Brill’s New Pauly

Get access Subject: Classical Studies
Edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (Antiquity) and Manfred Landfester (Classical Tradition).
English translation edited by Christine F. Salazar (Antiquity) and Francis G. Gentry (Classical Tradition)

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Brill´s New Pauly is the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, published by Verlag J.B. Metzler since 1996. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. The section on Antiquity of Brill´s New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand. The section on the Classical Tradition is uniquely concerned with the long and influential aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship. Brill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research and brings together specialist knowledge from leading scholars from all over the world. Many entries are elucidated with maps and illustrations and the English edition will include updated bibliographic references.

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Veleda

(235 words)

Author(s): Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum)
[German version] Germanic female seer who played a significant part in the Batavian Revolt in AD 69/70 ( Iulius [II 43] Civilis). According to Tacitus, she was part of the Bructeri tribe and lived in a high tower on the River Lippe ( Lupia; Tac. Hist. 4,61,2; 5,22,3). Among the tribes to the east of the Rhine, she was worshipped as divine and was invoked as an arbiter (Tac. Germ. 8,2 f.; Tac. Hist. 4,65). Petillius [II 1] Cerialis made her a secret offer of peace. Tacitus gives a satirical account of how some of the Batavi in oppositio…

Velia

(851 words)

Author(s): Salomone Gaggero, Eleonora (Genoa) | Muggia, Anna (Pavia) | Höcker, Christoph (Kissing)
[German version] [1] Ligurian city in the valley of the upper Chero (Βελεία, Βελία/ Bel(e)ía; Οὐελεία/ Oueleía). Ligurian city (but in Regio VIII) in the valley of the upper Chero (tributary of the Po), c. 30 km to the south of Placentia; modern Velleia. Possibly an Augustean colonia, tribus Galeria (Plin. HN 3,47; ILS 1079, l. 8: res publica Velleiat[ium]; ILS 5560: municipes); according to the archaeological finds evidently destroyed in the 4th/5th cent. AD and abandoned. Parts of the forum survive (drainage system; paving, cf. CIL XI 1184; basilica; po…

Veliocasses

(155 words)

Author(s): Polfer, Michel (Ettelbrück)
[German version] Celtic people (according to Caes. B Gall. 2,4,1 originally Germanic) in Gallia Belgica (Caes. B Gall. 2,4,9; cf. 7,75,3; 8,7,4; Oros. 6,7,14; 6,11,12; Ptol. 2,8,8: Οὐενελιοκάσιοι/ Ou eneliokásioi; Liv. Per. 67), in the north and to a limited extent also in the south of the lower reaches of the Sequana (modern Seine; in the south of the département of Seine-Maritime and in the north of the département of Eure). In the pre-Roman period, the capital of the V. was probably the oppidum of 'Camp de Calidou' near Caudebec, from the time of Augustus onwards Rotomagu…

Velites

(293 words)

Author(s): Schumacher, Leonhard
[German version] The velites were a light infantry unit that opend the battle in front of the formation of the manipular army similar to the rorarii of earlier times (Liv. 8,8,8; 8,9,14). Equipped with leather helmets, round shields. short swords and seven lances ( hasta [1]; Pol. 6,21,9-22,4; Liv. 38,21,13), it was their job to demoralize the enemy by throwing a volley of javelins and then, after the 'skirmish' ( velitatio), to retreat behind their own lines (Pol. 2,30,1-5; 3,65,5-7; Liv.). The speed at which they surged ahead was essential, since the object was …

Velitrae

(410 words)

Author(s): Morciano, Maria Milvia (Florence)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Tribus | Coloniae | Italy, languages | Latini, Latium (Οὐελίτραι/ Ouelítrai). City in Latium in the southern foothills of the modern Colli Albani to the north of the Ager Pomptinus and the settlement area of the Volsci (Str. 5,3,10; Liv. 2,30,14; Steph. Byz. s. v. Βέλιτρα; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,41,5; Sil. Pun. 8,379; 13,229: Veliternum), modern Velletri. The beginnings are disputed: originally Latin (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 5,61,3), occupied by the Volsci …

Velius

(546 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Rüpke, Jörg (Erfurt)
[German version] [1] V. Cerialis Amicus of Pliny the Younger (Plin. Ep. 4,21). Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [2] D. V. Fidus Senatorial cos. suff. in November/December AD 148, together with M. Calpurnius [II 16] Longus (AE 1996, 1384 = [1]); governor of the province of Syria Palaestina in 150 (PSI IX 1026 = [2]). Member of the Pontifices in 155 (CIL VI 2120). IGLS VI 2777 is probably his burial inscription [3]. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography 1 J. D'Arms, Memory, Money, and Status at Misenum: Three New Inscriptions from the Collegium of the Augustales, in: JRS 90, 2000, 126-144 2…

Vellaunodunum

(79 words)

Author(s): Polfer, Michel (Ettelbrück)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre Celtic oppidum of the Senones [2], conquered by Caesar's legate, C. Trebonius [I 1], in 52 BC (Caes. B Gall. 7,11,1; 7,11,4; 7,14,1). A precise location between Agedincum and Cenabum is not possible; Château-Landon and Terres-Blanches du Grand-Villon to the north of Montargis ( département of Loiret) are conceivable. Polfer, Michel (Ettelbrück) Bibliography M. Provost, Carte archéologique de la Gaule 45. Le Loiret, 1988, 161-163, 165 TIR M 31, 1975, 184.

Vellavii

(115 words)

Author(s): Demarolle, Jeanne-Marie (Nancy)
[German version] Celtic people, neighbours of the Gabali, Arverni, Allobroges, Segovellauni and Helvii, in the Gallic War allied with the Arverni (Caesar I C), in whose contingent they took part at the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC (Caes. Gall. 7,75; Str. 4,2,2). Under Augustus they were assigned to the province of Aquitania with a capital at Ruessium (modern Saint-Paulien). Under Claudius [III 1] or Tiberius [1] they received Ius Latii (Latin Law II; cf. [2. no. 25]). In late Antiquity they were part of Aquitanica Prima. Demarolle, Jeanne-Marie (Nancy) Bibliography 1 M. Provost, B. Re…

Velleius

(1,014 words)

Author(s): Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Krapinger, Gernot (Graz)
Roman gentile name (from vel(l)a [1. 377]). [German version] [1] V., C. From Lanuvium (like Q. Roscius [I 4]: Cic. Nat. D. 1,79), Roman senator, perhaps thanks to L. Cornelius [I 90] Sulla; no longer mentioned after c. 70 BC. Possibly (cf. MRR 2,474) identical to C. V., friend of L. Licinius [I 10] Crassus beginning c. 90 BC (Cic. De or. 3,78), senator not later than 77, representative of the Epicureans in Cicero (Nat. D. 1,15; 1,18-56). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [2] V., C. From Campania? [2. 383]; grandfather of [4]; in 52 BC, iudex selectus, later praef. fabrum of Cn. P…

Vellocatus

(56 words)

Author(s): Kunst, Christiane (Potsdam)
[German version] Briton, a shield-bearer ( armigerus) of Venutius (Tac. Hist. 3,45); married in 69 AD to the queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes, who for a short time shared power with him in order to gain support. Cartimandua Kunst, Christiane (Potsdam) Bibliography W. S. Hanson, G. Webster, The Brigantes. From Clientage to Conquest, in: Britannia 17, 1986, 73-89.

