Varus
- a surname, esp. in the gens Quintilia; e. g. P. Quintilius Varus, defeated by Arminius, Vell. 2, 117; Suet. Aug. 23; id. Tib. 17; Tac. A. 1, 3; 1, 43; 1, 55; 1, 60 al.
- —Hence, Vārĭānus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to a Varus, Varian: clades, Suet. Aug. 23; 49; id. Tib. 17; 18; id. Calig. 3; 31.
- 1. P. Alfenus ~ zie Alfenus;
- 2. Quintilius ~ uit Cremona, criticus, vriend v. Vergilius en Horatius;
- 3. P. Quinctilius ~, Rom. veldheer onder Augustus, consul in 13 v. Chr., sneuvelde in de slag tegen de Cherusken in het Teutoburger Woud in 9 n. Chr.; — adj. Vāriānus, a, um.
a cognomen in many Roman gentes, was indicative, like many other Roman cognomens, of a bodily defect or peculiarity; such as Capilo, Naso, Paetus, Strabo, Scaurus, &c. Varus signified a person who had his legs bent inwards (varum distortis cruribus, Hor. Sat. 1.3. 47), and was opposed to Valgus, which signified a person having his legs turned outwards.
1. L. Varus, an Epicurean, and a friend of Caesar, mentioned by Quintilian (6.3.78). See Varus, Atius, No. 2, sub finem.
2. Varus, a friend and patron of Virgil, to whom he dedicated his sixth eclogue, and whom he mentions in the ninth (9.27). He is perhaps the same as Q. Atius Varus, one of Caesar's officers. [Varus, Atius, No. 2.]
3. Varus, to whom Horace addresses one of his odes (1.18), is perhaps the same as the critic Quintilius (Hor. Ar. Poet. 438), whose death Horace deplores. (Carm. 1.24.) Respecting him see Varus, Quintilius, No. 12.
whose praenomen may have been Publius, was a pupil of Servius Sulpicius, and the only pupil of Servius from whom there are any excerpts in the Digest. Nothing is known about him except from a story preserved by the scholiast Acron, in his notes on the Satires of Horace. (Sat. 1.3. 130.) The scholiast assumes the " Alfenus Vafer " of Horace to be the lawyer, and says that he was a native of Cremona, where he carried on the trade of a barber or a botcher of shoes (for there are both readings, sutor and tonsor) ; that he came to Rome, where he became a pupil of Servius Sulpicius, attained the dignity of the consulship, and was honoured with a public funeral. Pomponius also states that Varus attained the consular dignity; but this will not prove the rest of the scholiast's story to be true. The P. Alfenius Varus, who was consul in A. D. 2, can hardly be the jurist who was the pupil of Servius ; and it is conjectured that he may have been the jurist's son. It is impossible to determine what credit is due to the scholiast on Horace : he must have found the story somewhere, or have invented it. Indeed he and other scholiasts do sometimes favour us with a commentary which tells us nothing more than the text. On this question, a note of Wieland (No. 12) to his translation of the Satires of Horace may be consulted. The fact of an Alfenus being a native of Cremona, and of an Alfenus having been a pupil of Servius, and a learned jurist, and of an Alfenus having been consul, is quite enough to enable a scholiast with the assistance of the passage in Horace to fabricate the whole story of Alfenus, as he has given it.
There are fifty-four excerpts in the Digest from the forty books of the Digesta of Alfenus; but it is conjectured that Alfenus may have acted only as the editor of a work of Servius. It appears from the fragments of Alfenus, that he was acquainted with the Greek language, and these fragments show that he wrote in a pure and perspicuous style. A passage which appears in the Digest (5. tit. 1. s. 76), shows that he was not a stranger to the speculations of the philosophers. According to Gellius (6.5), Alfenus was somewhat curious in matters of antiquity, and Gellius quotes a passage from the thirty-fourth book of his Digest in which Alfenus mentions one of the terms of a treaty between the Romans and the Carthaginians. Alfenus is often cited by the later jurists. The fragments in the Digest are taken from the second to the seventh book of the Digest, and there are fragments from the eighth book taken from the epitome by Paulus. The entire number of books appears from the Florentine Index; the passage in Gellius quotes the thirty-fourth book; and a passage of Paulus (Dig. 3. tit. 5. s. 21) cites the thirty-ninth book. Whether the epitome of Paulus went further than the eighth book or not, is uncertain. The epitome of Paulus is sometimes cited, " Libri epitomarum Alfeni Digestorum," sometimes with the omission of the word " Digestorum," and soetimes thus, " Libri Dig. Alfeni a Paulo epitomatorum."
