with whom, this one point excepted, he completely agreed. It must have been very shortly after Vitalius's return to Antioch that Epiphanius, urged thereto by Basil (Bas. Ep. 258 [325]), visited Antioch to try to heal the differences then rending that church. There he met "Vitalius the bishop," of whom he speaks in the highest terms. He earnestly besought him to reunite himself to the Catholic church. Finding that the misunderstanding was chiefly a personal one between him and Paulinus, each charging the other with unsoundness in the faith, Epiphanius invited both to a conference. At first Vitalius's language appeared perfectly orthodox. He acknowledged as fully as Paulinus that Christ was perfect man with a human body and soul (ψυχή); but when pressed as to whether He also had a human mind (νοῦς), he said that His divinity was to Him in its place. Neither party could persuade the other, and Epiphanius had to give up the hopeless attempt (Epiph. lxxvii cc. 20–23). [Dimoeritae.] The schism of Vitalius added a third or, counting the Arians, a fourth church at Antioch, each denouncing the others. Meletius, Paulinus, and Vitalius each claimed to be the orthodox bishop. The perplexity created is graphically described by Jerome to pope Damasus (Hieron. Epp. 57, 58). Tillem. Mém. eccl. vii. 617–622 ; Dorner, Person of Christ, div. 1, vol. ii. pp. 386 ff., Clark's trans.
[E.V.]
Vitus (1) (Guy), St., a youthful martyr in Diocletian's persecution; the son of a pagan gentleman in Sicily, but secretly trained in Christianity by his nurse Crescentia and her husband Modestus. After the boy had encountered much cruel suffering, they succeeded in carrying him over to Italy, where all three fell victims, either in Lucania or at Rome (Boll. Acta SS. 15 Jun. iii. 491, ed. 1867). He is invoked against sudden death and hydrophobia (ib. App. p. 21 *), and against prolonged sleep and the complaint known as the chorea or dance of St. Vitus (Guérin, Les Pet. Boll. vii. 30). He is also, says Guérin, the patron of comedians and dancers. Two German medical writers, Gregory Horst and John Juncker, of the 17th and 18th cents. respectively, relate how the malady came to take his name (see Rees's Encyclopedia, s.v. "Chorea"). There sprang up, they say, in Germany in the 17th cent., a superstitious belief that by presenting gifts to the image of St. Vitus, and dancing before it day and night on his festival, people ensured themselves good health through the year. The saint's two chapels at Ulm and Ravensberg became more especially noted for the annual resort of these dancing fanatics.
[C.H.]
Volusianus (1), C. Vibius Afinius Gallus Veldumnianus, joint emperor with his father Gallus, a.d. 251–254. At the end of 251 Gallus was proclaimed emperor after the defeat and death of Decius, which he is said to have caused by his treachery. He associated Volusian with himself in the empire, and, after making peace with the Goths on the shameful terms of allowing them to keep their prisoners and paying them tribute, the emperors proceeded to Rome. Their short reign was marked by the dreadful pestilence which began in Ethiopia and spread over the whole Roman world, and in which Hostilianus, the son of Decius, who had been associated with the Galli in the empire, died. Their numerous medals, bearing representations of Apollo and Juno, the deities of the sun and the air (Eckhel, vii. 357), support the statement of St. Cyprian (Ep. 55 in Migne, Patr. Lat. iii. 805), that they issued an edict, ordering sacrifices to be offered everywhere to appease the wrath of the gods. By refusing to obey the Christians aroused the hatred of the populace. In Africa the cry of "Cyprianum ad leonem" was again raised, and the outbreak of a persecution worse than that of Decius was daily feared (Ep. 54 in ib. 855, 861). Fortunately these fears were not realized. The only overt acts of persecution we certainly know of were confined to Rome. The outbreak was sudden (Ep. 58 in ib. 274), and Cornelius, bp. of Rome, was specially singled out for attack. His flock rallied bravely round him, and some who had fallen away in the Decian persecution distinguished themselves by their firmness (Ep. 37 in ib. 832). He with some of them was banished to Centum Cellae, where he died, probably a natural death, June 253 (see Lipsius, Chron. der röm. Bisch. 207). His successor Lucius was apparently elected in exile but soon allowed to return, the persecution ceasing, probably owing to the outbreak of civil war. There is no clear proof of any severer punishment than exile in this persecution. This is the worst mentioned by the contemporary St. Cyprian and St. Dionysius of Alexandria (in Eus. H. E. vii. 1). In the summer of 253 Aemilianus was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, and c. Feb. 254 Gallus and Volusianus were murdered by their troops at Torni (Zos. i. 23–28; Zon. xii. 21).
[F.D.]
Xystus. [SIXTUS II.]
Zeno (16), emperor of the East a.d. 474–491, is famous in church history for the publication of the HENOTICON and for his active part in the prolonged disputes about Timotheus Aelurus, Timotheus Salofaciolus, Peter Mongus, and Peter the Fuller. Pope SIMPLICIUS and ACACIUS used him very effectually against their opponents. For a full analysis of the letters of popes Simplicius and Felix III. To him see Ceillier, t. x. pp. 410–420.
[G.T.S.]
Zephyrinus, bp. of Rome after Victor, under the emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Lipsius concludes his episcopate to have been either 8 or 19 years, from 198 or 199 to 217. His reign was marked by serious disturbance at Rome owing to doctrinal controversies and consequent schism. Zephyrinus seems to have been of no sufficient mark to take a personal lead, but to have been under the guidance of Callistus, a man of more practical ability who succeeded him as pope. This Callistus and his learned opponent Hippolytus appear to have been the leading spirits of the time at Rome.
