A complete dictionary of the Greek and Roman antiquities explaining the obscure places in classic authors and ancient historians relating to the religion, mythology, history, geography and chronology of the ancient Greeks and Romans, their ... rites and customs, laws, polity, arts and engines of war : also an account of their navigations, arts and sciences and the inventors of them : with the lives and opinions of their philosophers / compiled originally in French ... by Monsieur Danet ; made English, with the addition of very useful mapps.

V. (Book v)

U Is the 20th Letter in the Alphabet, and fifth Vowel: There is also a Consonant V which is thus distinguished by Grammarians, V. Ʋ is often changed into O, as in this Word volt put for vult. The V is also a Numeral Letter, signifying five; and when it has a Tittle above it, five thousand.

VACUNA;

this Goddess was worshipped by Plough-men, and her Feast celebrated in Winter.

VADARI ALIQUEM;

'tis a Law-Term, signifying to oblige a Person to give Secu∣rity, that promises he shall on a certain Day ap∣pear in Court: If he fails, his Surety has actio∣nem vadimonii deserti against him, i. e. an Acti∣on for leaving his Bail.

VATICANUS,

the Vatican, one of the small Hills of Rome, near the Tiber, adjoining to the Janiculum, where the Pope's Palace is, it was thus called from the Responses and Oracles, called in Latin Vaticinia, which the Romans re∣ceived here, according to Varro. There was al∣so a Deity so named in the same Place, who was believed to be the Author of the first Speech of Children, which was Va; from whence comes the Word Vatican, and among the Latins Vagire, to cry like an Infant.

VE-JOVIS,

a hurtful Deity, to whom the Romans erected Temples, and offered Sacrifices, that he might do them no Mischief: He was pictured with a Bow and Arrow in his Hand ready to let it flie.

VELABRUM;

was a Place full of Trades∣mens Shops, and especially of Oil-men; it was divided into two parts by the Fish-Market, and stood near to the Tuscan Division.

VENILIA;

a Nymph, and the Mother of Faunus; she was also reputed to be Neptune's Wife, otherwise called Salacia. Venilia, says Var∣ro, is the Water that washes the Shoar, and Sa∣lacia, that which returns into the Bottom of the Sea.

VENTUS,

the Wind, is nothing else but a Flux of Air agitated by an unequal and violent Motion; which is done, says Vitruvius, when the Heat working upon the Moisture, by its Acti∣on produces a great Quantity of new Air, that violently drives on the other: Those who were the Worshippers of the Wind in all likelihood believed they worshipped the Air in the Agita∣tion thereof; from whence it is the Persians wor∣shipped the Stars and Earth, Water, Fire and Winds. Herodotus tells us, that the Grecians being in a Consternation, because of Xerxes his formidable Army, that came to fall upon them, the Oracle of Delphos commanded them to offer Sacrifice to the Winds, from whom they were to expect their greatest Relief. Aeneas sacri∣ficed to the Winds; Pecudem Zephyris felicibus albam. Augustus erected a Temple for the Wind Circius of the Gauls, because they were incom∣moded therewith, and had their Houses blow'd down by it. The Poets made Aeolus to be King of the Winds; and Servius says, they were Nine Islands in the Sicilian Sea, of which Aeolus, ac∣cording Varro, was King; from whence they feigned he had the Winds under his Dominion, because he foretold the Storms that should hap∣pen by observing the Vapours and Steams that arose from those Islands, and especially from that called after Vulcan's Name: Ʋt Varro dixit, Rex fuit infularum, ex quarum nebulis, & fumo Vul∣caniae insulae, praedicens ventura flabra ventorum, ab imperitis visus est ventos suâ potestate retinere. Pliny says, that Strongylus was one of those burnt and smoaking Islands; and that the Inhabitants from the Fumes thereof predicted what Winds should follow three Days before; and that for this Reason they feigned Aeolus was Master of the Winds: E cujus fumo, quinam flaturi sint venti in triduum praedicere incolae traduntur: unde ventos Aeolo paruisse existimatum. Nevertheless 'tis certain, the Worshipping of the Winds is ancienter than Aeolus his Reign, whom they pretend to have lived in the Time of the Tro∣jan War. The Persians, who, according to Stra∣bo and Herodotus, worshipped the Winds, never heard of the King of these little Islands, and 'twas not to him they addrest their Worship: As much may be said in respect to the Scythians, of whom Lucian in his Toxaris, says, that they swore by the Wind and Sword, per ventum & acinacem. When Solomon in his Proverbs, says, there were Men so mad as to adore the Winds; he little thought of Aeolus in the Matter. All those Eastern Idolaters worshipped the Winds before the Fable of Aeolus was invented: And so we have Reason to believe, that as the Wor∣shipping of the Winds as well as that of other parts of Nature, passed from the East to the West, so the Grecians, Sicilians, and Italians took occasion from the Nature of those Islands, to make them to be the Kingdom of the Winds, because they often found Whirl-winds, Va∣pours, Winds and Fire to proceed from thence.

Strabo relates unto us the Observations of Polybius upon the Isle of Lipara, which is the greatest of Aeolus his Seven Islands, viz. that when the South Wind blew, it was covered with so thick a Cloud, that those who were but a little way off, could not see Sicily; but when the North Wind blew, the Island sent forth purer Flames, and made a greater Noise and Concus∣sion; and this gave occasion to say, that the King of these Islands was King of the Winds. Hesiod openly declares for the Doctrine of Phy∣siology, when he gives us the Genealogy of the Winds, and makes them to be the Chil∣dren of Astraeus and Aurora; for this is plainly to make those Winds to proceed from the Stars and Aurora, or the Horizon, or rather from the Stars and Vapours that are always in the Hori∣zon in a very great quantity, in order to form Aurora and the Winds therein. We know 'tis the Opinion of Naturalists and Astrologers that the Stars have a great Influence in the Genera∣tion of the Winds: He says a little farther, that except those three Winds that are useful to Mankind, all the rest were the Children of Ty∣phon, the famous Gyant, whom victorious Ju∣piter Thunder-struck, and buried under the Mountains, thro' which he groaned, sighed and vomited up Flames, Winds and Tempests. This Poet therefore distinguishes between two sorts of Winds, the one which are moderate and use∣ful, the other violent and dangerous; the first are the Children of the Stars and Aurora, and the last those Winds which proceed from the Caverns of Mountains, or Burning-Islands, from whence come Fires, Whirl-winds and Storms; and this gave occasion to the Fiction, that they were Gyants who breathed out these Winds from those Mountains where they continually burned.

Pausanias says, there was no Deity at Megalo∣polis in Greece, more honoured than the Wind Boreas, for they had been powerfully assisted by him in the Enterprize made upon them by the Lacedaemonians: They sacrificed a Horse with Perfumes to the Winds, to the End that his Ashes might be dispersed abroad, says Festus: Lacedaemonii in monte Taygeto equum Ventis immo∣lant; ibidemque adolent, ut eorum flatu cinis ejus per fines deferatur. And whereas Homer says, that the Wind Boreas was transformed into a Horse, which covered very fine Mares, that foal∣ed twelve Colts, whose Lightness and Swiftness was so wonderful, that they could run over the

Blades of Corn without bending them, and upon the Waves without sinking; there was no other reason for it, but that People really be∣lieved, there were some Mares that conceived by the Wind. Virgil tells that as a true Story concerning Zephyrus, which Homer relates of Boreas for a Fable. Vossius also refers to the Winds the Fight of the Titans with Jupiter, which he pretends to be no more than the War of the Winds in the Air, for which he cites Hesiod, who places Gyges, Briareus and Cottus in the Number of the Winds, who were also Ti∣tans.