The passage in Gellius (6.5), " Alfenus ... in libro Digestorum trigesimo et quarto, Conjectaneorum (Conlectaneorum is perhaps the better reading) autem secundo," &c., has given rise to some discussion. It is clear that the passage in the Conlectanea is attributed to Alfenus, for the words are " Alfenus says in the Digest and in the Conlectanea; " and it is also clear that only one passage is meant; or at most the same passage is referred to as being in two different works. But apparently only one work is meant, and therefore we must conclude that the Digesta, which consisted of forty books, contained a subdivision called the Collectanea. Some critics have conjectured that the Conlectanea is the compilation of Aufidius Namusa [Namusa], so that the passage cited by Gellius appeared both in the original work of Alfenus, and in the copious compilation of Namusa, which is made from Alfenus and other pupils of Servius. (Grotius, Vitae Jurisconsult.; Puchta, Inst. 1.428; Zimmern, Geschichte des Röm. Privattrechts, 1.295.) [G.L]
or Alfe'nius, perhaps a descendant of the jurist, was one of the generals of Vitellius, in the civil war in A. D. 69. He served under Fabius Valens as prefect of the camp, when the latter marched with the Vitellian troops from Germany to Italy, and he fought at the decisive battle of Bedriacum, which secured the empire for Vitellius. When Caecina, who had been sent to oppose the generals of Vespasian, deserted the cause of Vitellius, the latter appointed Varus praefectus praetorio in place of P. Sabinus, who was a friend of the traitor Caecina. After the defeat of the Vitellian troops at Cremona, Varus was sent, along with Julius Priscus, at the head of the praetorian cohorts and some other troops to guard the passes of the Apennines; but on the approach of the Vespasian army, the soldiers of Varus and Priscus deserted in such numbers to the enemy, that they were obliged to abandon their camp and return to Rome. Varus survived the fall of his master, and also, according to the words of Tacitus, ignaviac infamiacque suae superfuit. (Tac. Hist. 2.29, 43, 3.36, 55, 61, 4.11.)
served as praefectus of a cohort under Corbulo in the war against the Parthians A. D. 54, in which he obtained the character of a brave and skilful officer. He was said to have calumniated Corbulo to Nero, and to have been advanced in consequence to the rank of chief centurion (primum pilum adepto). At the death of Nero he held this rank in the seventh legion, which was stationed in Pannonia under the command of Antonius Primus, whom he cordially supported, when the latter espoused the cause of Vespasian, and resolved to march into Italy against Vitellius. After Vitellius had been slain, and Primus had obtained possession of Rome, Varus was appointed commander of the praetorian troops (Praefectus Practorio), and received the insignia of the praetorship. Upon the arrival of Mucinus shortly afterwards, who was jealous both of Primus and of Varus, the latter was deprived of the command of the praetorian troops, which was assumed by Mucianus himself, but Varus, as a compensation, was made Praefectus Annonae. (Tac. Ann. 13.9, Hist. 3.6, 16, 52, 4.2, 4, 11, 39, 68.)