Venafrum

(401 words)

Author(s): Morciano, Maria Milvia (Florence)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Socii (Roman confederation) | Coloniae (Οὐέναφρον; Ouénaphron). City of the Samnites in the valley of the Volturnus [1] (Str. 5,3,10; 5,4,3; 5,4,11; App. B Civ. 1,41; Ptol. 3,1,68) on a natural route connecting Samnium and Campania. Modern Venafro, V. was p raefectura Venafrana in the middle of the 3rd cent. BC (Fest. 262,14), Augustan colonia (CIL X 4894;  cf. 4875; Liber coloniarum 239) of r egio I (Plin. HN 3,63), tribus Terentina (CIL X 1, p. 477), and from the 4th cent. AD onwards it was in the province of Sa…

Venantius Fortunatus

(562 words)

Author(s): Krapinger, Gernot (Graz)
[German version] V. Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, Latin poet of the 6th cent. AD, was born between 530 and 540 in Valdobbiadene/Tarvisium (modern Treviso). In Ravenna, he received the grammatical, rhetorical and legal education towards a career in administration befitting a member of the higher classes (Ven. Fort. vita Martini 1,29-39). A pilgrimage to the grave of the holy Martinus [1] in Tours (Ven. Fort. carm. 8,1,21 and Vita Martini 1,44) or political difficulties at home [5.XIV-XIX] led h…

Venaria

(32 words)

Author(s): Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
[German version] Island in the Mare Tyrrhenum between Corsica and the Etruscan coast (Plin. HN. 3,81), not precisely located. Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence) Bibliography W. V. Harris, Rome in Etruria and Umbria, 1971, 118.

Venatio

(367 words)

Author(s): Hönle, Augusta (Rottweil)
[German version] is the current Latin term in the literary and epigraphic tradition for the hunting and killing of wild animals under artificially created conditions (ThlL s. v. bestia). In Rome, venatio was an extension of ludi and hence a component of the state cult; it was prepared and carried out by curule aediles , for the first time in 186 BC [1. 294]: 63 African predator cats, 40 bears and elephants were killed at this first venatio. In following centuries, the number of animals killed increased; Senate restrictions were to no avail. If a venatio was part of ludi, in Rome, it was or…

Venelli

(134 words)

Author(s): Polfer, Michel (Ettelbrück)
[German version] People in Lugdunensis (Plin. HN 4,107: Venelli) in the northwest of Normandy on the Cotentin peninsula. The V. capitulated in 57 BC to Caesar's legate P. Licinius [I 16] Crassus (Caes. Gall. 2,34), but rose up the following year (Caes. Gall. 3,11,14) and also sent troops to Alesia in 52 BC (Caes. Gall. 7,75). The V.'s chief town in the pre-Roman period was probably the oppidum on modern Mont-Castre, 17 km to the west of Carentan, in the Imperial period initially Crociatonum (Ptol. 2,8,2: Κροκιάτονον/ Krokiátonon; Tab. Peut. 2,1: Crouciaconnum; modern Carentan…

Venereal diseases

(398 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] In the absence of unambiguous diagnostic evidence it is difficult to reconstruct the ancient history of VD. Less harmful infections such as herpes genitalis (Hippocr. De mulierum affectibus 1,90 = 8,214-8 L.) and chlamydia [2. 220] are well attested, the two major VD of modern times, gonorrhoea and syphilis, can be detected in surviving material only with difficulty. Gonorrhoea, a Greek word coinage presumably from the Hellenistic period, describes any form of excessive production of fluid in a man. It…

Venethi

(180 words)

Author(s): von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
[German version] People between the central reaches of the Vistula (modern Wisła, German Weichsel) and the modern Daugava (German Düna), to the north of the Sarmatae and the Sciri (Plin. HN 4,97; Tac. Germ. 46,2; Ptol. 3,5,19: Οὐενέδαι/ Ouenédai). According to Iord. Get. 34 they settled between the Peucini and the Fenni and incorporated various Slav tribes in the region. It is assumed that the V. were bearers of the Przeworsk culture (2nd-6th cents. AD). From the term V. the name for a Slavonic people, the Wends, developed. It is un…

Veneti

(2,440 words)

Author(s): F.V. | Winkle, Christian
[German version] [1] People of northeastern Italy (Ἐνετοί/ Enetoí). People of northeastern Italy. F.V. [German version] I. Current state of research The area settled by the V. (after the Augustan territorial reform in regio X: Plin. HN 3,130) corresponds roughly to the modern regions of Veneto, Friuli - Venezia Giulia and Trentino - Alto Adige. It was not until the end of the 19th cent. that written evidence of the V. was corroborated by archeological finds pointing to the existence of a special type of grave culture in Este (in…

Venetia

(217 words)

Author(s): Niehoff, Johannes (Freiburg)
[German version] The mediaeval and modern city of Venice (Venezia) does share its name with the Regio X ( Veneta Carni et Histria) of the organisation of Italia (cf. Regio, with map) under Augustus, but its centre, the Rialto (< Rivus Altus), was founded only in the Carolingian period. A legend, appearing already in Venetian historiography (cf. also Constantinus Porphyrogennetus, De administrando imperio 28), of the founding of the city on 25 March 421 and of the flight of the population as a result of the destruction of Aquileia [1] by Attila in 452 is de…

Venetic

(414 words)

Author(s): Untermann, Jürgen (Pulheim/Köln)
[German version] The language of the upper Italian Veneti [1] is known through 270 inscriptions written between the 5th and the 1st cents. BC. The most important sites are Este (more than 120 inscr.), Padua (23), and Lágole di Cadore (Calalzo) in the upper Piave valley (66); individual finds reach all the way to Vicenza in the west, in the north into the Gail valley and in the east to the Isonzo in Slovenia (see map). A small number of the most recent texts is written in Latin script, all others in the Venetic alphabet, which had been redesigned from an Etruscan alphabe…

Venetulani

(49 words)

Author(s): Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
[German version] Latin people, counted among the 30 Alban communities that carried out sacrificial activities on Mons Albanus (probably Varro in Plin. HN 3,69). The name may derive from a Veneti [1] settlement which may have been called Venetulum. Location unknown. Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence) Bibliography Nissen 2, 556.

