A classical dictionary / containing a copious account of all the proper names mentioned in ancient authors with tables of coins, weights, and measures used among the Greeks and Romans and a chronological table

by John Lemprière

Vesēvius and Vesēvus. See: [Vesuvius].

Vesidia, a town of Tuscany.

Vesonna, a town of Gaul, now Perigueux.

Vespaciæ, a small village of Umbria, near Nursia. Suetonius, Vespasian, ch. 1.

Vespasiānus Titus Flavius, a Roman emperor, descended from an obscure family at Reate. He was honoured with the consulship, not so much by the influence of the imperial courtiers, as by his own private merit, and his public services. He accompanied Nero into Greece, but he offended the prince by falling asleep while he repeated one of his poetical compositions. This momentary resentment of the emperor did not prevent Vespasian from being sent to carry on a war against the Jews. His operations were crowned with success; many of the cities of Palestine surrendered, and Vespasian began the siege of Jerusalem. This was, however, achieved by the hands of his son Titus, and the death of Vitellus and the affection of his soldiers hastened his rise, and he was proclaimed emperor at Alexandria. The choice of the army was approved by every province of the empire; but Vespasian did not betray any signs of pride at so sudden and so unexpected an exaltation, and though once employed in the mean office of a horse-doctor, he behaved, when invested with the imperial purple, with all the dignity and greatness which became a successor of Augustus. In the beginning of his reign Vespasian attempted to reform the manners of the Romans, and he took away an appointment which he had a few days before granted to a young nobleman who approached him to return him thanks, all smelling of perfumes and covered with ointment, adding, “I had rather you had smelt of garlic.” He repaired the public buildings, embellished the city, and made the great roads more spacious and convenient. After he had reigned with great popularity for 10 years, Vespasian died with a pain in his bowels, A.D. 79, in the 70th year of his age. He was the first Roman emperor that died a natural death, and he was also the first who was succeeded by his own son on the throne. Vespasian has been admired for his great virtues. He was clement, he gave no ear to flattery, and for a long time refused the title of father of his country, which was often bestowed upon the most worthless and tyrannical of the emperors. He despised informers, and rather than punish conspirators, he rewarded them with great liberality. When the king of Parthia addressed him with the subscription of “Arsaces king of kings to Flavius Vespasianus,” the emperor was no way dissatisfied with the pride and insolence of the monarch, and answered him again in his own words, “Flavius Vespasianus to Arsaces king of kings.” To men of learning and merit, Vespasian was very liberal: 100,000 sesterces were annually paid from the public treasury to the different professors that were appointed to encourage and promote the arts and sciences. Yet in spite of this apparent generosity, some authors have taxed Vespasian with avarice. According to their accounts, he loaded the provinces with new taxes, he bought commodities, that he might sell them to a greater advantage, and even laid an impost upon urine, which gave occasion to Titus to ridicule the meanness of his father. Vespasian, regardless of his son’s observation, was satisfied to show him the money that was raised from so productive a tax, asking him at the same time whether it smelt offensive. His ministers were the most avaricious of his subjects, and the emperor used very properly to remark that he treated them as sponges, by wetting them when dry, and squeezing them when they were wet. He has been accused of selling criminals their lives, and of condemning the most opulent to make himself master of their possessions. If, however, he was guilty of these meaner practices, they were all under the name of one of his concubines, who wished to enrich herself by the avarice and credulity of the emperor. Suetonius, Lives.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4.

Vesper, or Vespĕrus, a name applied to the planet Venus when it was the evening star. Virgil.

Vessa, a town of Sicily.

Vesta, a goddess, daughter of Rhea and Saturn, sister to Ceres and Juno. She is often confounded by the mythologists with Rhea, Ceres, Cybele, Proserpine, Hecate, and Tellus. When considered as the mother of the gods, she is the mother of Rhea and Saturn; and when considered as the patroness of the vestal virgins and the goddess of fire, she is called the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. Under this last name she was worshipped by the Romans. Æneas was the first who introduced her mysteries into Italy, and Numa built her a temple where no males were permitted to go. The palladium of Troy was supposed to be preserved within her sanctuary, and a fire was continually kept lighted by a certain number of virgins, who had dedicated themselves to the service of the goddess. See: [Vestales]. If the fire of Vesta was ever extinguished, it was supposed to threaten the republic with some sudden calamity. The virgin by whose negligence it had been extinguished, was severely punished, and it was kindled again by the rays of the sun. The temple of Vesta was of a round form, and the goddess was represented in a long, flowing robe, with a veil on her head, holding in one hand a lamp, or a two-eared vessel, and in the other a javelin, or sometimes a palladium. On some medals she appears holding a drum in one hand, and a small figure of victory in the other. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 454.—Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 2, ch. 12.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 296.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6; Tristia, bk. 3.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Plutarch, Numa.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 14.

