Venedi, a people of Germany, near the mouth of the Vistula, or gulf of Dantzic. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 46.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 13.
Veneli, a people of Gallia Celtica.
Venĕti, a people of Italy in Cisalpine Gaul, near the mouth of the Po. They were descended from a nation of Paphlagonia, who settled there under Antenor some time after the Trojan war. The Venetians, who have been long a powerful and commercial nation, were originally very poor, whence a writer in the age of the Roman emperors said, they had no other fence against the waves of the sea but hurdles, no food but fish, no wealth besides their fishing-boats, and no merchandise but salt. Strabo, bk. 4, &c.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2; bk. 2, ch. 4.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 134.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 605.——A nation of Gaul, at the south of Armorica, on the western coast, powerful by sea. Their chief city is now called Vannes. Cæsar, bk. 3, Gallic War, ch. 8.
Venĕtia, a part of Gaul, on the mouths of the Po. See: [Veneti].
Venetus Paulus, a centurion who conspired against Nero with Piso, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 50.——A lake through which the Rhine passes, now Bodensee or Constance. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 2.
Vĕnīlia, a nymph, sister to Amata, and mother of Turnus by Daunus. Amphitrite the sea goddess is also called Venilia. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 76.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 334.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 10.
Vennones, a people of the Rhæetian Alps.
Venonius, an historian mentioned by Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 12, ltr. 3, &c.
Venta Belgarum, a town of Britain, now Winchester.——Silurum, a town of Britain, now Caerwent, in Monmouthshire.——Icenorum, now Norwich.
Venti. The ancients, and especially the Athenians, paid particular attention to the winds, and offered them sacrifices as to deities, intent upon the destruction of mankind, by continually causing storms, tempests, and earthquakes. The winds were represented in different attitudes and forms. The four principal winds were Eurus, the south-east, who is represented as a young man flying with great impetuosity, and often appearing in a playsome and wanton humour. Auster, the south wind, appeared generally as an old man with grey hair, a gloomy countenance, a head covered with clouds, a sable vesture, and dusky wings. He is the dispenser of rain, and of all heavy showers. Zephyrus is represented as the mildest of all the winds. He is young and gentle, and his lap is filled with vernal flowers. He married Flora the goddess, with whom he enjoyed the most perfect felicity. Boreas, or the north wind, appears always rough and shivering. He is the father of rain, snow, hail, and tempests, and is always represented as surrounded with impenetrable clouds. Those of inferior note were Solanus, whose name is seldom mentioned. He appeared as a young man holding fruit in his lap, such as peaches, oranges, &c. Africus, or south-west, is represented with black wings, and a melancholy countenance. Corus, or north-west, drives clouds of snow before him, and Aquilo, the north-east, is equally dreadful in appearance. The winds, according to some mythologists, were confined in a large cave, of which Æolus had the management; and without this necessary precaution, they would have overturned the earth, and reduced everything to its original chaos. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 57, &c.