The Winds according to some Mens Opinion, are no more than Four in Number, viz. Sola∣nus, which blows from the South-East; Auster from the South; Favonius from the South-West; and Septentrio from the North. But those who have been more curious Enquirers into the Na∣ture of Winds, have made them to be Eight, and especially Andronicus Cyrrbestes, who for this End built a Marble Tower at Athens, of an Octogone Figure, which on every side had the Picture of one of the Winds, over-against that Quarter from which they were wont to blow; and at the Top of the Tower which ended pyra∣midically, he placed a Brass Triton with a Rod in his Hand; and the Machine was so contrived, that the Triton turning about, and always be∣ing opposite to the Wind that blew, with its Rod shewed in what Corner it then was. The other Four Winds are Eurus, between Solanus and Au∣ster to the Winter-East; Africus between Auster and Favonius to the Winter-West; Caurus or Corus between Favonius and Septentrio; and A∣quilo between Septentrio and Solanus: We call them South-East, South-West, North-West and North-East.

VENUS,

the Goddess of Beauty, that was always accompanied by the Graces. Cicero, L. 3. de Nat. Deor. shews there were Four several Ve∣nus's: The first, the Daughter of Coelum; the second she, that sprung from the Foam of the Sea and Cupid's Mother; the third, was Jupiter and Dione's Daughter, who was married to Vul∣can, and on whom Mars begot Anteros; the fourth Tyr, called Astarte, who was married to Adonis. The first and fourth were in all likeli∣hood the same as the Venus of Assyria, which was called Ʋrania or Coelestis, as being the Daugh∣ter of Heaven, whose Worship passed from As∣syria or Babylon into Syria. Sanchuniathon makes Astarte to be the Daughter of Coelum, and Sa∣turn's Wife, and the Mother of Seven Daugh∣ters called Titanides. Lucian speaks of Venus that was worshipped at Biblos in Phoenicia, and of Adonis with whom she was in Love, and whose Death she bewailed after he had been killed by a wild Boar. Herodotus makes the Temple of Venus Ʋrania to be in the City of Ascalon in Phoenicia, which was the Ancientest of all the Temples of this Goddess; the Temples of Venus in Cyprus, and at Cythera or Cerigo were much in request; but they were built by the Phoenicians according to the Model of that at Ascalon. The Worship of Venus passed to Arabia; from whence 'tis that Herodotus himself says, the Arabians worshipped but two Deities, viz. Dionysius and Ʋrania: The Persians, in Imitation of the Assy∣rians, did also worship Venus Ʋrania, and called her Mitra. There were the Cities of Paphos, Amathus, and Ʋrania in the Isle of Cyprus, and all these were famous for the Worship of Venus; and as 'twas but a short Passage from Phoenicia to Cyprus, the Worship of this Goddess was easi∣ly carried thither; and as Venus was transported thither by Sea, they feigned she was produced of the Foam of the Sea; so Horace calls her Marina Venus. Tacitus speaking of the Temple of Venus at Paphos, uses the following Words, that clearly shew that the Forming of Venus of the Foam of the Sea, was nothing else but that she was brought thither by Sea: Fama recentior tradit, à Cinyra sacratum Templum, Deamque ipsam con∣ceptam mari hùc appulsam. This Historian, L. 2. Hist. speaks also of that Temple in this manner:

The Ancients, says he, made King Aërias to be the Founder of it, altho' some were of Opinion, it was the Name of the Goddess; but modern Authors will have the Temple to have been built by Cinyra, when Venus coming by Sea landed in that Country; he adds, that he sent for the Prophet Thamyrus into Cilicia, and a∣greed that their Descendants should divide the Priesthood between them: But those of Thamyrus his Race did afterwards resign it to the King's Posterity, as a Point of Prerogative yielded to the Royal Family, insomuch that no other were consulted there but the Successors of Cinyra. All sorts of Victims were allowed of, provided they were of the Male kind, but the He-goat was accounted the best; they shed none of the Blood upon the Altar; for they of∣fered nothing there but Prayers and pure Fire, which no Rain could put out, tho' the same were open to the Air: The Goddess was re∣presented in the Form of a Globe, ending py∣ramidically, without any other resemblance, and the Reason is not known.

Pausanias acknowledges that Venus of Cythera came also from Phoenicia: He elsewhere describes her bearing Arms: Hesychius says as much, and in another place speaks of a Temple of Venus, into which none but the Sacristan ever entred, (and the same Person was forbid to marry) and a Virgin that exercised the Priesthood here for one Year only. This Author takes notice of several Places in Greece, where Venus Ʋrania was worshipped, and wherein there was nothing practised like those Effeminacies and Impurities, which were attributed to the Common Venus; since we find, besides the Name of Ʋrania or

Coelestis, that her Priestesses were Virgins, and that she her self was represented armed. Pau∣sanias in another place distinguishes between Venus Ʋrania, whose Statue was made of Gold or Ivory by Phidias, and Venus Popularis, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that was made of Brass; he hath not forgot that place in Arcadia, where there were three Statues set up for Venus, one for Coelestis, the other for Popularis, and the third without any Surname, which distinguished it from the rest. Xenophon makes a Distinction between Venus Coelestis and Popularis, and attributes to the first a Love of Knowledge and Vertue, as he does to the other the Love of Corporeal Pleasures. This Name of Venus Coelestis comes either from her being represented upon a Lion's Back, and ascending up to Heaven, or from her being the Daughter of Heaven; from whence the Greeks called her Ʋrania, or because the ancient and true Ʋrania was very different from that which they called the Common one, and inspired Men with no∣thing but pure and chaste Love, which raised up the Heart to Heaven. Apuleius also in his Apo∣logy bears the same Testimony, wherein he shews, that that Venus Coelestis, which is distin∣guished from the Common Venus, allows us to love no other Beauty than that which can re∣vive the Idea and Love of Heavenly Beauties in our Souls. Plutarch speaks of Venus at Rome, surnamed Libitina, in whose Temple they sold all things belonging to Burials: He likewise adds, that those of Delphos, had also their Venus Sepul∣chralis, where they conjured up the Dead by Ma∣gick Spells. Calvus the Poet calls Venus a God, Pollentemque Deum Venerem, as well as Virgil, in Aen. 2.

Discedo, ac ducente Deo flammam inter & hostes Expedior.