Venice

(2,604 words)

Author(s): Hoffmann, Lars
Hoffmann, Lars [German version] A. Founding of the City: Legend and History (CT) In comparison with most other urban centres in Italy, which exist in a clearly identifiable historical and cultural context linked with Roman or even Greek Antiquity that is also a part of their inhabitants' lore, Venice (V.) occupies a special place insofar as it can be drawn on both on behalf of  a continuity as well as discontinuity with Classical Antiquity. This becomes apparent when one considers the historically documented…

Vennones

(105 words)

Author(s): Graßl, Herbert (Salzburg)
[German version] Celtic people in the area around Comum (Str. 4,6,6: Οὐέννωνες/ Ouénnōnes), subjugated by the Roman proconsul P. Silius [II 7] in 16 BC (Cass. Dio 54,20,1: Οὐέννιοι/ Ouénnioi), probably identical with the Vennonetes mentioned by Plin. HN 3,136 in an inscription on the Tropaeum Alpium (CIL V 7817; Tropaea Augusti ). The V. mentioned in Str. 4,6,8 as a subtribe of the Vindelici should probably be distinguished from the latter, and similarly the Vennonenses located by Plin. HN 3,135 on the upper reaches of the Rhenus [2]; these in turn are presumably the Οὐέννονες ( Ou énnones…

Vennonius

(183 words)

Author(s): Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn)
[German version] [1] Roman historian, 2nd cent. BC Roman historian of the late 2nd cent. BC (in Cic. Leg. 1,6 ordered after C. Fannius [I 1]); nothing is known of him as a person. His presumably annalistic work (Annalists) began with stories of the founding of Rome and the period of the kings (Origo gentis Romanae 20,1; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,15,1), but its scope and end point are unknown. Cicero felt the need of it in 46 BC in his literary work in Tusculum (Cic. Att. 12,3,1). Fr. in HRR I2 142 and [1]. Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) Bibliography 1 M. Chassignet (ed.), L'annalistique romain…

Venostes

(112 words)

Author(s): Waldherr, Gerhard H. (Regensburg)
[German version] Celtic people, mentioned in the inscription on the Tropaeum Alpium ( Tropaea Augusti ; CIL V 7817; Plin. HN 3,136) after the Trumpilini and Camunni and before the Vennonetes/Vennones and the Isarci; since tribes are listed there in the order of their subjugation to Rome, the V., like the Camunni, may have been subjugated in 16 BC by the Roman pro-consul P. Silius [II 7] (cf. Cass. Dio 54,20,1). Their main area of settlement was in the Vinschgau/Venosta valley, extended eastw…

Venta Silurum

(156 words)

Author(s): Todd, Malcolm (Exeter)
[German version] Town in South Wales, modern Caerwent. After the defeat of the Silures by the Roman governor Frontinus c. AD 74-76 (Tac. Agr. 17,3) VS developed into a centre of civilian settlement in the Vale of Glamorgan. VS became the capital, probably under Hadrian, of the civitas of the Silures (cf. [1]). The construction of public buildings (forum, basilica, temple) began after 125. In the late 2nd cent. AD VS was fortified with earthworks. In late Antiquity VS flourished economically (construction of numerous private houses in stone)…

Ventidius

(893 words)

Author(s): Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] Legate of Q. Cornificius [3] in Africa vetus, killed in 42 BC in the battle against T. Sextius [I 2] (App. B Civ. 4,228; 236). Perhaps the V. who was proscribed in 43 and fled ( ibid. 4,198). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] V., P. Presumed father of V. [I 3]. Scholarship often saw him as an Italic leader in the Social War [3], settled in Asculum, where he was said to have died with the entire local nobility in 89 BC (Oros. 5,18,26; cf. CIL IX 5254: freedman of a P. V.). However, Ventidii…

Venuleius

(355 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main)
Roman family name, variant of Venilius (Schulze, 378; 458). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] L. V. Apronianus Octavius Priscus Son of V. [4]. Cos. ord. in AD 123; procos. of Asia 138/9, SEG 36, 987. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography Scheid, Collège, 338-342. [German version] [2] L. V. Apronianus Octavius Priscus Senator. Son of V. [1]. Although a Patrician, after a praetorship he took on command of the Legio I Italica in Moesia Inferior. Cos. suff. under Antoninus [1] Pius; also a consular legate in Hispania Tarraconensis. Cos. ord. II in AD 168. Eck, Werner (Cologne) B…

Venulus

(68 words)

Author(s): Müller, Christian (Bochum)
[German version] Tiburtine, sent in Vergil's Aeneid by Turnus [1] to seek help from Diomedes [1] against Aeneas [1], but fails in this mission and shortly afterwards falls in a cavalry battle (Verg. Aen. 8,9; 11,241-295; 11,741-758; Serv. Aen. 8,9; 11,757). Linguistically it is debatable whether the origin of the name V. is Celtic or Illyrian. Müller, Christian (Bochum) Bibliography C. Feroni, s. v. Venulo, EV 5.1, 1990, 498 f.

Venus

(1,473 words)

Author(s): Rives, James B. (Toronto)
[German version] I. Meaning and origins Italic-Roman goddess V., the Italic-Roman goddess of love and erotic desire, was generally identified in Antiquity with Greek Aphrodite (= A.). There has been much speculation about Venus’ original nature. The theory that she was originally a goddess of gardens [8. 289] is no longer in favor; [9. 289], although the association appears already in the earliest Latin literature (Naevius ap. Paul. Fest. 51; Plautus ap. Plin. HN 19,50; cf., later, Varro Ling. 6,20; Var…

Venus de Milo

(1,480 words)

Author(s): Hinz, Berthold (Kassel RWG)
[English version] This statue of Aphrodite, known as the Venus de Milo (VM), became an icon of bourgeois society on account of its unusual beauty. In contrast to her prominent 'sisters', who were for the most part already known to the Renaissance, its reception history has been, to be sure, brief but all the more spectacular. Found in 1820 on the island of Melos, it came into the possession of the French crown and hence to the Louvre as a work of Praxiteles [8]. As if in compensation for the recently lost Napoleonic plunder, above all the much admired Medici Venus, it soon became the centrepie…

Venusia

(362 words)

Author(s): de Vido, Stefania (Venice)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Social Wars | Socii (Roman confederation) | | Coloniae | Coloniae | Regio, regiones (Οὐενουσία/ Ouenousía). Township in the territory of the Samnites (Str. 5,4,11; 6,1,2; Hor. Sat. 2,1,35) in the valley of the middle reaches of the Aufidus in the border region between the Lucani and the Apuli (Hor. Sat. 2,1,35; Str. 6,3,6: between the Samnites and the Lucani; Apulian: Ptol. 3,1,73; Plin. HN 3,104), traversed by the Via Appia  (Str. 6,3,6; It. Ant. 113,1; 121,…

Venutius

(176 words)

