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Article

Vindonissa  

Courtenay Edward Stevens and John Frederick Drinkwater

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
Vindonissa (mod. Windisch, Switzerland), a prehistoric site on the lower Aar, occupied c.17 ce by Legio XIII, which was replaced in 45–6 by Legio XXI Rapax (see legion), whose violent behaviour to the *Helvetii induced *Vespasian to send it elsewhere. Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis then held Vindonissa to c.

Article

Vinicius, Lucius  

M. Winterbottom

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Latin Literature

Lucius Vinicius (*suffect consul 5 bce), a relation of P. *Vinicius and M. *Vinicius (see next two entries). *Augustus commented on his extempore pleading (Seneca. Controv. 2. 5. 20) and his association with *Iulia(2) at *Baiae (Suetonius. Aug. 64).

Article

Vinicius, Marcus  

Ronald Syme and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Marcus Vinicius (*suffect consul 19 bce), a *novus homo from *Cales in *Campania, is first mentioned as legate (see legati) of *Augustus in Gaul (25 bce). In *Illyricum (13 bce, perhaps as proconsul; see pro consule) he and M. *Vipsanius Agrippa began the bellum Pannonicum (war in *Pannonia) terminated by *Tiberius (12–9). Vinicius is next (and last) heard of in ce 1 or 2 as commander of the Rhine army. The acephalous ( = top missing) elogium from *Tusculum, recording operations against Transdanubian peoples (ILS 8965 = EJ 43a) is now generally attributed to Vinicius, but the dating and details of that campaign are uncertain (14–13, 10, and c.1 bce have been suggested). The historian *Velleius Paterculus enjoyed the patronage of the Vinicii, dedicating his work to the grandson, M. Vinicius.

Article

Vinicius, Publius  

M. Winterbottom

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Latin Literature
Publius Vinicius (consul ce 2), declaimer and orator, son of M. *Vinicius (above). An admirer of *Ovid, he was praised for his preciseness (Sen.Controv. 7. 5. 11, 10. 4. 25). He was proconsul (see pro consule) of Asia, and emerges under *Tiberius (Tac.

Article

Vinius, Titus  

Brian Campbell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Titus Vinius, influential associate of *Galba and his colleague as consul in 69 ce, had been imprisoned while military tribune (see tribuni militum) in Germany in 39 on the charge of adultery with his commanding officer's wife. Released by *Claudius he served as legionary legate but incurred further disgrace for allegedly stealing a gold cup at the emperor's banquet. Nevertheless his subsequent governorship of Gallia Narbonensis (see gaul (transalpine)) was creditable. He was in Spain when Galba rebelled, possibly commanding legio VI Victrix (see legion). Unscrupulous and cunning, he urged the adoption of *Otho, but was nevertheless murdered along with Galba by Otho's troops. *Tacitus(1) is probably mistaken in giving his age as 57 (Hist. 1. 48), which would mean that he was unusually old (28) during his military tribunate.

Article

Vipsania Agrippina (1), daughter of M. Vipsanius Agrippa and wife of Tiberius, d. 20 CE  

John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Daughter of M. *Vipsanius Agrippa and granddaughter of T. *Pomponius Atticus. Married to *Tiberius, she bore him a son, Nero *Claudius Drusus, but he was forced by Augustus, against his will, to divorce her and marry Julia (see iulia(3)) in 12 bce. She then married C.

Article

Vipsania Agrippina (2), 'Agrippina the Elder', daughter of M. Vipsanius Agrippa and wife of Germanicus  

John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Vipsania Agrippina (2), ‘the Elder Agrippina’ (c.14 bce–33 ce), the daughter of M. *Vipsanius Agrippa and of *Iulia ((3), daughter of *Augustus). She married *Germanicus (probably in ce 5), to whom she bore nine children. She was with Germanicus on the Rhine from 14 to 16 and in the east from 18 until his death in the following year. From 19 to 29 she lived in Rome, the rallying point of a party of senators who opposed the growing power of Sejanus (see aelius seianus, l.). With *Tiberius, whom she suspected (without evidence) of causing her husband's death, her relations were consistently bad, and he refused her request in 26 for leave to marry again. She was arrested in 29 on the instruction of Tiberius and banished by the senate to Pandateria (cf. islands), where she starved to death in 33.