Some Criticks who have not perhaps made this Observation, would correct this place, and put Dea instead of Deo, contrary to the Authority of the Manuscripts. Levinus speaking of this Dei∣ty, says; having worshipped Venus, whether Fe∣male or Male, which is the same as the Moon. Aristophanes calls her 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in the Neuter Gender, and Hesychius 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Salmatius has corrected it. Theophrastus, says he, assures us, that Aphroditos or Venus is an Hermophro∣dite; and that her Statue with a Beard on like a Man was to be seen in the Island of Cyprus, near Amathusa. Venus Victrix was represented some∣times carrying Victory in her Right Hand, and a Scepter in her Left, and leaning her Arm up∣on a great Shield; and another time with a Mu∣rion or Steel-piece in her Hand instead of Victo∣ry, and the Apple which Paris adjudged to her as the Reward of her Beauty, which she got from Pallas and Juno: The Poets make her Chariot to be drawn by Swans and two flying Cupids, They represented her like a beautiful Goddess sitting in a Chariot drawn by two Swans and as many Doves, crowned with Myrtle, and having a burning Torch in her Bosom. Pausanias also speaks of a Statue of Venus made of Ivory and Gold by Phidias, with one Foot upon a Tor∣toise, and likewise another of Venus, riding upon a He-Goat, and made by Scopas; the Venus of Praxiteles at Cnidos was made of white Marble, and half opened her Lips as if she smiled. Venus the Mother of Love, and the Goddess of Pleasures would by no means comply to make Vulcan her Husband, but as he could not compass his Design in Heaven, and that he was weary with her Coiness, Jupiter advised him to give her some Poppy in her Drink, which put her unto such a Love-fit, that without think∣ing any more of the Persons that so entirely loved her, she took up with what fell in her Way, and make that sorry Smith her Husband,

Cum primùm cupido Venus est deducta marito, Hoc bibit; ex illo tempore nupta fuit.

But she reassumed her disdainful Carriage again when her Love-fit was over, and she always lived at Variance with her wretched Cripple. Au∣gustus Caesar dedicated the Temple of Venus Genetrix to Julius Caesar, whose Statue was made by Archesilaus.

VERBENA

Vervein; an Herb used by the Pagans at their Sacrifices, and which they thought to have something that was Divine in it: The Romans in the Beginning of the Year made a Present of this Herb to their Friends.

VERGILIAE,

Constellations whose Ap∣pearance denote the Approach of the Spring: They were the Daughters of Atlas, according to the Poets, and by the Greeks were called Pleiades, but the Romans named them Vergiliae.

VERITAS,

Truth, of whom the Ancients made a Deity and called her the Daughter of Saturn and Time, and the Mother of Vertue; they painted her like a handsome and modest Woman clad very plain, but shining with Splen∣dor and Majesty.

VERTICORDIA,

a Surname given to Venus, who diverted the Minds of Men from impure and unlawful Love.

VERTUMNUS,

à God of Change and Gardens; he was also an Emblem of the Year: This God was woshipped under a Thousand Forms, for which reason Horace says, Vertumnis natus iniquis, as if there were as many different Vertumnus's, as there were different Forms by which this Deity was represented: He was in Love with Pomona; the Greeks called him Pro∣teus.

VERUS,

a Roman Emperor that reigned with Marcus Aurelius, and who by his Beard af∣fected

to appear like a Philosopher, though he had no Inclination nor Disposition to Learning: He was much addicted to the Vices of Drunken∣ness, Gaming and Women: So that what was most remarkable in his Physiogmony was, that he resembled the Portraitures made of the Satyrs by the Ancients, who were said to be very le∣cherous. Authors say, he had a ruby and Cop∣per Face by which they readily concluded he lo∣ved Wine, which he drunk to that Excess, that at his Return from Syria, he appointed an A∣partment in his Pallace, which he called the Em∣peror's Tavern: He died of an Apoplexy at the Age of 42.

VESPATIAN,

a Roman Emperor that succeeded Vitellius, the Lineaments of this Em∣peror's face, as Suetonius has described them, are very well exprest on his Medals; for he had the Mien of a costive Person, he was a valiant and good-natured Prince, and was guilty of no other Vice but Covetousness, which he shewed by the Taxes he laid upon his Subjects: In the mean time he was very liberal to poor Senators, learned Men and ruined Cities: He was much addicted to Raillery and continued it to his dying Day, for being upon the Point of Expi∣ring, he said to those that were about him, I perceive I begin to become a God, and thereby ridiculed the Custom of the Romans deifying their Emperors after their Decease.

VESPER,

the Evening-Star,

VESPERUGO;

the Planet Venus when it appears in the Evening.

VESTA,

a Heathen Goddess; Lactantius relates the Words of Ennius or Euhemerus, who makes Vesta to be the Wife of Ʋranus, the Fa∣ther of Saturn, the first that reigned in the World, and after having spoken of the Contest between Titan the eldest Son of Ʋranus and Sa∣turn the younger about the Kingdom, he says, that their Mother Vesta advised Saturn not to ••••it the Sovereignty: This Genealogy is very like unto that of Sanchuniathon, saving that he calls the Earth the Wife of Ʋranus, which we know has been confounded with Vesta. Vesta passed from Phoenicia into Greece, where Diodo∣rus Siculus says, they made her to be the Daugh∣ter of Saturn and Rhea, and the first In∣ventress of Architecture. Nevertheless it's not to be doubted, but Vesta was every-where else rather taken for a Goddess of Nature, un∣der whose Name they worshipped the Earth and Fire, than an historical Goddess. Ovid says, that Vesta being the Daughter of Saturn and Rhea, as well as Juno and Ceres, these last Two were married, but Vesta continued a Virgin and barren, as the Fire is pure and barren: The same Poet adds, that the perpetual Fire was the only Representation they had of Vesta, the true Representation of Fire being not to be given; that formerly it was a Custom to keep a Fire at the Entry of their Houses which from thence retained the Name of Vestibulum.

VESTALES,

Vestal Virgins, either so called from Vesta the Foundress of them, or be∣cause they were consecrated to the Service of the Goddess Vesta. They hold, that this Order and the Ceremonies they used came from Troy, Aeneas having carried that sacred Fire into Italy, which represented Vesta, with the Image of Pallas and the Houshold Gods. Ascanius the Son of Aeneas, and the other Kings his Succes∣sors highly honoured the Vestal Virgins, be∣cause Rhea Silvia who was a King's Grand-daugh∣ter took upon her the solemn Profession of a Vestal.

Livy will have Numa to have been the Insti∣tutor of this Order at Rome and that he built a Temple there for the Goddess Vesta, with a House for the Virgins consecrated to her Ser∣vice: The Divinity of Vesta was taken for the sacred Fire that was kept in her Temple or for the Earth which conceals a Fire within it's Bo∣wels; and for this Reason that Temple was round as the Earth is, and the sacred Fire kindled within it, to represent that which is hid in its Bowels: They had no Representation of Vesta there, because the Fire has none.

Nec tu aliud Vestam quàm vivam intellige flammam........ Ignis inextinctus templo celatur in illo, Effigiem nullam Vesta nec ignis habent.

Numa instituted no more than Four Vestals, cal∣led in History Gegamia or Gegania, Berenia, Ca∣milia or Gamilia, and Tarpeia. Servius Tullus ad∣ded two more, if we believe Plutarch, and this made the Number Six, which continued during the whole Roman Empire, according to the Te∣stimony of Plutarch and Dionysius of Hallicar∣nassus; nevertheless, St. Ambrose makes them to be Seven and Alexander Neapolitanus Twenty, but without any good Authority for it.