Author(s): Kunst, Christiane (Potsdam)
[German version] British prince, husband of the client queen Cartimandua; he struggled with her for supremacy over the Brigantes. The description in Tac. Ann. 12,40,2-4 suggests that the destabilisation of the kingdom happened as early as the time of A. Didius [II 2] Gallus (AD 52-57), but was brought under control by repeated interventions by Roman troops. No later than AD 69, the situation reversed when the queen officially separated from V. in favour of Vellocatus, probably in a miscalculation …

Ver

(240 words)

Author(s): Willers, Dietrich (Berne)
[German version] (Latin 'spring'), a personification of one of the seasons (II B). V. never had her own cult or myth. In literature and visual representations all the seasons are present, but spring is particularly well developed as a literary motif (Seasons II B 2). In pictorial art the seasons are individually identified by type and/or appropriate attributes, but appear only in a cycle - as women figures (Horai), as cupids, or as youths ( genii). Here V. is identified with seasonal attributes (blooms, individually, as a field of flowers, in garlands etc.), and not…

Veragri

(102 words)

Author(s): Graßl, Herbert (Salzburg)
[German version] (Ὀυάραγροι/ Ouáragroi). One of the four people in the Swiss canton of Wallis (Ceutrones [2], Caturiges, Nantuatae; cf. Str. 4,6,6) with chief town Octodurus. As inhabitants of Mons Poeninus (Liv. 21,38,9) the V. organised traffic over the Great Saint Bernard pass. In 57 BC they were attacked by Caesar's legate Sulpicius [I 12] Galba (Caes. Gall. 3,1,1; Cass. Dio 39,5,2), but subjugated only later, by Augustus (Plin. HN 3,137; CIL V 7817). Graßl, Herbert (Salzburg) Bibliography G. Barruol, Les peuples préromains du sud-est de la Gaule, 1969, 310 f. A. Geiser, Un mo…

Veranius

(402 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] [1] Q. V. Equestrian, made procurator [1] of his stepson Claudius [II 24] Drusus by Augustus; later pro legato of Augustus in Germany; father of V. [2]. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography A. Balland, Fouilles de Xanthos, vol. 7, 1981, 81-98. [German version] [2] Q. V. Son of V. [1]. Senator; comes of Germanicus [2] in the East; carried out duties in Cappadocia, and was appointed its legate (Tac. Ann. 2,56,4). In the lawsuit against Calpurnius [II 16] Piso he was an insistent supporter of the theory that Ge…

Veratrum

(4 words)

see Helleborus

Verax

(47 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] He and his mother's brother, the Batavian Iulius [II 43] Civilis, attacked the auxiliary fort of Vada in 70/1 AD; they were repelled by Petillius [II 1] Cerealis but were able to escape into free Germania (Tac. Hist. 5,20; 5,21,1 f.). Batavian Revolt Eck, Werner (Cologne)

Verbascum

(4 words)

see Mullein

Verbena

(208 words)

Author(s): Siebert, Anne Viola (Hannover)
[German version] (usually pl. verbenae, original meaning 'sacred branch'). Latin collective term for all fresh branches and herbs used in the Roman religion during ritual practices, the main feature being their evil-resisting and purifying effect. There is no evidence to identify V. with a particular herb; the sources mention different herbs: rosemary (Serv. Aen. 12,120), myrtle (Serv. ibidem; Plin. HN 15,119), laurel (Serv. ibd.) or olive (Serv. Ecl. 8,65); probably, the verbenaca was often meant (both Latin terms cannot be clearly separated). V…

Verbenaca

(130 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] (Late Antiquity verbena; Greek ἱερὰ βοτάνη/ hierà botánē, 'sacred herb', or περιστερεών/ peristereṓn, 'dove herb'), the Common Vervain ( Verbena officinalis L.) in the Verbenaceae family. It grows as a herbaceous plant, chiefly on walls and paths, and has small purple flowers on branched panicles. The modern scientific name indicates its great medicinal significance, primarily as an astringent for haemorrhage, fever, headaches and hyperhidrosis (Dioscorides 4,59 f. Wellmann = 4,60 f. Berendes;  cf. Plin.  HN 25,105 f.). Among the Romans, verbenaca was used…

Verbera

(152 words)

Author(s): Schiemann, Gottfried (Tübingen)
[German version] (literally 'strokes, lashes'), e.g. with a stick ( ferula) or a whip ( flagella), were a means of punishment ( castigatio) in Rome. They occurred as an independent (police) punishment primarily for slaves and members of the lower classes ( humiliores, see Honestiores ) in the framework of the policing powers of the magistrates ( Coercitio ), in particular of the Tresviri [1] capitales in the Republican period, then of the emperor and his agents and of the provincial governors. In Roman penal law - as is known from the flagellation of Jesus - verbera were also an 'additiona…

Verbigeni

(91 words)

Author(s): Walser, Gerold (Basle)
[German version] Sub-tribe of the Helvetii, whose area of settlement can not be located precisely, either for the period before 58 BC or after. When the Helvetii capitulated after their defeat at Bibracte in 58 v. Chr., 6000 armed V. escaped to the Rhenus (modern Rhine). Caesar ordered those living on their escape route to return the fugitives, and punished them under martial law (Caes. Gall. 1,27,4; 1,28,1). Walser, Gerold (Basle) Bibliography F. Staehelin, Die Schweiz in römischer Zeit, 31948, 142 E. Howald, E. Meyer, Die römische Schweiz, 1940, 34 G. Walser, Bellum Helveticum…

Vercassivellaunus

(62 words)

Author(s): Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum)
[German version] (Celtic compound name, [1. 120; 2. 291]). Cousin of Vercingetorix and leader of the Arverni. V. was one of the four army leaders who commanded the Gaulish army sent to relieve Alesia in 52 BC. After the defeat of the Gauls he was captured while fleeing (Caes. B Gall. 7,76,3 f.; 7,83,6; 7,85,4; 7,88,4). Commius; Eporedorix [2]; Viridomarus Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Evans 2 Schmidt.

Vercellae

(257 words)

Author(s): Sartori, Antonio (Milan) | Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
[German version] [1] Chief town of the Libici (modern Vercelli) This item can be found on the following maps: Batavian Revolt (Οὐερκέλλοι, Οὐερκέλλαι/ Ouerkélloi, -ai). Chief town of the Libici (Str. 5,1,12; Ptol. 3,1,36) on the right bank of the Sesites (modern Sesia), a right-bank tributary of the Padus (modern Po), modern Vercelli [1. 176; 2], probably originally founded by the Salluvii (Liv. 5,35,2; Plin. HN 3,124). No significant archaeological finds [3. 212]. It is not there but at V. [2] that Marius [I 1] is gen…

Vercingetorix

(616 words)

Author(s): Will, Wolfgang (Bonn)
[German version] Celt from the people of the Arverni, born in c. 82 BC. His father Celtillus, whom the Romans considered the 'first man' ( princeps) in all of Gaul, was - like Arminius - murdered by members of his tribe, because he aspired to be king (Caes. B Gall. 7,4,1). Knowledge of V. is concentrated entirely on the year 52 BC; the main source, Caesar (= C.), is problematic, because he personalizes the Celtic resistance in V. and does not confront V. without Roman prejudices when recognizing his military performanc…

Vercondaridubnus

(58 words)

Author(s): Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum)
[German version] Haeduus with a Celtic/Venetian name [1. 291; 2. 280]. C. Iulius V. was the first provincial priest at the Ara Romae et Augusti dedicated by Claudius [II 24] Drusus at Lugdunum/Lyon on 1 August 12 BC (Liv. Per. 139). Haedui; Ruler cult Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Schmidt 2 Evans. D. Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West, vol. 1.1, 1987, 97-102.