Article

Vipsanius Agrippa, Marcus  

Geoffrey Walter Richardson, Theodore John Cadoux, and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, the lifelong friend and supporter of *Augustus, was born in 64, 63, or even 62 bce of obscure but probably well-to-do family (he neglected his undistinguished family name). He accompanied Octavius (the future Octavian and Augustus) to Rome from *Apollonia after *Caesar's murder, helped him to raise a private army, prosecuted *Cassius in the court set up by Q. *Pedius in 43, and was prominent in the war against L. *Antonius (Pietas). After holding the tribunate of the plebs (see tribuni plebis) in 43 or a little later, and so entering the *senate, he was urban praetor in 40. As governor of Gaul in 38 he suppressed a rebellion in *Aquitania, led a punitive expedition across the Rhine, and either now or in 20 settled the *Ubii on the left bank. As consul (37) he fitted out and trained a new fleet for Octavian's war against Sextus *Pompeius, converting the lacus *Avernus near *Cumae into a harbour (portus Iulius) for the purpose, and in 36 won two decisive naval engagements at Mylae and Naulochus, where his improved grapnel was highly effective.

Article

Vipstanus Messalla  

Howard Hayes Scullard and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Vipstanus Messalla, great-grandson of M. *Valerius Messalla Messallinus, military tribune in 69 ce (see tribuni militum), took temporary command of Legio VII Claudia (see legion) at the battle of *Cremona. He was perhaps a source for the account of the campaign in *Tacitus (1), who names him twice (Hist.

Article

Virgil  

Fiachra Mac Góráin, Don P. Fowler, and Peta G. Fowler

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
30 July 2015
Subjects:
  1. Latin Literature

Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) (70–19 bce) was a Latin poet, already celebrated in his own lifetime, who wrote during the triumviral period and the principate of Augustus. All his poems reflect on contemporary history while engaging with a range of literary traditions from the archaic to the contemporary neoteric. Virgil achieved renown as a poet c. 39–38 bce with the publication of the Eclogues (or Bucolics), which take after Theocritus’s Idylls. He went on to write the Georgics, a didactic poem ostensibly about farming (29 bce), and the Aeneid, a heroic epic in the Homeric manner about the Trojan refugee Aeneas’s flight from Troy and his struggles to found a city that would be the origin of Rome. Several minor poems collected in the Appendix Vergiliana are attributed to Virgil, but were probably not written by him. His work set the standard for Latinity and inspired many later imitators and artistic and critical responses.

Article

Viriatus, c. 180–139 BCE  

Ernst Badian and Christoph F. Konrad

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Viriatus (c. 180–139 bce), a Lusitanian shepherd (see lusitania), escaped from the massacre of Ser. *Sulpicius Galba(1) (150), rallied his people, and became their war-leader (by 147). Exploiting Roman commitments in Africa and Greece (until 145), he strove to preserve Lusitanian independence from Roman rule. With small guerrilla forces and skilful use of terrain and ambush, he defeated a series of Roman commanders—in both Further and Hither Spain—and won the co-operation (143) of Celtiberian tribes (out of which arose the Numantine War; see numantia). After defeating Q. Fabius Maximus Servilianus he refrained from destroying his army, securing instead a favourable peace (ratified by the Roman people) and recognition as an ally (140). But Fabius' successor, Cn. Servilius Caepio, persuaded the senate to authorize the resumption of hostilities, and through bribery contrived Viriatus' assassination; the Lusitanians soon surrendered (138). Viriatus remains a national hero in Portugal.