They were to be Virgins, and for that Rea∣son they were received into the Order at the Age of Six Years, and their Parents were then to be living, and not of a Servile Condition. The Papian Law required that upon the Death of a Vestal they should take Twenty Virgins, whom before the People they conducted to the Pointiff's Presence, who of the Twenty took one by Lot, and ordering her to kneel, said these Words over her: Sacerdotalem Vestalem, quae sacra faciat, quae jussi & Sacerdotalem Vestalem fa∣cere pro populo Romano Quiritibus, uti quod opti∣mâ lege fiat, ita te Amata capio. This Ceremo∣ny was called Captio Virginis, and Capere Vestalem; they afterwards shaved their Heads and hung the Hair to a certain Tree, which the Greeks and Romans called Lotos, the Lote-tree, as Pliny says; Antiquior illa lotos quae capillata dicitur, quo∣niam

virginum Vestalium ad eam capillus defer∣tur. They assigned them a particular habit, that consisted of a Head-dress called Infula, which sat close to their Heads, and from whence hung some Hair-laces called Vittae; they wore another white Vest uppermost with a Purple Border to it, they had a Surplice or Rochet of white Linnen, called Suparum linteum, and over that a great Purple Mantle with a long Train to it, which they tucked up when they sacri∣ficed.

They were consecrated to the Service of this Goddess for 30 Years, after which time they were free to go out and be married; but if other∣wise, they continued in the House and without any other Business, than to be assistant only in point of Advise to the other Vestals: Their chief Functions were to sacrifice to Vesta, to keep the sacred Fire in her Temple and not suffer it to go out; but if through their Neglect that Misfortune happened, they were whipped by the Pontifex maximus, and the Fire was kindled a∣gain by the Help of Burning-glasses and Sun∣beams and no otherwise: This Order was very rich as well upon the Account of the Allowances which the Kings and Emperors, and especially Augustus, made them for their Maintenance, as also other Gifts and Legacies left them by Will.

When they went abroad, there was an Usher with a Bundle of Rods walked before them; they had the Priviledge to be carried in a Cha∣riot through the City and as far as the Capitol, and if they happened to meet with the Consuls or some great Magistrate, they turned aside, or else were obliged to kiss the Bundle of Rods that were carried before them. Wills and the most secret Acts were usually committed to their Custody,, as Julius Caesar did, according to Suetonius: Testamentum factum ab eo depositum∣que apud sex virgines Vestales; and the Articles of the Treaty made between the Trium-virs were likewise put into the Hands of these Virgins, as Dio says. They had a particular Place as∣signed them at the Games and Shews made in Rome; they were priviledged to be buried in the City, and they swore by no other than the Goddess Vesta.

When a Vestal was convicted of Unchastity, the Pontiff ordered her to be brought before him, prohibited her to exercise her Functions, to go among the other Vestals, and to make her Slaves free, for they were to be examined in order to prove the Crime: When the Crime was proved, she was condemned to be buried a∣live in a Pit dug for that purpo••e without Porta Collina in a Place called Campus Sceleratus: Exe∣cution Day being come, the Pontiff degraded and stript her of her Habit, which she kissed keeping, a Valerius Flaceus says,

Ʋltima virgine is tum flens dedit oscula vittis.

She was carried upon a Bier or in a Litter enclo∣sed on all Sides, and crossing the great Place, when they came to the Place of Execution, they took the Criminal out of the Litter, and then the Pontiff pray'd to the Gods with his Head covered, and afterwards withdrew; which done, they made her go down into the Pit, wherein they had put a lighted Lamp, a little Water and Milk, and then covered the Pit with Earth, and so buried her alive. As for the Person that deflowred a Vestal Virgin, he was whip∣ped to Death, as Cato tells us, Vir qui eam ince∣stavisset, verberibus necaretur.

VESUVIUS or VESEVUS,

a Moun∣tain in Campania near Naples, of a very fruitful Soil, yet from whose Top proceed Flames of Fire. Pliny the younger says, that Plinius se∣cundus being desirous to find out the Cause thereof was swallowed up and stiffled by the Flames.

VIAE,

Streets and Roads: They reckoned there were 424 Streets in Rome in all the Divi∣tions of the City, whereof there were but 31 that were considerable, which all began at a gilt Pillar, for that reason called Milliarium au∣ream, that was set up at the Entrance into the great Place below the Temple of Saturn, and lead to as many Gates and to made the like Number of great Roads, that passed through all Italy. These great Streets were called Viae re∣giae, militares & publicae, of which the three most famous were Appia, the Road of Appius, which was made and pa••ed by him, Flaminia that of Flaminius: made by a Consul of that Name, and reach'd from Porta Flamentana near Campus Martius as far as Rimini upon the Adriatick Sea, and Via Aemilia, Aemilius his Road.

VICTORIA,

Victory, a Deity adored by the Ancients, and made by Varro to be the Daughter of Coelum and Terra, for whom the Romans built a Temple during their War with the Samnites in the Consulship of L. Posthumius and M. Attilius Regulus, and dedicated to her a Temple of Jupiter Optimus, after the Overthrow at Cannae, according to Livy: L. Sylla instituted Games in Honour of her. The Athenians also built her Statue without Wings that so she might not fly away from their City, in the same manner as the Lacedaemonians represented Mars with Chains, that so he might continue with them, according to Pausanias. She was usually represented like a young Goddess winged, and standing upon a Globe, with a Lawrel Crown in one Hand and a Palm in the other: Domitian represented her with a Horn of Plenty, to inti∣mate that Victory brought Plenty of all Things with it. On the Reverse of the Silver Medal of L. Hostilius, Victory is represented with a Cadu∣ceus,

which was Mercurie's Rod of Peace, in one Hand and a Trophy of the Enemies Spoils in the other. Victory is represented upon the Re∣verse of a Gold Medal of Augustus, with her Feet upon a Globe, and extended Wings as if she flew, a Lawrel Crown in her Right-Hand and a Labarum or Emperor's Banner in the Left: She is also represented sitting upon the Spoils of the Enemy, with a Trophy set before her, and carrying a Crown with these Words Victoria Au∣gusti.

VINDICTA,

the Rod or Switch where∣with the Praetor touched a Slave's Head when he was affranchised.

VIRBIUS,

surnamed Hippolytus, the Son of Theseus, whom Aesculapius at Diana's Request raised from the Dead, and was surnamed so, as being born twice.

VIRGA,

the Rod of Moses, which, accord∣ing to the Rabins, God made between the two Vespers of the Sabbath, that is, on the Evening of the sixth Day of the Creation of the World, and on which the Holy, Great and Glorious Name of God. called Tetragrammaton was in∣scribed after a wonderful Manner; and there∣fore 'tis said in the Zoar upon Exodus, that the Miracles were graven and the most holy Name of God inscribed upon it. Galatinus writ a great deal concerning this Rod, and he relates some Things remarkable out of a Jewish Book entitu∣led Gale resaia, i. e. Revelans arcana. It's to be observed, according to the Sentiments of the Jews, that this Rod by reason of the particular and divine Vertue it had to work Miracles, was never given to any other but Moses; that Jo∣suah himself, though his Disciple and most worthy Successor, never made use of it, but only of a Lance and Javelin: It's true, when other sa∣cred Things as Aaron's Rod, the Pot of Manna, and Vessel of sacred Incense were laid up in the Ark by Josuah, we could never learn what became of Moses his Rod; and we do not find either in the holy Scriptures, or Books of the Rabbins any mention made of it: And Abarbinel inferrs from Moses his going up to the Mount Abarim to die there, that he took Gods Rod in his Hand, and that it was buried with the Body of that Prophet in the same Grave, God being unwilling that any other Man should make use of it after him; for as there never was a Man in Israel like unto Moses, either in respect to the Heighth of Prophesie or Signs and Wonders done by him, so no other but himself made use of that Rod for working all those Miracles: As Moses was the Conductor of the People of God into the promi∣sed Land, the Pagans also ascribe unto Mercury the Charge of conducting Souls into Hell: They likewise endue him with a Rod twisted round with Serpents, called Caduceus, in Imitation of Moses his Rod that was changed into a Serpent, and was so famous amongst them, that what∣ever miraculous and strange Thing was per∣formed by him, it was attributed to that Rod. Virgil describes the Vertue of that Rod in his Aeneids.