Verdict

(105 words)

Author(s): Schiemann, Gottfried (Tübingen)
[German version] In Greek and Roman Antiquity, the verdict was determined entirely by the preceding complaint or charge, e.g. in Athens by dike [2] (civil complaint) and graphe [1] (criminal charge). For a verdict to be pronounced, there then remained nothing further to be established; it was merely a question of counting the votes of the deciding committee. The function of the ‘judge’ ( iudex ) in Roman law was essentially confined to hearing evidence. The legal judgement was anticipated by the admission of the complaint ( actio [2]), in particular by the praetor . Pro…

Verecundus

(109 words)

Author(s): Letsch-Brunner, Silvia (Zürich)
[German version] The very cultured bishop V. of Iunca (Byzacena in Tunisia) was the author of exegeses of biblical texts (9 books Commentarii super cantica ecclesiastica), poems ( De satisfactione) and excerpts from the proceedings of the Council of Calchedon. During the Three-Chapter Controversy (Synodos II D), in 551 he was summoned by the emperor Iustinianus [1] to Constantinople, where he sided with pope Vigilius, fled with him to the church of St. Euphemia in Calchedon, and died in asylum there in 552. Letsch-Brunner, Silvia (Zürich) Bibliography R. Demeulenaere (ed.), Verec…

Vergilius

(9,319 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Suerbaum, Werner (Munich) | Blänsdorf, Jürgen (Mainz)
Roman nomen gentile, attested from the 1st cent. BC evident mainly in Gallia Cisalpina (frequently confused with Verginius in MSS). The spelling Virgilius for the name of the poet Vergilius [4] is only documented from the 5th cent. AD onwards. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] V. (less frequently: Verginius), C. Legate of Calpurnius [I 19] in Macedonia, 57-55 BC 57-55 BC; legate of Calpurnius [I 19] in Macedonia; depicted by Cicero (Prov. cons. 7) as an example of integrity in contrast with Piso. Perhaps (as in MRR 2,205) identical with V. [2]. Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) …

Vergina

(1,821 words)

Author(s): Drougou, Stella (Thessaloniki)
[English version] The modern Greek village on the…

Vergina

(5 words)

see Aegae [1]

Verginia

(339 words)

Author(s): Müller, Christian (Bochum)
[German version] According to traditional legend, found in literature most notably in Livy's dramatic rendering (3:44-48; cf. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 11:28-32), V. was the daughter of Verginius [I 3] and played a role in the demise of the Decemvirate ( decemviri [1]). Recognizing that he had no chance to win her, the decemvir Appius Claudius [I 5] induced one of his clients to claim V., asserting that she was originally his slave and that Verginius had merely been led to believe that she was his child. Not surprisingly, she was awarded to the client…

Verginius

(1,949 words)

Author(s): Müller, Christian (Bochum) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Walde, Christine (Basle)
Roman family, probably of Etruscan origin, that played an outstanding role, through the Verginii Tricosti branch (genealogy of the V. Tricosti in [1. 1519]), in Roman politics esp. in the 5th cent. BC. Characteristic of the V. Tricosti are the additional cognomina Caelimontanus, Esquilinus and Rutilus. The political importance of the family steadily declined from around the middle of the 5th cent., becoming altogether insignificant around the middle of the 4th cent. BC. If nothing else, however,…

Verina

(174 words)

Author(s): Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)
[German version] (Aelia V., Greek Βηρίνη/ Bērínē). Eastern Roman empress, wife of Leo [4] I, died AD 484. After the death of her husband in 474 she initially favoured rule by the Isaurian Zeno [18], the husband of her daughter Ariadne and the father of her grandson Leo [5] II, but for a time in 475 she supported the rebellion of her brother Basiliscus against Zeno. In 478 she and Epinicus [2] tried to overthrow the powerful magister officiorum Illus; but he anticipated it and banished her to Tarsus. He was able to win her over in 484, however, to suppor…

Verminus

(97 words)

Author(s): Distelrath, Götz (Constance)
[German version] Roman god, probably considered the originator of a cattle epidemic called verminatio (Plin. HN 28,180; 30,144). A single inscription represents the only evidence (CIL I2 804 = ILLRP 281); it records the dedication of an altar to V. by the duumvir A. Postumius [I 10] Albinus. This act can be dated to 175-173 BC, when epidemics were construed as portents ( Prodigium ), requiring sacrifices of cattle, and of people (Liv. 41,21,5 and 10; Obseq. 10). Distelrath, Götz (Constance) Bibliography E. Buchner, s. v. V., RE 8 A, 1552 f. L. Chioffi, s. v. V., ara, LTUR 5, 123 f. Radke, 315.

Vernacular

(5 words)

see Vulgar Latin

Verona

(490 words)

Author(s): Buchi, Ezio (Verona)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Socii (Roman confederation) | Theatre | Christianity | | Coloniae | Commerce | Italy, languages | Raeti, Raetia | Regio, regiones | Batavian Revolt (Οὐήρων/ Ouḗrōn). City of the Raeti and the Euganei (Plin. HN 3,130), after their expulsion of the Celtic Cenomanni [3] (Catull. 67,34; Liv. 5,35,1; Ptol. 3,1,31: Οὐήρωνα/ Ouḗrōna; cf. Just. Epit. 20,5,8), of the Veneti [1] after that (Liv. 1,1,2 f.; cf. Str. 4,6,8; 5,1,6; Procop. Goth. 2,29,41: Βερώνη/ Berṓnē); on the right bank of the Atesis (modern Adige), where the river forms a narrow loop on the slopes of Colle di San Pietro, in the southeastern foothills of the Alps, (cf. Sil. Pun. 8,595; Serv. Aen. 9,676), still V. today. The strategically and commercially significant city lay at the crossing point of roads, already important in pre-Roman times, which carried goods from the Alps and farther north to Italy east of the Apennines and into Illyricum (the road from the Brenner Pass and the l…

Verres, C.

