tolerably good terras, though probably neither of them forgot or forgave the injuries he had received from the other. Soon afterwards Vatirxius went to Gaul, where we find him serving as one of Caesar's legates in B. c. 51, He accompanied his patron in the civil war, and during the campaign in Greece, b. c. 48, was sent by Caesar with pro- posals of peace to the Pompeian army. He was not present at the battle of Pharsalia, as he had shortly before returned to Brundusium by Caesar's orders ; and about the same time as the battle of Pharsalia, he vigorously defended Brundusium against D. Laelius, who had attacked it with part of the Pompeian fleet. In return for these ser- vices Caesar raised Vatinius to the consulship, which he held for a few days as consul suifectus at the end of December b. c. 47. At the beginning of the following year he was sent into Illyricum to oppose M. Octavius, who held that country with a considerable force for the Pompeian party. Va- tinius carried on the war with success in Illyricum, was saluted as imperator by his soldiers, and ob- tained the honour of a supplicatio from the senate in B. c. 45. At this time some letters passed be- tween him and Cicero, in which they wrote to one another with apparent cordiality. (Cic. ad Fam. V. 9 — 11.) Vatinius was still in Illyricum at the time of Caesar's death, B. c. 44, and at the be- ginning of the following year was compelled to surrender Dyrrhachium and his army to Brutus who had obtained possession of Macedonia, be- cause his troops declared in favour of Brutus (Dion Cass, xlvii. 21 ; Liv. Epit 118 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 69) ; though Cicero {Phil. x. 6) and Appian (B. C. iv. 75), probably with less truth, speak of it as a voluntary act on the part of Vatinius. At any rate Vatinius did not forfeit the favour of the tri- umvirs ; for we learn from the Capitoline Fasti that he triumphed on the last day of December, B. c. 43. This is the last time we hear of Va- tinius. (Cic. in Vatinium, passim, pro Sest. 53, 63, 65, ad Q. Fr. ii. 4, iii. 9. § 5, ad Alt. ii. 6, 7, Hirt. B.G. viii. 46, Caes. B. C. iii. 19, 100 ; Appian, Illyr. 13, B.C. iv. 75 ; Dion Cass. xlii. 55, xlvii. 21 ; Liv. Epit. 118 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 69 ; Cic. Phil. X. 5, 6.) 3. Vatinius, of Beneventum, was one of the vilest and most hateful creatures of Nero's court, equally deformed in body and in mind. He was originally a shoemaker's apprentice, next earned his living as one of the lowest kinds of scurrae or buffoons, and finally obtained great power and wealth by accusing the most distinguished men in the state, Dion Cassius relates a saying of his which pleased Nero exceedingly. Well knowing the emperor's detestation of the senate, he said to him on one occasion, " I hate you, Caesar, because you are a senator." (Tac. Ann. xv. 34, Dial, de Orat. 11, Hist. i. 37 ; Dion Cass, Ixiii, 15.) A certain kind of drinking-cups, having nasi or nozzles, bore the name of Vatinius, probably be- cause he brought them into fashion, Juvenal alludes to a cup of this kind in the lines (v, 46, foil.) : — " Tu Beneventani sutoris nomen habentem Siccabis calicem nasorum quatuor," «&c,, and Martial also in the Epigram (xiv, 96) : — " Vilia sutoris calicem monumenta Vatini Accipe ; sed nasus longior ille fuit," UCA'LEGON {OuKaheyui')^ one of the elders
at Troy, whose house was burnt at the destruction of the city. (Hom, II. iii. 147 : Virg. Aen. ii. 312.)
[L.S.]
VECCUS, or BECCUS, JOANNES
((
Greek characters), or (Greek characters)), an ecclesiastic of some
celebrity in the latter part of the thirteenth cen-
tury of our era. From the office of ChaHophylax
in the great church of Constantinople, he was ele-
vated to the patriarchate of that city, by Michael
Palaeologus, in a, D. 1274, on account of his
friendly dispositions towards the Latin Church.
Veccus had at first been warmly opposed to the
Latins, but his feelings towards them were changed
by the perusal of the writings of Nicephorus
Blemmyda. He continued patriarch of (.'onstanti-
nople until the death of the emperor Michael, in
a, d. 1283, when the ultra-Greek party regained
their ascendancy, and Veccus found it necessary
to resign his episcopate. He spent the remainder
of his life in suffering persecution from the now
dominant party, sometimes in exile and sometimes
in prison, where he died in a. d. 1298. The most
virulent of his opponents and persecutors was
George of Cyprus. [Georgius, No, 20.]
There are numerous writings by Veccus, chiefly
on the points at issue between the Greek and Latin
Churches, and in defence of his own conduct in
seeking for their reconciliation. Several of these
works are published in the Graecia Orthodoxa of
Leo AUatius ; others exist only in MS.
This brief notice of Veccus is thought to be
sufficient for the object of this work ; for a full
account of his life and writings, the reader is re-
ferred to the authorities now quoted. (Cave,
Hist. Litt. s. a. 1276, vol, ii, pp, 319, foil. ; Fa-
bric, Bibl. Grace, vol. xi. pp, 344, foil. ; Schriickh,
Christlidie Klrcliengeschichte, vol. xxix. pp. 435,
foil., 446, foil., 455, foil.) [P. S.J
VECTIE'NUS. [Vettienus.]
VE'CTIUS. All persons of this name are
given under Vettius, which appears the more cor-
rect form.
P. VE'DIUS, a great scamp, but nevertheless a
friend of Ponipey's, (Cic, ad Ait. vi. 1. § 25.)
VE'DIUS A'QUILA. [Aquila.]
VE'DIUSPO'LLIO. [PoLLio,]
VEGETIUS, FLA'VIUS RENA'TUS, de-
signated as Vir Illustris, to which some MSS, add
the title of Comes, is the author of a treatise Bet
Militaris Instituta, or Epitome Rei Militarise dedi-
cated to the emperor Valentinian, known to be
the second of that name, from an allusion con-
tained in the body of the work (i, 20) to Gratian,
and to the unfortunate contests with the Goths.
The materials were derived, according to the de-
claration of the writer himself (i. 8) from Cato
the Censor, De Disciplina militari, from Cornelius
Celsus, from Frontinus, from Paternus, and from
the imperial constitutions of Augustus, Trajan, and
Hadrian. The work is divided into five books.
The first treats of the levying and training of re-
cruits, including instructions for the fortification of
a camp ; the second of the different classes into
which soldiers are divided, and especially of the
organisation of the legion ; the third of the opera-
tions of an army in the field ; the fourth of the
attack and defence of fortresses ; the fifth of
marine warfare. In the earlier editions the whole
of the above matter was comprehended in four
books ; but Scriverius, on the authority of the best
MSS., set apart as a fifth book all the chapters
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