Vestāles, priestesses among the Romans, consecrated to the service of Vesta, as their name indicates. This office was very ancient, as the mother of Romulus was one of the vestals. Æneas is supposed to have first chosen the vestals. Numa first appointed four, to which number Tarquin added two. They were always chosen by the monarchs, but after the expulsion of the Tarquins, the high priest was entrusted with the care of them. As they were to be virgins, they were chosen young, from the age of six to ten; and if there was not a sufficient number that presented themselves as candidates for the office, 20 virgins were selected, and they upon whom the lot fell were obliged to become priestesses. Plebeians as well as patricians were permitted to propose themselves, but it was required that they should be born of a good family, and be without blemish or deformity, in every part of their body. For 30 years they were to remain in the greatest continence; the 10 first years were spent in learning the duties of the order; the 10 following were employed in discharging them with fidelity and sanctity, and the 10 last in instructing such as had entered the noviciate. When the 30 years were elapsed, they were permitted to marry, or if they still preferred celibacy, they waited upon the rest of the vestals. As soon as a vestal was initiated, her head was shaved, to intimate the liberty of her person, as she was then free from the shackles of parental authority, and she was permitted to dispose of her possessions as she pleased. The employment of the vestals was to take care that the sacred fire of Vesta was not extinguished, for if it ever happened, it was deemed the prognostic of great calamities to the state; the offender was punished for her negligence, and severely scourged by the high priest. In such a case all was consternation at Rome, and the fire was again kindled by glasses with the rays of the sun. Another equally particular charge of the vestals was to keep a sacred pledge, on which depended the very existence of Rome, which, according to some, was the palladium of Troy, or some of the mysteries of the gods of Samothrace. The privileges of the vestals were great; they had the most honourable seats at public games and festivals; a lictor with the fasces always preceded them when they walked in public; they were carried in chariots when they pleased; and they had the power of pardoning criminals when led to execution, if they declared that their meeting was accidental. Their declarations in trials were received without the formality of an oath; they were chosen as arbiters in causes of moment and in the execution of wills, and so great was the deference paid them by the magistrates, as well as by the people, that the consuls themselves made way for them, and bowed their fasces when they passed before them. To insult them was a capital crime, and whoever attempted to violate their chastity, was beaten to death with scourges. If any of them died while in office, their body was buried within the walls of the city, an honour granted to few. Such of the vestals as proved incontinent were punished in the most rigorous manner. Numa ordered them to be stoned, but Tarquin the elder dug a large hole under the earth, where a bed was placed with a little bread, wine, water, and oil, and a lighted lamp, and the guilty vestal was stripped of the habit of her order, and compelled to descend into the subterraneous cavity, which was immediately shut, and she was left to die through hunger. Few of the vestals were guilty of incontinence, and for the space of 1000 years, during which the order continued established from the reign of Numa, only 18 were punished for the violation of their vow. The vestals were abolished by Theodosius the Great, and the fire of Vesta extinguished. The dress of the vestals was peculiar; they wore a white vest with purple borders, a white linen surplice called linteum supernum, above which was a great purple mantle which flowed to the ground, and which was tucked up when they offered sacrifices. They had a close covering on their head, called infula, from which hung ribands, or vitta. Their manner of living was sumptuous, as they were maintained at the public expense, and though originally satisfied with the simple diet of the Romans, their tables soon after displayed the luxuries and the superfluities of the great and opulent. Livy, 2, &c.—Plutarch, Numa, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 30.—Florus, bk. 1.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 11.—Tacitus, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Vestālia, festival in honour of Vesta, observed at Rome on the 9th of June. Banquets were then prepared before the houses, and meat was sent to the vestals to be offered to the gods; millstones were decked with garlands, and the asses that turned them were led round the city covered with garlands. The ladies walked in the procession bare-footed to the temple of the goddess, and an altar was erected to Jupiter surnamed Pistor. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 305.