(1,096 words)

Author(s): Bartels, Jens (Bonn)
[German version] ( c.115-43 BC), son of the senator C. V. († c. 71 BC) and probably one Tadia. Nearly all information about V. derives from Cicero’s speeches in 70, during V.’ trial (Cic. Div. Caec.; Cic. Verr. 1; 2), and, in view of this context, is accordingly to be treated with great caution. Apart from the usual accusations, such as a passion for gambling, consorting with prostitutes and prostituting himself ( ibid. 2,1,32 f.; 2,5,33 f.), virtually nothing is known of his youth. V. was married to Vettia, sister of his later qua…

Verritus

(87 words)

Author(s): Lütkenhaus, Werner (Marl)
[German version] In AD 57 together with Mal(l)orix 'prince' ( regebant, Tac. Ann. 13,54) of the Frisii, who had occupied Roman military territory to the south of the IJsselmeer (Flevum). After the intervention of the Lower German governor L. Duvius Avitus the two requested Rome to allocate the territories to them. Nero did grant them citizenship, but refused to assignment the territories and had the Frisians expelled by force (Tac. Ann. 13,54). Lütkenhaus, Werner (Marl) Bibliography W. Will, Römische 'Klientel-Randstaaten' am Rhein?, in: BJ 18…

Verrius

(729 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter Lebrecht
Roman nomen gentile, perhaps of Etruscan origin (Schulze, 287), first recorded in the 1st cent. BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [1] M. V. Flaccus Latin grammarian, Augustan era [German version] I. Life V. was the leading grammarian of the generation after Varro [2], born in Praeneste after 60 BC. Suetonius' biography (Gram. 17) reveals competition with Varro: the freedman ( libertinus) V. stands in opposition to the Roman equestrian ( eques Romanus), the grammarian to the philosopher and poet ( philosophus et po…

Verrucos(s)us

(31 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)
[German version] Roman cognomen ('Wart-Bearer'). Epithet of Q. Fabius [I 30] Maximus and of Asinius Pollio V. (PIR A 1243, cos. in 81 AD). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina, 246.

Verrugo

(116 words)

Author(s): Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
[German version] Volsci border city in Latium, which changed owners several times - occupied and fortified by the Romans in 445 BC (Liv. 4,1,4), reconquered by the Volsci in 422, conquered again by the Romans in 409 (Liv. 4,55,8), reconquered by the Volsci in 407 (Liv. 4,58,3). In 394 V. found itself in Roman hands again (Liv. 5,28,6). The place name can be derived from Latin verruca = locus editus asperque = 'high-lying rough place' (Cato in Gell. NA 3,7,6; cf. Diod. Sic. 14,11; a place name occurring from Tridentum to Eryx [1] in Sicily). Location uncertain, po…

Ver sacrum

(481 words)

Author(s): Phillips, C. Robert III. (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
[German version] The Italic ritual of the 'sacred spring', practiced in times of great adversity (Fest. 519 f.), integrated ritual elements of expiation and thanksgiving, and was not limited to Italic peoples alone (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,16; Liv. 5,34,2 f.; Just. Epit. 24,1,1; but cf. [1. 708 f.]). The whole yield of a spring (or of the whole year) - plants, animals, humans - was 'consecrated' (Sacer) to a deity; the animals were sacrificed, people (adults) were expelled, although originally, people are said to have been sacrificed as well (Fest. l.c.; Dion. Hal. l.c.). It is only po…

Versification

(5,568 words)

Author(s): Poiss, Thomas
Poiss, Thomas [German version] A. Definition (CT) Versification comprises the practice, description and regulation of rhythmically determined texts, which are intended for singing, recitation or speech-conscious reading. The Indo-European languages have developed several systems of forming verses, that is, of speech-units separated by pauses and made recognisable by repetition: [39. 1-6; 63. 253-281]: a) the syllabic system, b) the system based on quantity, that is, on the opposition of short and long syllables, c) the tonic system, based upon the dynamic stress accent, d) …

Versification

(4 words)

see Metre

Vers mesurés

(323 words)

Author(s): Aringer-Grau, Ulrike
[English version] Late 16th-cent. French poetry was based on the model of quantitative metrics from Antiquity. As early as the middle of the 16th cent., the group of poets called the 'Pléiade' were pursuing their objective of creating a close relationship between French poetry and music. The following authors provided the theoretical foundations: J. Du Bellay ( La Deffence et Illustration de la Langue Françoyse, 1549) and P. de Tyard ( Solitaire Premier, ou Discours des Muses et de la fureur poétique, 1552, and Solitaire second, ou Prose de la musique, 1555). Setting the vers mesurés to m…

Verso

(4 words)

see Recto/Verso

Vertico

(43 words)

Author(s): Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum)
[German version] Nervian noble (Nervii) who defected to the Roman side and helped Q. Tullius [I 11] Cicero during the siege of his winter camp  in 54 BC to send reports to Caesar (Caes. Gall. 5,45; 5,49). Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum) Bibliography Evans, 385 f.

Verticordia

(4 words)

see Venus

Vertiscus

(52 words)

Author(s): Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum)
[German version] Remian noble and army leader (Remi). In 51 BC, as commander of a tribal contingent fighting on the side of Caesar, which he was leading in spite of his great age, V. fell in a cavalry battle with the  Bellovaci (Caes. Gall. 8,12). Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum) Bibliography Evans, 386.

Vertragus

(188 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] (οὐέρτραγος/ o uértragos). Greyhound, which is particularly prized for hare coursing because of its speed; the Latin name vertragus is derived from a Celtic word. The accurate description in Arr. Cyn. 3-6 of a powerful but slim dog with pointed muzzle and long ears enabled [1] to identify ancient depictions of vertragi. When hunting, the dogs which were kept in large compounds were led on leashes by slaves and released only when the prey had been flushed out and was in view. Hunters used to accompany them on horseback. Usually two vertragi were set on each hare, which t…

Vertumnus

(490 words)

Author(s): Aigner-Foresti, Luciana (Vienna)
[German version] (Voltumna). An originally Etruscan god [2; 4], mentioned by Varro Ling. 5,46 using an older form as Vortumnus; a Latinised Etruscan form Voltumna has been preserved in Livy (e.g. Liv. 4,23,5; 4,25,7). A statue of Vertumnus stood in the Vicus Tuscus at the foot of the Palatine in Rome (Varro Ling. 5,46). Prop. 4,2 has it speak: the god describes himself as an Etruscan from Volsinii who had left the city during a fire. After the city's capture in 264 BC, 2000 bronze statues were allegedly carried off by the Romans (Plin. HN. 34,16,34; [1. 109-122]), probably after an evocatio

Vertunum

(374 words)

Author(s): Schön, Franz (Regensburg)
[German version] Roman vicus, name only mediaeval, in the western part of the civitas Treverorum (Belgium, province of Luxemburg, Treveri), at the point where the Rivers Ton and Vire meet. V. developed as a centre on the right bank of the Ton, which gradually rises to a height of 20 m (modern Vieux-Virton) and ultimately merges into the Majeroux plateau; also on the left side in the narrow floor of the Vire valley, where a trade quarter (modern Saint-Mard) developed. V. lay on an old, presumably pre-Roman, ro…

Verucloetius

(45 words)

Author(s): Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum)
[German version] Celtic compound name ('famous far and wide' [1. 123 f.]). Leader with Nammeius of the Helvetian legation (Helvetii) that requested of Caesar in 58 BC to be allowed to march through the Roman province of Narbonensis (Caes. Gall. 1,7,3). Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Evans.