Tum virgam capit, hac animas ille evocat orca Pallentes, alias sub tristia tartara mittit, Dat somnos, adimitque, & lumina morte resignat: Illâ fretus agit ventos, & turbida tranat Nubila:

He therefore used his Rod as well when he fetch'd Souls from Hell as when he carried them thither: By the Help of this Rod he made the one sleep, and awaked the other, and made whom he would to die: He expelled the Winds, and pas∣sed through the Clouds.

VIRGILIUS,

Virgil, the Prince of the Latin Poets, born at Andes near the City of Man∣tua, and named Publius Maro. The Romans ad∣mired him for the Excellency of his Works, and honoured him as much as the Emperor himself; and his Modesty acquired him the Name of Par∣thenius: He has left us his Bucolicks, Four-Books of Georgicks, and Twelve of the Aeneids, wherein he has imitated the Iliads and Odysses of Homer: The Emperor Augustus hindered this last Piece to be burnt, as Virgil had ordered it by his Will.

VIRTUS,

Vertue, a Goddess among the Romans, whose Temple was joined to that of Ho∣nour, so that you must first pass through the Temple of Honour to it.

VISCERATIONES,

a Gift consisting of the Entrails of Animals conferred upon the People at the burying of great Men in Rome.

VITA,

Life; Homer seems to allude to the long Lives of Men in the first Ages of the World, when he says, that Nestor was cotemporary with the Men of the Two preceding Ages, and ha∣ving survived them, did also then live with those of the third Age, and he told them, that the former People with whom he had conversed were a great deal stronger than those born afterwards; so that they were not afraid to encounter wild Beasts: Hesiod gives us a compleat Description of the Terrestrial Happiness of those People that lived in the first Age; but he has not given an Account of the Duration of their Lives, which he makes to end in a sweet Sleep, Moriebantur ceu somno obruti; but he clearly intimates that this Life must have been very long, when he says, that those of the succeeding Age, who came far short of the other, were a Hundred Years in a State of Infancy: We cannot truly determine how many Years an Age consisted of; by what is said concerning Nestor that he lived Three, some believe an Age was Thirty Years, others with more Reason take it to be an Hundred. Ovid was of this Opinion, when he made Nestor say,

Vixi annos bis centum, nuneteria vivitur atas.

The same Poet in another place seigned that Sy∣billa Cumaea was 700 Years old, when Aeneas came to consult her, and that she was to live 300 Years longer,

Nam jam mihi secula septem Acta vides; superest, numeros ut pulveris aquem, Tercentum messes, tercentum musta videre.

It was a Request she had made and obtained, that she should live as many Years as she held Grains of Sand in her Hand. We do not know from whence Ovid had this Fable, but he allows her above 1000 Years to live. In the Argonauticon attributed to Orpheus we have an Account given of a People called Macrobii that comes near unto that of our Age of Innocence and Terrestrial Pa∣radice: The Length of their Lives from which they derive their Names is no less than 1000 Years,

Omnique exparte beatos Macrobios, facilem qui vitam in longa trabentes Secula, millenos implent feliciter annos.

Horace attributes the shortening of Men's Lives only to Prometheus his stealing Fire from Heaven, and the Vengeance of God that has poured an Infinity of Evil upon us,

Post ignem athereâ domo Subductum, macies, & nova febrium Terris incubuit cohors: Semotique priùs tarda necessitas Lethi corripuit gradum.

Silius Italicus tells us of an ancient King of Spain called Arganthonius who lived 300 Years: Hero∣dotus speaks of the Aethiopians of Africa who were called Macrobii, and says, they commonly lived 120 Years, and 'twas believed the Length of their Lives proceeded from the Water they drank, which was lighter than Wood it self: Lucian gives the Title of Macrobii, that is, of Long livers, to one of his Dialogues: He does not only make an Enumeration of particular Persons, but also of Nations famous for their being long-lived; he says, it was reported that some People in the Country of Seres, that is China, lived 300 Years.

Diodorus Siculus relates the Account given by the Egyptians of their Gods, or rather Kings, some of whom had reigned 300 Years, and o∣thers 112, but 'tis believed their Years were lu∣nar, and no more than a Month: Others are of Opinion that they confounded their History with Astronomy, and attributed to their Kings the Names of the Stars, and the Length of their Re∣volutions, and so that they are rather Astrono∣mical Computations which they have made, than the Dynasties and historical Successions of their Kings. Eusebius relates a Passage out of Josephus, which shews, that prophane Authors have in their Writings acknowledged and bore Testimo∣ny to the Truth of the Length of Mens Lives in the first Ages: Josephus says, that the first Men were permitted to live thus so extraordina∣rily long, not only upon the Account of their Piety, but out of a Necessity that the Earth should be peopled in a short time, and Arts in∣vented, especially Astronomy, which required the Observations of several Ages to make it per∣fect. These Two Reasons discover the Falsity of their Opinion, who thought that the Years which made up the first Mens long Lives, con∣sisted of no more than One Month or at the most Three; but the most convincing Proof of any is, that the Year of the Deluge is so well circum∣stanciated in the Book of Genesis, that the 12 Months and 365 Days are there exprest.

Neither would Moses in Five or Six Chapters successively have given such different Significati∣ons to this Term Year: St. Augustine has very vigorously pushed on this Argument concerning the Year of the Deluge. Lactantius tells us, that Varro was so confident that Men in ancient Days lived even to be a Tousand Years old, that in order to facilitate the Understanding of a Truth that was so universally received, he in∣stanced in the lunar Years that consisted of one Month only, in which time the Moon ran thro' the Twelve Signs of the the Zodiac.

VITELLIUS,

a Roman Emperor that suc∣ceeded Otho: Johannes Baptista Porta in his Trea∣tise of Physiognomy, observes, he had an Owl's Face: His thick short Neck, reddish Com∣plexion and a great Belly, as Suetonius de∣scribes him, threatned him with an Apoplexy, if a violent Death had not shortened his Life as well as his continual Debaucheries: Of the most sumptuous Feasts, where with he was treat∣ed, that which his Brother Lucius made for him is taken Notice of, where there were 2000 Fishes and 7000 Fowls served to the Table: He made one Feast wherein he was not so profuse, but more dainty, and wherein one Course consisted of the Livers of a sort of rare Fishes called Seari, Pheasants and Peacocks Brains, the Tongues of Phoenicopteri, which are very rare Birds, and the Rows of Lamprey's: All these Dainties were brought from the Carpatbian Sea, Straights of Gibraltar and other remote Parts of the World. In short, his whole Reign was but one continued Debauch and Profuseness, which made Vibius Crispus say, who had the good Fortune to fall sick at that Time, and so to avoid those Excesses, that had it no been for his Illness he must infallibly have burst. Vitellius was slain by the Soldiers who advanced Vespasian to the Throne, and after he had been dragged through the Streets of Rome

with a Rope about his Neck and his Body run through in several Parts, he was with his Bro∣ther and Son thrown into the Tiber, having reign∣ed but Eight Months.

