Veientes, the inhabitants of Veii. They were carried to Rome, where the tribe they composed was called Veientina. See: [Veii].
Veiento Fabricius, a Roman, as arrogant as he was satirical. Nero banished him for his libellous writings. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 185.
Veii, a powerful city of Etruria, at the distance of about 12 miles from Rome. It sustained many long wars against the Romans, and was at last taken and destroyed by Camillus, after a siege of 10 years. At the time of its destruction, Veii was larger and far more magnificent than the city of Rome. Its situation was so eligible, that the Romans, after the burning of the city by the Gauls, were long inclined to migrate there, and totally abandon their native home; and this would have been carried into execution, if not opposed by the authority and eloquence of Camillus. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 195.—Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 44.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 143.—Livy, bk. 5, ch. 21, &c.
Vejŏvis, or Vejupĭter, a deity of ill omen at Rome. He had a temple on the Capitoline hill built by Romulus. Some suppose that he was the same as Jupiter the infant, or in the cradle, because he was represented without thunder, or a sceptre, and had only by his side the goat Amalthæa, and the Cretan nymph who fed him when young. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 430.
Velabrum, a marshy piece of ground on the side of the Tiber, between the Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline hills, which Augustus drained, and where he built houses. The place was frequented as a market, where oil, cheese, and other commodities were exposed to sale. Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 229.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 401.—Tibullus, bk. 2, poem 5, li. 33.—Plautus, bk. 3, Captivi, ch. 1, li. 29.
Velanius, one of Cæsar’s officers in Gaul, &c.
Velauni, a people of Gaul.
Velia, a maritime town of Lucania, founded by a colony of Phoceans, about 600 years after the coming of Æneas into Italy. The port in its neighbourhood was called Velinus portus. Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Cicero, Philippics, bk. 10, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 366.——An eminence near the Roman forum, where Poplicola built himself a house. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Cicero, bk. 7, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 15.
Velica, or Vellica, a town of the Cantabri.
Velīna, a part of the city of Rome, adjoining mount Palatine. It was also one of the Roman tribes. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 6, li. 52.—Cicero, bk. 4, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 15.