Article

Viroconium  

Sheppard S. Frere and Martin Millett

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
Viroconium (also Uri(o)conium or Viriconium), a town in Roman *Britain (mod. Wroxeter, in Shropshire). The site, which controlled the route via the Severn valley into Wales, was the focus of considerable military activity during the conquest and afterwards. Numerous forts have been found hereabouts. A fortress of Legio XIV Gemina (see legion) was established at Wroxeter c.ce 55 until 66. Its legion was reoccupied by Legio XX Valeria in ce 75, which remained in occupation until c.ce 83/4. After this the fortress site was developed as the civitas capital of the *Cornovii. Late 1st-cent. baths, perhaps intended for the legion, were left incomplete, to be swept away by *Hadrian, in whose reign a normal forum-basilica replaced them. The forum is dated by a dedication to Hadrian of ce 120–30 by the civitas Cornoviorum (RIB 288). Big new public baths, architecturally combined with a shopping precinct and large public latrine (see sanitation), were built shortly after ce 150; they were provided with a great open-air swimming bath and a covered exercise hall.

Article

Virunum  

John Wilkes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
Virunum, a city in southern *Noricum near the river Glan at modern Zollfeld. It lay in the territory of the Celtic Norici, whose centre was on the Magdalensberg 1,058 metres (half a mile) south-east of Klagenfurt. At first the site of a Celtic *oppidum, terraces on the hillside were occupied by more than three square kilometres of buildings, including a forum, a temple, and a centre for the imperial cult constructed by the Norican peoples under *Augustus. Most of the buildings are in the classical style and date from the late 1st cent. bce to the reign of *Claudius. From here the Norici were administered by a Roman *conventus organization and the place was also the centre of the *conciliumprovinciae. Under Claudius a *municipium was established at Virunum (CIL 3. 11555: municipium Claudium Virunum), enrolled in the voting-tribe Claudia. Until the establishment of the legionary fortress at *Lauriacum under Marcus *Aurelius, Virunum was the residence of the governing procurator.

Article

vis  

Andrew Lintott

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Latin word, means neutrally ‘force’ and pejoratively ‘violence’. It is the latter sense that is treated here. For Greece see under violence.(a) Political Violence. Apart from the major non-violent secessions, ‘the Conflict of the Orders’ in the early republic (see rome (history), § 1.2) seems to have involved small-scale violence between the plebeians, defending each other and their tribunes, and the patricians supported by their clients (see cliens; patricians; plebs; secessio; tribuni plebis). However, in the last century of the republic violence became an ever increasing factor, not as a mass revolutionary movement, but as a political weapon largely exploited by magistrates for limited ends. The notion of a police authority was alien to republican thought and, if violence became serious, often the only counter was a state of emergency (see senatus consultum ultimum). From 78 bcevis was an offence under the leges Lutatia and Plautia.

Article

Vitellius, Aulus, Roman emperor, 15–69 CE  

Brian Campbell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Aulus Vitellius, (15–69 ce), Roman emperor in 69, son of Lucius *Vitellius, an influential figure under the Julio-Claudians, was friendly with *Gaius(1), *Claudius, and *Nero. Consul in 48, he became proconsul of Africa (see pro consule; africa, roman), then served as legate (see legati) to his brother in the same post. *Galba appointed him governor of Lower Germany (see germania) in November 68, perhaps thinking that his reputed indolence made him less of a political threat. Vitellius won over the disaffected soldiers in the province by an ostentatious display of generosity. On 2 January 69 Vitellius was proclaimed emperor by his troops, and quickly won the support of the legions of Upper Germany, which had refused allegiance to Galba on 1 January. His main supporters were the legionary legates *Fabius Valens and A. *Caecina Alienus, and soon most of the western provinces and Africa were on his side.

