Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1297

VULSO. where he performed numerous cures, and was at the same time careful to take advantage of every opportunity of converting his patients to Christianity. Here he suffered martyrdom, a. d. 67, at the com- mand of C. Suetonius Paulinus, after suffering many cruel tortures, during which his faith and courage had once well nigh failed. His memory is com- memorated by the Romish Church on June 1 9, but his name does not appear in the Greek calendar. (" Passio S. Ursicini," &c, in Muratori, Rer. ItaL Script, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 560, &c. ; Acta Sand. June 19, vol. iii. p. 809, «&c. ; Hieron. Rubei Jtal et Raven. Hist.) [W.A.G.] URSUS. 1. A contemporary of Domitian, whom he dissuaded from killing his wife Domitia. This Ursus was no favourite with Domitian, and was nearly put to death by the tyrant ; but on the in- tercession of Julia, the niece and mistress of Do- mitian, Ursus was not only pardoned, but raised to the consulship. His name, however, does not occur in the Fasti. (Dion Cass. Ixvii. 3, 4.) Statins addressed Ursus a poem of consolation on the death of a favourite slave {Silv. ii. 6), and in the Preface to the second book of his Silvae, he speaks of Ursus as " juvenis candidissimus et sine desidiae jactura doctissimus." Statius calls him Flavius Ursus. 2. A contemporary of the younger Pliny, who has addressed several letters to him. {Ep. iv. 9, V. 20, vi. 5, 1 3, viii. 9.) VULCA'NUS, the Roman god of fire, whose name seems to be connected with /uigere, fulgur, and fulmen. His worship was of considerable political importance at Rome, for a temple is said to have been erected to him close by the comitiura as early as the time of Romulus and Tatius, in which the two kings used to meet and settle the affairs of the state, and near which the popular as- sembly was held. (Dionys. ii. 50, vi. 67 ; Pint. Quaest. Rom. 47.) Tatius is reported to have established the worship of "Vulcan along with that of Vesta, and Romulus to have dedicated to him a quadriga after his victory over the Fidenatans, and to have set up a statue of himself near the temple. (Dionys. ii. 54 ; Plut. Rom. 24.) According to others the temple was built by Romulus himself, who also planted near it the sacred lotus -tree which still existed in the days of Pliny. {H. N. xvi. 44 ; P. Victor, Reg. Urb. iv.) These circum- stances, and what is related of the lotus-tree, shows that the temple of Vulcan, like that of Vesta, was regarded as a central point of the whole state, and hence it was perhaps not without a meaning that subsequently the temple of Concord was built within the same district. (Liv. ix. 46, xl. 19, xxxvi. 46.) The most ancient festival in honour of Vulcan seems to have been the Forna- calia or Furnalia, he being the god of furnaces (Isidor. xix. 6. 2 ; Fest. p. 88) ; but his great festival was called Vulcanalia, and was celebrated on the 23d of August. {Diet, of Ant. s. v.) The Roman poets transfer all the stories which are related of the Greek Hephaestus to their own Vulcan, the two divinities having in the course of time been completely identified. [L. S.J VULCA'TIUS. [VoLCATius.] VULCA'TIUS GALLICA'NUS. [Galli- CANUS.] VULSO, the name of a distinguished patrician family of the Manila Gens. VULSO. 1235 1. (Cn. ?) Manlius Vulso, consul b. c 474 with L. Furius Medullinus Fusus, marched against the Veientes, and concluded a forty years' truce with them without fighting, in consequence of which he obtained the honour of an ovation on his return to Rome. In the following year (b. c. 473) Manlius Vulso and his colleague were accused by the tri- bune Cn. Genuciiis, because they had not carried into effect the agrarian law of Sp. Cassius Viscelli- nus ; but the accusation fell to the ground in con- sequence of the assassination of Genucius. (Dionys. ix. 36 — -38 ; Liv. ii. 54; comp. Genucius, No. 2.) In Livy the prasnomen of Manlius Vulso is Cuius, but most modern writers give him the praenomen oi Aulus, and suppose him to be the same as the decemvir [No. 2J, who is called Atdus in the Capitoline Fasti. But since No. 4, who is repre- sented as the son of No. 2, was consular tribune for the third time as late as b. c. 397, we can hardly suppose that Nos. 1 and 2 are the same person, since in that case the son would have held the consular tribunate 77 years after the consulship of his father. We may therefore conclude that the consul of B. c. 474 was the grandfather, and the decemvir the father of Nos. 3 and 4. If so the praenomen of the consul would be Cneius, as the decemvir is called in the Capitoline Fasti Cn./. P.n. 2. A. Manlius Cn. f. P. n. Vulso, probably son of No. 2, was one of the ambassadors sent to Athens in b. c. 454, for the purpose of gaining in- formation about the laws of Solon and the other Greek states, and in B. c. 451 he was a member of the first decemvirate. (Liv. iii. 31, 33; Dionys. X. 54.) 3. M. Manlius (A. f. Cn. n.) Vulso, probably son of No. 2, was consular tribune b. c. 420. (Liv. iv. 44.) 4. A. Manlius A. f. Cn. n. Vulso Capi- TOLINUS, son of No. 2, thrice consular tribune, in B. c. 405, 402 and 397. (Fasti Capit. ; Liv. iv. 61, v. 8, 16.) In B. c. 394 he was one of the ambassadors sent to Delphi to present a golden crater as a present to Apollo, but was captured on his voyage thither by the Liparaean pirates. They were however released by Timasitheus, the chief magistrate of the island, in that year, and allowed to prosecute their voyage. (Liv. v. 28.) 5. L. Manlius A. p. P. n. Vulso Long us, was consul B. c. 256 with M. Atilius Regulus, and along with his colleague invaded Africa. Their victory over the Carthaginians by sea, and their successful campaign in Africa are fully related in the life of Regulus [Regulus, No. 3.] Vulso returned to Italy at the fall of the year with half of the army, and obtained the honour of a triumph. (Polyb. i. 26—29 ; Zonar. viii. 12, 13 ; Oros. iv. 8.) In B. c. 250 Vulso was consul a second time with C. Atilius Regulus Serranus, and with his colleague commenced the siege of Lilybaeum. For details see Regulus, No. 4. (Polyb. i. 39, 41 — 48 ; Zonar. viii. 15 ; Oros. iv. 10.) 6. L. Manlius Vulso, one of the unsuccessful patrician candidates for the consulship for B. c. 216, when C. Terentius Varro was elected. (Liv. xxiL 35.) 7. P. Manlius Vulso, praetor b. c. 210, re- ceived Sardinia as his province. (Liv. xxvi. 23, xxvii. 6, 7.) 8. Cn. Manlius Cn. f, L. n, Vulso, was cu- 4n 3