Verulae

(217 words)

Author(s): Morciano, Maria Milvia (Florence)
[German version] Hernici city in Latium on the southern slopes of the Ernici mountains on a steep rock outcrop (570 m in height) in the upper valley of the Cosa, a left bank tributary of the Trerus (or Tolerus, modern Sacco), on a northern side road of the Via Latina, modern Veroli. V. did not ally with the Hernici in a battle against Rome in 307/6 BC, refused the civitas cum suffragio offered as a reward by Rome and retained its own laws with civitas sine suffragio (Civitas B; Liv. 9,42,11; 9,43,23). A municipium (Plin. HN 3,64); duoviri and a senate are mentioned (CIL…

Verulamium

(212 words)

Author(s): Todd, Malcolm (Exeter)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Christianity | Britannia | Britannia City above the south bank of the River Ver at modern Saint Albans to the northwest of Londinium (modern London), settlement centre since the 1st cent. BC of the Catuvellauni [1]. The settlement expanded into the valley, where after AD 43 the Romans built a fort [2]. A municipium possibly since the Flavian period (Tac. Ann. 14,33), affected by Queen Boudicca's uprising in 60/1, V. was given a forum (cf. [3]) in AD 79 or 81 and public buildings c. 100. In about 155 parts of the city…

Verus

(570 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] Imp. Caesar L. Aurelius Verus Augustus (in literary sources usually called L. Verus; his vita in the HA is less reliable). Roman emperor AD 161-169. Born on 15 December 130 as L. Ceionius Commodus, son of L. Ceionius [3] Commodus, who was adopted by Hadrianus in 136 but died on 1 January 138, and Avidia [1] Plautia (cf. stemma under Adoptive emperors). After the death of his father he and the later Marcus [2] Aurelius were adopted at Hadrian's command by Antoninus [1] Pius. His name after adopti…

Vescia

(140 words)

Author(s): Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
[German version] City of the Ausones on the northwestern slopes of Mons Massicus, where the Liris (modern Garigliano) flows into the Mare Tyrrhenum (Luc. 2,425). It remains to be located. V. became involved in the war between Rome and the Latini (341-340 BC; Liv. 8,11,5 for the year 340); it was destroyed by the Romans in 314 BC (Liv. 9,25,4) and not rebuilt. The place name has survived in Saltus Vescinus (Liv. 10,21,8; modern Monte Roccamonfina; [1. 12 f.]), in Montes Vescini, in Aquae Vescinae (modern Terme di Suio), in Ager Vescinus (Liv. 10,21,7, modern Piano di Sessa, where i…

Vescularius Flaccus

(70 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] Equestrian, a close friend of the emperor Tiberius [1] whom he accompanied to Rhodes (V) and later to Capri (Capreae). He also worked as a confidant of Tiberius on the preparation of the trial of Scribonius [II 6] Libo Drusus (Tac. Ann. 2,28,1 f.). V. was probably also close to Aelius [II 19] Seianus, and in AD 32 this led to his execution (Tac. Ann. 6,10,2). Eck, Werner (Cologne)

Vesidia

(50 words)

Author(s): Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
[German version] Tyrrhenian coastal river in Regio VII between Pisae and Luna [3], modern Vezza. It gave its name to the modern region of Versilia. Its location between Vada Volaterrana and Velinae (mistake for Velatrae, cf. Volaterrae), as recorded in Tab. Peut. 4,2, is incorrect. Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)

Vesontio

(1,207 words)

Author(s): Schön, Franz (Regensburg)
This item can be found on the following maps: Caesar | Caesar | Christianity | | Gallia/Gaul | Celts | Oppidum | Rome (Vesontine, Bisontii, Besantio, Οὐεσόντιον/ Ouesóntion, modern Besançon, Dép. du Doubs), civitas metropolis of the Sequani. [German version] I. Beginnings Thanks to its outstanding topographical location (Caes. B Gall. 1,38,4; Julian. Ep. 26; Ptol. 2,9,21) in an almost circular oxbow of the Dubis (modern Doubs; radius 600 m), with the isthmus blocked in the southeast by a natural rise (Colline de la Citadelle), the site …

Vespa

(243 words)

Author(s): Smolak, Kurt (Vienna)
[German version] The only occupational agon surviving from Antiquity is the 'contest between the cook and the baker' ( Iudicium coci et pistoris) by the Latin poet who called him/herself V. ('Wasp'); the poem may have been performed in public (Public recitals); it was included in the anthology of the Codex Salmasianus (Anth. Lat. 199; Anth. Lat.3 190). Date: between the 2nd and 5th cent. AD, probably 4th cent. (probable reference to Nemesianus [1] and Ausonius). The play, consisting of 99 hexameters, after a traditional invocation of the Muse (Muse, …

Vespasianus

(1,247 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
Roman emperor, AD 69-79. Born T. Flavius Vespasianus on 17 Nov. AD 9 at Falacrinae near Reate, son of the tax farmer Flavius [II 39] Sabinus and Vespasia Polla, a daughter of an equestrian officer [1. 155-160]. Married to Flavia [1] Domitilla; the marriage produced Titus [II 2] (born in AD 39) and Domitian (Domitianus [1], born in AD 51). [German version] I. Early career At the urging of his mother, V. followed his uncle and his elder brother, Flavius [II 40] Sabinus, in pursuing a senatorial career. His first position was as tribunus [4] militum in Thracia (pro…

Vespasia Polla

(57 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] Daughter of Vespasius Pollio from Nursia. Married to Flavius [II 39] Sabinus, the father of her three children, including T. Flavius [II 40] Sabinus and the later emperor Vespasian (Vespasianus, with stemma). Since her brother had been a senator, she also moved her sons to this career (Suet. Vesp. 1,3; 2,2). Eck, Werner (Cologne)

Vespasius Pollio

(74 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] Equestrian from Nursia. Three times he was a tribunus [4] militum in a legion, including the Legio I, then a praefectus [5] castrorum, no earlier than the time of Augustus (Suet. Vesp. 1,3; cf. [1. 155-160]). His daughter was Vespasia Polla; one of his sons reached the rank of senator (cf. Vespasianus, with stemma). Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography 1 G. Alföldy, Epigraphische Notizen aus Italien, in: ZPE 77, 1989, 155-180 2 Demougin, Nr. 192.

