[Vespasian, Titus Flavius Vespasianus], Roman emperor (from 70 to 79) and tenth of the 12 Cæsars, born in the Sabine territory of humble parentage; rose by his valour to high rank in the army and in favour with it, till at length he was elected by it to the throne; he had waged war successfully in Germany, Britain, and at Jerusalem, and during his reign, and nearly all through it, the temple of Janus was shut at Rome.
[Vespucci, Amerigo], navigator, born at Florence; made two voyages to America in 1499 and in 1501, and from him the two continents derived their name, owing, it is said, to his first visit being misdated in an account he left, which made it appear that he had preceded Columbus (1451-1512).
[Vesta], the Roman goddess of the hearth, identified with the Greek Hestia; was the guardian of domestic life and had a shrine in every household; had a temple in Rome in which a heaven-kindled fire was kept constantly burning and guarded by first four then six virgins called Vestals, whose persons were held sacred as well as their office, since any laxity in its discharge might be disastrous to the city.
[Vestal Virgins]. See [Vesta].
[Vesuvius], a flattened conical mountain, 4161 ft. in height, and an active volcano on the Bay of Naples, 10 m. SE. of the city; it was by eruption of it that the two cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii were overwhelmed in 79 A.D.; its crater is half a mile in diameter, and has a depth of 350 ft.; there are some 60 eruptions on record, the latest being in 1891.
[Veturia], a Roman matron, the mother of Coriolanus.
[Via Dolorosa], way leading from the Mount of Olives to Golgotha, which Christ traversed from the Agony in the Garden to the Cross.
[Viaticum], name given to the Eucharist administered by a priest to a person on the point of death.
[Vicar of Bray]. See [Bray].
[Vicar of Christ], title assumed by the Pope, who claims to be the Vicegerent of Christ on earth.