Article

Vitellius, Lucius  

Ronald Syme and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Lucius Vitellius (consul 34 ce, consul for the second time in 43, and for the third in 47), son of P. Vitellius (a Roman knight from *Luceria (not Nuceria: RE Suppl. 9. 1741), *procurator of *Augustus), father of the emperor *Vitellius (see previous entry), was a friend of the emperor *Claudius and the most successful politician of the age: he received a public funeral and a statue in the Forum commemorating ‘unswerving devotion to the Princeps’ (Suet. Vit.3): it was indeed to the source of patronage and power that he attached himself, linking the history of three reigns; his position was strengthened by a nexus between Vitellii, Plautii, and Petronii. He was a vigorous legate (see legati) of *Syria (ce 35–7), inducing the Parthian *Artabanus II to pay homage and conciliating the Jews: ‘he acted with the integrity of ancient times’ (Tac. Ann.

Article

Vitorius Marcellus, Marcus  

M. Winterbottom

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Latin Literature
Marcus Vitorius Marcellus, *suffect consul 105 ce, from Teate Marrucinorum (mod. Chieti), dedicatee both of *Quintilian'sInstitutio (intended as a manual for his son Geta and a son of Quintilian's own) and of *Statius' Silvae book 4 (see esp. the fourth poem, which reveals that he was a practising orator and alludes to his post as curator viae Latinae, official in charge of the *via Latina; see cura(tio), curator).

Article

Vitruvius (Pol(l)io)  

Richard Allan Tomlinson and J. T. Vallance

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Science, Technology, and Medicine
  2. Roman Material Culture
Vitruvius (Pol(l)io) (See mamurra), a Roman architect and military engineer, in which capacity he served *Caesar. He built a basilica at *Fanum Fortunae; but his fame rests chiefly on a treatise, De architectura, on architecture and engineering, compiled partly from his own experience, partly from work by *Hermogenes(1) (to whom he is heavily indebted) and other Greek authors to which his own experiences have been added, sometimes in a disjointed fashion. It is hardly a handbook for *architects: rather a book for people who need to understand architecture. Perhaps its main function was place-seeking from Octavian (see augustus), to whom it is addressed. His outlook is essentially Hellenistic, and there is a marked absence of reference to important buildings of *Augustus' reign, though he knows of Roman technical developments, such as concrete construction (which he mistrusts). De architectura, the only work of its kind which has survived, is divided into ten books. Book 1 treats of town-planning, architecture in general, and of the qualifications proper in an architect; 2 of building-materials; 3 and 4 of temples and of the ‘orders’ (see orders, architectural; 5 of other civic buildings; 6 of domestic buildings; 7 of pavements and decorative plaster-work; 8 of water-supplies; 9 of geometry, mensuration, *astronomy, etc.

Article

vivisection  

J. T. Vallance

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Science, Technology, and Medicine
Squeamishness about the dissection (let alone vivisection) of animals is a mark of much ancient medicine and zoology, and there is no firm evidence for vivisection in those Hippocratic works (see hippocrates(2)) which are generally dated to the 5th or 4th cent. bce. (The passage in the Hippocratic treatise On the Heart describing the vivisection of a pig (9. 80 Littré) is generally dated to the 3rd cent. bce.) Physicians and zoologists from *Aristotle onwards do, however, seem to have vivisected animals and in some cases even humans. Practitioners themselves rarely show signs of concern with the morality of causing animals suffering in the name of knowledge, although such concern was voiced in other quarters (see animals, attitudes to and knowledge about).Two ancient physicians are notoriously connected with the practice of human vivisection. A. *Cornelius Celsus reports that the Alexandrian anatomists *Herophilus and *Erasistratus vivisected criminals provided for them by the king (see anatomy and physiology, § IV).

Article

Vix  

John Frederick Drinkwater

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography

Vix, a Hallstatt (late 6th-cent. bce) sepulchral mound by Mont Lassois (Côte-d'Or). Its rich grave goods, including a massive bronze Greek mixing-bowl, suggest the growing influence of the cities of the Mediterranean littoral (principally *Massalia) on the tribes of the Celtic hinterland.