VITRUM;

Glass. The Invention of Glass is very ancient, and 'tis long ago since they have made very fine Things of it, nevertheless, the Art of making Glass for Windows did not come in use till a long time after, and the same may be looked upon as an Invention of latter Ages: Indeed Marcus Scaurus in Pompey's Time made part of the Scene of that stately Theater, which was built at Rome for the People's Diversion, of Glass; but in the mean time they had then no Glass Windows to their Houses, and if any great Men and of the richest sort had a mind to have 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in their Houses, and to which the Light might come, they closed up the Passage with Transparent Stones such as Agates, Alabaster, and Marble finely polished; but when they came afterwards to know the Use of Glass for that Purpose, they used it instead of these sorts of Stones.

ULYSSES;

Prince of Ithaca, and the Son of Laertes and Anticlea; he had Penelope to Wife, whom he loved so entirely, that to the end he might not leave her and not be obliged to go to the Trojan War, he pretended himself mad, and tied his Plough the wrong way to Two Animals of a different Kind, with which he ploughed; but Palamedes making a Shew as if he went about to kill his Son, or rather laying him in the Furrow, that so the Coulter of the Plough might kill him, as 'twas drawn along, Ʋlysses that knew the Danger stopt, and in so doing discovered he was not really what he pretended to be: He was a very wise and cun∣ning Prince, and performed a great many brave Actions both in point of Valour and Prudence at the Siege of Troy: After the taking of the City, he embarked in order to return home; but he wandered up and down a long time through Neptune's Hatred to him, that he might be revenged on him for the Death of his Son Polyphemus. Homer in the ninth Book of his O∣dysses makes him begin the Story of his Voyages and Misfortunes, saying, that Jupiter at his leaving of Troy, cast him upon the Country of the Cicones, which he pillaged; but those Peo∣ple getting together, slew several of his Men. He went afterwards to the Country of the Loto∣phagi, who gave him a very kind Reception; but after some of his People had eaten of the Herb called Lotos, which was the Food of the Natives, they wholly lost the Remembrance of, and Love they had for their Country, insomuch that they were, oblig'd to carry them away by Force, and tie them fast till they went aboard. From thence he went to the Isle of Cyclops, where Polyphemus in Contempt of Jupiter and other Gods, who were the Protectors of Hospitality, devoúred two of his Companions; but Ʋlysses was revenged on him by putting out his only Eye with a Firebrand, after he had made him drunk: He landed at the Isle of Aeolus, King of the Winds, who presented him with a Zephy∣rus put up in an He-goat's Skin: His Compani∣ons thinking it to be some hid Gold, opened the Skin while Ʋlysses was asleep, and the Wind drove him back to the Island from whence he came. Aeolus would not receive him a second time, and this made him sail away and land in the Country of the Lestrigons; where near unto a Fountain they found the Daughters of King Antiphates, who were come thither to draw Wa∣ter; the Cruelty of that King and People ha∣ving forced them to flee away hastily. Lastly. After they had lost Eleven of their Ships they arrived at an Island where Circe was Queen, who was the Daughter of the Sun, and a cunning Sorceress: She presently changed his Compa∣nions, whom he had sent to view the Country, into Swine: Mercury prevented him from run∣ing the same Danger, and gave him the Herb called Moly, as a sure Preservative against Circe's Enchantments, and told him at the same time, that when Circe struck him with her Rod, he should draw his Sword and threaten to kill her, till such time as she made an Offer of her Friend∣ship and Bed unto him, and swear by the great Oath of the Gods, to do him no manner of hurt. Ʋlysses punctually followed Mercury's Advice, and Circe restored his Companions to him in their former Shape: She foretold him his Descent into Hell, and order'd what Sacrifice he should first offer to Pluto, Proserpina, and the Prophet Tiresias. Circe also foretold him the Accidents he ought to avoid, as the Sirens, and the Rocks Scylla and Carybdis, which he had much ado to escape, by being tied to the Mast of his Ship, and stopping his Ears. Scylla swallowed six of his Companions: He landed in Sicily, which with her Flocks was consecrated to the Sun; but while he was asleep, his Companions killed some of those Oxen: This Sacriledge was revenged with a dreadful Tempest, which drove Ʋlysses and his Company to the Isle of Ogygia, where the Nymph Calipso received and entertained him seven Years, and promised to make him immor∣tal, if he would consent to tarry with her. But Jupiter deputed Mercury to go and command Calypso to let Ʋlysses depart, who having been detained only by force, went on board: Neptune rose a great Storm, and dash'd his Ship to pieces, but Ino the Goddess of the Sea saved him from Shipwrack, gave him a Scarf which could keep him from being drowned, and Minerva sent a favourable Wind which carried him to the Coun∣try of the Phaeaces to Alcinoüs, who sent him home to Ithaca. When he was come to his Pa∣lace in the Habit of a poor Traveller, he was known by his Dogs; but the Great Men of Ithaca

who eat Ʋlysses his Bread, and courted his Wife, having conspired the Death of his Son Telema∣chus, used Ʋlysses very scornfully. Penelope enter∣tained him without knowing him, then com∣manded his Feet to be washed, and that he should be put to Bed: Old Euryclea in washing his Feet, found he was Ʋlysses by the Scar of a Wound which he had received in Hunting a wild Boar, but he would not allow her to discover him: Pe∣nelope having promised to marry that Person who could bend Ʋlysses his Bow, all the Great Men endeavoured to do it in vain, but Ʋlysses himself did it, they being unworthy of it: He after∣wards made himself known to his Son, and the Shepherd Eumaeus, and by Minerva's Help killed all his Wife's Suitors with Arrows, beginning with Antinoüs.

UMBILICUS,

the Middle of a Thing: The Navel is the Middle of a Man; Ad umbili∣cum ducere opus, in Horace, signifies to finish a Thing; for the Romans writing their Works up∣on Parchment, or the Barks of Trees long-ways, they rolled them up when all was writ, and clo∣sed them with little Studs or Bosses made of Horn or Ivory, in the Form of a Navel, to keep them tight.

VOLUMEN;

the winding and folding of a Serpent; it was likewise a Volume, or Book; for the ancient Romans before Paper was invent∣ed, wrote at first upon Table-Books covered over with Wax; and when they had put the fi∣nishing Stroak to their Works, they neatly laid them long-ways upon Parchments, or Barks of Trees, and afterwards rolled them up; from whence Evolvere librum signifies to read a Book, because the Volume must be unrolled to read it.

VOLUPIA,

the Goddess of Pleasure, to whom the Romans built a Temple, and repre∣sented her like a young handsome Woman, pret∣taly drest, and treading upon Vertue.

VOTA,

Vows made by the Romans every Year after the Calends of January for the Eter∣nity of their Empire, and Health of the Empe∣ror and Citizens; and this was called Nuncupare vota. We find by the Emperors Moneys that there were Vows called Quinquennalia, Decennalia, Vi∣cennalia, Tricennalia, and Quadricennalia: The Magistrates ordered these Vows to be graven upon Brass Plates and Marble, which denoted the Number of Years they pray'd for, as 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 Years: We find these Words on Maxentius and Decentius's Money, Votis Quinquen∣nalibus, multis Decennalibus. By the Medals of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, we find Vows made for twenty Years, Vota suscepta Vi∣cennalia; which are thus inscribed:

VOT.
XXX
MULTIS
XXXX.