Vespronius

(118 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] L. V. Candidus Sallustius Sabinus. Praetorian governor of Numidia, cos. suff. in the same province, c. AD 176. Consular governor of Tres Daciae (Daci, Dacia C) c. 183-186. Probably proconsul of Africa (Africa 3) at the end of the reign of Commodus. According to Tertullianus [2] (Ad Scapulam 4,3) he treated Christians with leniency. At the beginning of 193 he was sent by the emperor Didius [II 6] Iulianus with a senatorial legation to meet the approaching Septimius [II 7] Severus; at this event he was all…

Vesta

(753 words)

Author(s): Phillips, C. Robert III. (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
[German version] Roman goddess, at times identified with Hestia (Cic. Nat. D. 2,67; Cic. Leg. 2,29); evidence for a possible Sabine origin: Varro Ling. 5,74; [1. 168-170]. The fact that the Roman cult of V. is very old is indicated by her archaic round temple as well as her connection to the rex sacrorum or the archaic ritual of the expulsion of purgamina - what was described as stercus ('garbage') - from V.'s temple on 15 July ( Quando stercum delatum fas: Varro Ling. 6,32; InscrIt 13,2,335 f.; 471; Fest. 466; [2. 320 f.]). The round temple at the edge of the Forum Romanum…

Vestals

(785 words)

Author(s): Cancik-Lindemaier, Hildegard (Tübingen)
[German version] (Lat. virgo Vestalis 'Vestal virgin'). Vesta's cult was taken care of by six virgines (or sacerdotes 'priestesses') Vestales, who lived in the atrium Vestae , near the aedes Vestae on the Forum Romanum (Rome III E, 2nd map, nr. 44). The group was headed by the virgo Vestalis maxima (honorary inscriptions esp. of the 3rd cent. AD with statues on the forum: CIL VI 32415 ff.; [2]) and stood under the jurisdiction of the pontifex maximus . The vestal was 'taken' ( capere) as a six- to ten-years-old child by the pontifex maximus. This act had civil-law consequences: (a) w…

Vestibulum

(5 words)

see House II. D.1.; Palace IV. E.

Vestini

(559 words)

Author(s): Buonocore, Marco (Rome)
[German version] (Οὐηστῖνοι/ Ouēstînoi). Italian people (name possibly Indo-European, cf. e.g. Vesta ) on the eastern slopes of the Appenninus, to the south of the Picentes (Str. 5,4,2), east of the Sabini (Str. 5,2,1; 5,3,1), and north of the Paeligni. From the time of Augustus onwards, their predominantly mountainous and barren territory (hunting, cattle husbandry, cf. Sil. Pun. 8,516 ff.; Plin. HN 11,241; Mart. 13,31) was part of Regio IV (Regio with map). By means of a conjecture in Plin. HN 3,107 (cf. Ptol. 3,1,59: settlements of the V.) [ Trasmontani; Aveiates] after Pennenses, […

Vestinus

(191 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Matthaios, Stephanos (Cologne)
[German version] [1] Perhaps a descendant of V. [2], mentioned in Statius According to Statius [II 2] (Silv. 4,6,94) V. died at an early age and rivalled his forbears. Probably of noble origin, perhaps a descendant of V. [2]. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [2] M. V. Atticus See M. Iulius [II 147] V. Atticus. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [3] L. Iulius V. Greek lexicographer, first half of the 2nd cent. Greek lexicographer, first half of the 2nd cent. AD, Superintendent of the Mouseion in Alexandria, procurator of the Roman and Greek libraries and …

Vestorius

(54 words)

Author(s): Bartels, Jens (Bonn)
[German version] Roman gens name [1]. Only known representative: C. V., recorded  56-44 BC, versatile businessman (credit broker, pigment producer and long-distance trader) from Puteoli, who had close relations with Pomponius [I 5] Atticus and Cicero. Bartels, Jens (Bonn) Bibliography 1 Schulze, 254 2 J. Andreau, Patrimoines, échanges et prêts d'argent, 1997, 99-118 3 D'Arms, Index s. v. V.

Vestricius

(289 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] T. V. Spurinna. Senator, possibly homo novus, probably of Etruscan origin, but according to [2. 542] rather from an Etruscan family that had migrated to Transpadana. Born in c. AD 25, since, according to Plin. Ep. 3,1,10, in c. 101 he had completed his 78th year. He entered the Senate no later than under Nero [1]. In 69 he was appointed by Otho a commander in the battle with the followers of Vitellius [II 2] (Tac. Hist. 2,11; 18 f.; 23; 36). The tradition after that is silent until the year 97. According to Pliny t…

Vesulus

(63 words)

Author(s): Graßl, Herbert (Salzburg)
[German version] …

Vesuna

(184 words)

Author(s): Haase, Mareile (Toronto)
[German version] Italic goddess. Cults are recorded by votive inscriptions in the territory of the Marsi [1] (Vetter, no. 223, from Antinum; no. 228b, 'at Milonia'). In the Umbrian Tabulae Iguvinae III/IV (Iguvium), she is the object of sacrificial activities and prayers, together with Pomonus Popdicus, a god of fruits and perhaps of the annual cycle [1. 497]. A (hierarchical) relationship with this god also becomes clear in the formulation of the name ( Vesune Puemunes Pupřikes, 'V. (dative singular) of P. P.') and is conditioned by the role of the deity in the conte…

Vesuvius

(676 words)

Author(s): Sauer, Vera (Stuttgart)
[German version] Stratovolcano (eruptions of ash and lava), dormant in ancient times, in Campania (for the ancient forms of the name with a list of all the literary and inscriptional documentation see [6. 33 f., 128-136], modern Vesuvio. The cone-shaped mountain, today 1281 m high, sits in a caldera (Monte Somma; highest peak: Punta del Nasone at 1132 m to the north of V.), which came into being, or was expanded, when the peak of the mountain was blown off during the AD 79 er…

Vetera

(975 words)

Author(s): Wiegels, Rainer (Osnabrück)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: | Gallia/Gaul | Legio | Legio | Limes | Limes | Batavian Revolt Roman camp on the Rhine at the 60th milestone downstream from Colonia Agrippinensis (modern Cologne; Tac. Ann. 1,45,1) between the modern towns of Birten and Xanten. The camp originated from the early Imperial period. The name, probably indigenous, refers to an archaeologically unattested earlier settlement nearby (cf. Tac. Hist. 4,18,3:

Veterans

(1,638 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | O.S.
(Latin veterani). [German version] I. Republic The Roman army in the Republican Period was a militia; all citizens with means exceeding the defined level (cf. Census) were obliged to provide combat service in the military; the term of service depended on military requirements, and was not precisely defined. It was the custom for soldiers released from the army after military service to return to their farms, and to be available again for recruitment upon the outbreak of another war (Pol. 6,…
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