simply a band encircling the head, and serving to confine the tresses (crinales vittae), the ends when long (longae taenia vittae) hanging down behind. It was worn by maidens, and by married women also, the vitta assumed on the nuptial day being of a different form from that used by virgins. The Vitta was not worn by libertinae even of fair character, much less by meretrices; hence it was looked upon as an insigne pudoris, and, together with the stola and instita, served to point out at first sight the freeborn matron. The colour was probably a matter of choice: white and purple are both mentioned. When employed for sacred purposes, it was usually twisted round the infula [[Infula]], and held together the loose flocks of wool. Under this form it was employed as an ornament for 1. Priests, and those who offered sacrifice. 2. Priestesses, especially those of Vesta, and hence vittata sacerdos for a vestal, κατ’ ἐξόχην. 3. Prophets and poets, who may be regarded as priests, and in this case the vittae were frequently intertwined with chaplets of olive or laurel. 4. Statues of deities. 5. Victims decked for sacrifice. 6. Altars. 7. Temples. 8. The ἱκετήρια of suppliants. The sacred vittae, as well as the infulae, were made of wool, and hence the epithets lanea and mollis. They were white (niveae), or purple (puniceae), or azure (caeruleae), when wreathed round an altar to the manes.

Vittae. (Statues from Herculaneum.)

VŎLŌNES is synonymous with Voluntarii (from volo), and might hence be applied to all those who volunteered to serve in the Roman armies without there being any obligation to do so. But it was applied more especially to slaves, when in times of need they offered or were allowed to fight in the Roman armies. Thus when during the second Punic war, after the battle of Cannae, there was not a sufficient number of freemen to complete the army, about 8000 young and able-bodied slaves offered to serve. Their proposal was accepted; they received armour at the public expense, and as they distinguished themselves they were honoured with the franchise. In after times the name volones was retained whenever slaves chose or were allowed to take up arms in defence of their masters, which they were the more willing to do, as they were generally rewarded with the franchise.

VŎLŪMEN. [[Liber].]

VŎLUNTĀRĬI. [[Volones].]

VŎMĬTŌRĬA. [[Amphitheatrum].]

VULCĀNĀLĬA, a festival celebrated at Rome in honour of Vulcan, on the 23rd of August, with games in the circus Flaminius, where the god had a temple. The sacrifice on this occasion consisted of fishes, which the people threw into the fire. It was also customary on this day to commence working by candle-light, which was probably considered as an auspicious beginning of the use of fire, as the day was sacred to the god of this element.

VULGĀRES. [[Servus].]