When these Vows were accomplished, they e∣rected Altars, kindled Fires, and offered Sacri∣fices, and feasted in the Streets and publick Places.

URANIA,

which signifies as much as Cae∣lestial, was one of the Nine Muses; she presided over Astronomy.

URNA,

an Urn, was a Vase made of diffe∣rent Matter, and made use of to draw out of it the Names of those who were first to engage at the publick Plays, or to throw in the Notes, and give their Votes in the Assemblies held at Rome and Courts of Judicature; as also to keep the Ashes of Mens Bodies after they had been burn'd, according to ancient Custom: The An∣cients placed these Urns either under the Stones on which their Epitaphs were cut, or under par∣ticular Monuments, or else they kept them in their Houses. Trajan would have his Ashes laid up in a Golden Urn, and put upon that noble Pillar of his that is still standing. That of King Demetrius was also made of Gold, as Plutarch says; and the Great Marcellus, who took Syra∣cuse, had a Silver Ʋrn. Spartian says, the Ashes of the Emperor Severus were carried to Rome in a Golden Urn: But Dio, who is of better Autho∣rity, says, it was only made of Porphyry; and He∣rodian assures us, it was Alabaster. Glass-Urns are a little more common. Marcus Varro would have his Ashes put up in an Earthen Vessel, with Myrtle, Olive and Poplar Leaves, being that which Pliny calls the Pythagorean Fashion, be∣cause they were the meanest and most ordinary of any: Earthen Urns that were used by the Vulgar were commonly larger, for as there was less Care taken to reduce them entirely to Ashes, the Bones which were half burnt took up also more room, or else they many times served for the Ashes of the whole Family, at leastwise, for those of Husband and Wife, as we are inform∣ed by the first Verse of this Antique Inscrip∣tion:

Ʋrna brevis geminum quamvis tenet ista Ca∣daver.

As to the Shape of the U••••s, the Earthen ones were made very near like to our common Ear∣then Pots, saving that they were taller and straighter about the Neck: There were several of them whose Foot was sharp at the End, some that had Handles and others none: They have no Fashion nor base Relievo, saving that there are some that have the Figures of Men or Animals upon them.

But for those made of Brass or other Mettals, as they were designed for Persons of Quality; there were few of them which had not some sort of Sculpture and base Relievo round them, as we find by several Authors who have given us the Forms of them. There were some Egyptian Urns made of baked Earth, full of Hieroglyphicks and Mummy, which is remarkable enough, since the Egyptians being accustomed to embalm the Bo∣dies whole, the Urns were not big enough to hold them. Among the greater Number of those that were to be seen at Rome, some were round, others square, some great, others small, some again all over plain, and others done in base Relievo: Some were to be met with that had Epitaphs on them, while others bare only the Names of the Persons to whom they belonged; but there were no other Characters upon some besides the two Letters D. M. or the Name of the Potter only that made them upon the Handle, or at the Bottom.

The Ancients had a Way to preserve their Urns, and to hinder the Ashes from mixing with the Earth; in the first place they often placed the Urn on the Top of those small Square Pillars on which their Epitaphs were inscribed, and which upon the account of the Shape of them we call Cippi or Grave-stones. They also put them up in Stone or Marble Coffins: The fol∣lowing Inscriptions indicate both the said Cu∣stoms,

Te lapis obtestor, leviter super ossa quiesce: Et nostro cineri ne gravis esse velu.

In the next place, Persons of Quality had their Burying-Vaults, where they laid up the Ashes of their Ancestors; and there was one like this for∣merly found at Nismes, with a rich inlaid Pave∣ment, with Niches round about in the Wall, in each of which guilded Glass Urns full of Ashes were set in order. The Urn also was of use to cast the Lots of Praeneste, and this is noted by Horace, Divina motâ anus Ʋrná; The Prtesiess having stirred the inchanted Ʋrn. Horace in that place speaks of the Divination used by the Urn and Lots which was practised thus: They put a great many Letters and whole Words into an Urn, which they stirred together, and when those Letters were well mixed, they turned them; and that which Change effected in the place of those Letters, made the Divination: This is that which they called the Lots of Prae∣neste, because they were found in that place: This sort of Divination in Cicero's Time was little regarded, there being none but the com∣mon People that made any account of it: It had been much in vogue among the Grecians.

USTRINA, or USTRINUM;

the Place at Rome where they burnt the Bodies of the Dead: It was commonly Campus Martius, or some other place in the Suburbs, and sometimes in the City for Persons of Quality. The com∣mon People were burnt upon Mount Esquiline. For this Purpose they erected a Heap of Wood, which they called a Pile, filled on the inside with dry and combustible Matter, and with Cypress and Pine branches without. They were not spa∣ring of the rarest Perfumes upon this Occasion, which they threw lavishly upon the Pile. Plu∣tarch tells us, that they burnt 210 Handfuls at the Funeral Obsequies of Sylla the Dictator: But at the Funerals of meaner Citizens they content∣ed themselves with Pitch, as appears by this Antique Inscription:

D. M.
P. Attilio Rufo & Actiliae
Beronicae
Ʋxor. Vixer. A. XXIIII. sed
Pub. Mens. X. Ante Natus
Est & Eadem
Hora Fungor. Esu Ambo Mortui
Sunt. Ille Acu, Ista Lanificio
Vitam Agebant. Nec ex
Eorum Bonis
Plus Inventum est quam quod
Sufficeret ad Emendam Pyram &
Picem quibus Corpora Cremarentur,
Et Praefica Conducta, & Ʋrna Empta.

When the Wood-pile was thus ordered and made ready, the Relations and Children of the Deceased helped to lay the Body upon the Pile, whence that Latin Expression in Horace in one of his Satyrs, Omnes composui, that is, I have buried all my Relations; then the Person who closed the Eyes of the Deceased at his Departure, opened them that he might look up to Heaven as the Place of his abode; those whose Business it was to burn the Bodies, and were called Ʋstarii, finished the rest of the Ceremony, by adorning the Deceased with rich Purple Tapistry, and conferring on him the Ensigns of his Dignity. Then the next of Kin taking a Torch in his Hand, and turning his Head aside, to intimate he did that Office with Regret, he set the Pile on Fire at the mournful Sound of Trumpets and Hautboys: Then the Relations and Friends of the Deceased offered Sacrifices, cut the Throats of Animals, and served the Manes with several Messes to appease them, praying to the Winds to blow through the Pile to set it more on Fire and consume it, according to the Custom of the Grecians. When the Flame decreased and that the Body seemed to have been burnt, the Relations gave their last Farewell to the De∣ceased in these Words; Salve aeternum & vale ae∣ternum,

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nos eo ordine, quo Natura dederit, te sequemur.

USURA CENTESIMIS,

Usury; In∣terest at One per Cent. They paid Interest by the Month, and not by the Year, as we do; and so this implies the Hundredth Part of the Sum every Month, and consequently Twelve per Cent. per Ann. This sort of Usury was looked upon as exorbitant; and therefore the Law of the Twelve Tables, confirmed long after by the Tribunes, regulated Usury to One per Cent. per Ann. and this was called Ʋnciarium foenus, nay, and the same was regulated one Time at one Half less. Tacitus, L. 5. Ann. speaks of Usu∣rers thus;

For, says he, they had publickly acted contrary to the Law which Caesar had enacted for regulating the Interest of Money and Mat∣ters relating to the Estates that were possest in Italy; and the Advantage of particular Per∣sons made the Publick Good to be neglected: Usury doubtless is one of the oldest Evils of the Republick, and the most usual Cause of Seditions, and that is the Reason why so many Laws have been made to restrain it, even in a Time when Mens Manners were not so cor∣rupt; for first it was forbid by the Laws of the Twelve Tables to lend Money at an higher Interest than the Eighth Denarius, whereas be∣fore, all kinds of Interests were allowed of: Af∣terwards it was at the Desire of the Tribunes reduced to Sixteen Denarii, and some time after forbidden altogether: The People afterwards made several Orders for the Prevention of the Cheats practised in this Respect, but notwith∣standing any Regulations that they could make, the Covetousness of Men always found out new Ways to elude them.

VULCANUS,

Vulcan, whom they com∣monly make to be the Son of Juno, of whom she conceived without the Help of Jupiter her Hus∣band, she threw him down from Heaven, and he fell into the Isle of Lemnos, where he had broke his Neck, says Lucian, had not the Inha∣bitants of the Country received him in their Arms as he tumbled through the Air, and pre∣vented him from running the Fate of Astianax; however, this could not prevent his having his Leg broke, which made him always go lame. The same Lucian says in his Dialogue of the Gods, where he introduces Jupiter and Vulcan speaking, that after the latter had cleft the o∣thers Head with an Ax, there came an Amazon forth, who was Pallas, armed with a Lance and Shield, and he as his Reward for so happily deli∣vering him desired he might have her to Wife: Jupiter agreed to it, but he could not perswade her to marry him, because she was resolved to live a Virgin all her Life-time: So he married Venus who proved false to his Bed, prostituting her self to God Mars, which being suspected by Vulcan he watched an Opportunity to surprize them, for which end he beset his Bed with invi∣sible Nets and then went to his Forge: The Gal∣lant laying hold on the Opportunity of the Hus∣band's Absence went to enjoy his Mistress, but the Sun discovered them and informed Vulcan of it, who took them both in the Fact, and wrapped them up in his Nets. Then he called all the Gods to be Witnesses of his Disgrace: They made him to be the Smith of the Gods, and gave him the Islands of Lesbos and Lipara for his for∣ging Places, in the Company of the Cyclops. The Poets tell us, that Vulcan had once a Con∣test with Neptune and Minerva about the Excel∣lency of their Arts; Neptune as his Master-piece made a Bull, Minerva a House, and Vulcan, a Man; when they came before Momus whom they chose for Judge, he blamed Vulcan because he had not made a Window in the Man's Heart, to see if his Words agreed with his Thoughts.

So much concerning the Fable of Vulcan, now we come to the History, and so Vulcan is found to be the first in the Dynasties of the Egyptian Kings, who were Gods, as they have been trans∣mitted down to us by Syncellus: He is also called the Father of the Gods in the proud Inscriptions of the Kings of Egypt, Et Vulcanus Deorum pater. Herodotus speaks of a magnificent Temple of Vulcan's, whose Porch on the North-side was built by Moeris King of Egypt, and Ramsinitus erected that to the West: It's said, it was King Menes who built that stately and magnificent Temple of Vulcan's at Thebes, from whom the Priefts reckoned 360 Kings in Egypt; he speaks in another Place of a Colossus of Vulcan's which was 75 Foot high, and stood before his Temple. Sanchuniathon does also place Vulcan among the Phoenician Gods, and calls him Chrysor and gives him a far greater Extent of Power than that attributed to Vulcan by the Greeks: Diodorus Siculus also assures us, the Egyptian Priests re∣ckoned Vulcan among the Kings of Egypt, and said, he was the first of them all; lastly, they attributed the Invention of Fire to him, for a Thunder-bolt happening to fall upon a Tree and setting it on Fire, he brought more Wood to it, and so preserved the Use of Fire. They attribu∣ted the Lightning to Vulcan, which gave Men occasion to say, he made Jupiter's Thunder-bolts, so they did those fiery Irruptions in Mountains which vomit out Flames, because they suppo∣sed that the Cyclops or Smiths wrought there according to Vulcan's Directions; or lastly, they attributed to him the Fire made use of for all Arts and especially for Smithing; for Vulcan be∣ing the Tubal-cain of the Pagans, he presided over all those Arts that concerned the Working of Mettals.

The Poets made Vulcan to be the Son of Juno alone, however, Homer gives him also Jupiter for his Father: Now Jupiter who is the Coele∣stial Fire might very well give Being to the Ter∣restrial,

and Juno who is the Air, might also all alone work that Agitation in the Clouds, that forms Thunder. Lastly, if Juno be the Earth, it's also not to be doubted but that she alone forces out of her Bosom, those Fires which some Mountains send forth, and which they call Vulca∣noes: Servius says something like this: In Lem∣num insulam decidit Vulcanus, à Junone propter de∣formitatem dejectus, quam aërem esse constat, ex quo fulmina procreantur. Ideò autem Vulcanus de femore Junonis fingitur natus, quòd fulmina de imo aëre nascuntur. One might in my Opinion, says Father Thomassin, from hence draw a Proof that could give some Weight to the Physiological Meaning of Fables, and shew that Fable upon some Occasions has been invented only for the vailing of natural Truths, and thereby giving them a new Grace; wherefore after they had made Juno to be the Sister and only Wife of Jupiter, and Queen of all the World, why should she have no other Son but Vulcan only; or when Vulcan is made to be her Son, why should he have such and such Functions and Qualifications? But the Thunder-bolts being, as it were, Pro∣ductions of the Air, which is Juno, or of the Air which is Jupiter, and of Juno that is the Earth, the Fable must have been accommodated to the Nature of those Things; and the Reason why they should say, that Vulcan at his Birth was thrown down from Heaven to the Earth, and made a Cripple by the Fall, was because the Thunder never falls directly: Servius adds, that the Reason why the Poets say, that Vulcan fell in the Isle of Lesbos, was because it thundered often in that Island: Lastly, the same Author says, that as to their Poets Fiction in respect to Vulcan's marrying of Venus, 'twas because the getting of Children proceeded from Heat only: And this is confirmed by St. Augustine, L. 7. de Civ. Dei. C. 16.

Now we are to speak of the Fable of Mars and Venus being taken in Adultery, and wrapped up in invisible Nets by Vulcan, who at the Interces∣sion of Neptune set them free, according to Ho∣mer in his Odysses. Varro gives us the Etymology of the Word Vulcan, ab ignis majori vi ac violen∣tiâ Vulcanus dictus: The Greek Name 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 comes from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, succendi. Tzetzes will have it to have been the Name of an Egypti∣an, that found out the Use of Fire in Noah's Time, and afterwards invented the Art of Smith∣ing; the Greeks having attributed to him what they had learned of the Egyptians. Bochart derives the Name of Vulcan from the Hebrew Words Af esto, Pater ignis; and that with great likelihood of Truth, since Vulcan is reckoned to be of the Number of those who made up the ancient Dy∣nasties of the Gods or Kings of Egypt: The E∣gyptians according to Elian consecrated Lions to him: And Servius says, it was a Custom after the Gaining of a Victory, to gather the Arms of the Enemy together, and to make a Sacrifice of them to Vulcan in the Field of Battle.