1. P. Atius Varus, a zealous partisan of Pompey in the civil war. He had already held the office of praetor, but in what year is uncertain, and had obtained Africa as his province. (Caes. Civ. 1.31; Cic. pro Ligar. 1.) On the breaking out of the civil war at the beginning of B. C. 49, he was stationed in Picenum at the head of a considerable force. At first he took up his quarters at Cingulum, and afterwards at Auximum; but on Caesar's approach, the inhabitants of Auximum declared themselves so strongly in favour of Caesar, that Varus was obliged to evacuate the town, and on his retreat was deserted by most of his own troops. While stationed at Auximum he had levied soldiers throughout Picenum, and with some of these levies he joined Pompey in Apulia. When Pompey resolved to leave Italy, Varus crossed over into Africa, and took possession of the province, which was then governed by Q. Ligarius, who was only the legate of Considius Longus. [Ligarius.] In consequence of his having been propractor of Africa a few years previously, Varus was well acquainted with the country and the people, and was thus able to raise two legions without much difficulty. Meantime L. Aelius Tubero, who also belonged to the Pompeian party, and who had been appointed by the senate to succeed Considius Longus in the government of Africa, arrived to take the command of the province; but Varus would not even allow him to land, and compelled him to sail away. Shortly afterwards C. Curio crossed over from Sicily to Africa with two legions in order to gain Africa for Caesar. Varus attacked Curio in the neighbourhood of Utica, but was defeated with considerable loss, and with difficulty maintained his ground under the walls of that city. He was, however, soon relieved by the Numidian king Juba, who hastened to his support at the head of a powerful army. Curio was now in his turn defeated by Juba. Curio himself fell in the battle with almost all his infantry; and the cavalry, which escaped the slaughter and fled to Varus at Utica, were all put to death by Juba, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the Roman general. This victory secured Africa for the Pompeian party. Accordingly, the most distinguished leaders of the party fled thither after their defeat at Pharsalia in the following year (B. C. 48); and Varus was now obliged to resign the supreme command to Scipio, which he did with extreme reluctance. In the war which followed Varus was entrusted with the command of the fleet, and burnt several of Caesar's ships at Adrumetum. After the hopes of the Pompeian party in Spain had been ruined by the defeat of Scipio at Thapsus, Varus sailed away to Cn. Pompey in Spain. He was defeated of Carteia in a naval battle by C. Didius, one of Caesar's commanders, and he afterwards joined the army on shore. He fell at the battle of Munda, and his head, together with that of Labienus, was carried to Caesar. (Cic. Att. 8.13, b, 15, 20; Caes. Civ. 1.12, 13, 31; Cic. pro Ligar. 1 ; Caes. Civ. 2.23_44; D. C. 41.41, 42 ; Appian, App. BC 2.44_46; Lucan, 4.713, foll. ; D. C. 42.57; Hirt. B. Afr. 62, 63; D. C. 43.30, 31; Appian, App. BC 2.105.)
2. Q. Atius Varus, commander of the cavalry under C. Fabius, one of Caesar's legates in Gaul, is praised as a man " singularis et animi et prudentiae." (Hirt. B. G. 8.28.) He is probably the same as the Q. Varus, who commanded the cavalry under Domitius, one of Caesar's generals in Greece in the war with Pompey. (Caes. Civ. 3.37.) It is supposed by many modern writers that he is the sane person as the Varus, to whom Virgil dedicated his sixth eclogue, and whose praises he also celebrates in the ninth (9.27), from which poems we learn that Varus had obtained renown in war. It is also believed that he is the same as the Varus, who is said to have studied the Epicurean philosophy along with Virgil under Syro, a philosopher mentioned by Cicero (Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. 6.13; Phocas, Vita Virg. 65; Donatus, Vita Virg. 79; respecting Syro, see Cic. Fam. 6.11, de Fin. 2.35); but others think that this Varus is the same as the L. Varus, the Epicurean philosopher and friend of Caesar, mentioned by Quintilian (6.3.78). (Comp. Estré, Horatiana Prosopographcia, pp. 118, 204, foll., Amstelod. 1846.)
[Longinus No. 10.]
P. F. P. N. (Fasti Capit.), was consul B. C. 236 with P. Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus. Varus and his colleague marched into northern Italy in order to oppose the Transalpine Gauls, who had crossed the Alps; and when this danger was averted by the quarrels of the Gauls amongst themselves, Varus was ordered to reduce the Corsicans to subjection. The consul sent to the island his legate M. Claudius Glicia, intending to follow shortly afterwards. Glicia concluded a peace with the Corsicans on his own authority; but Varus, on his arrival in the island, refused to acknowledge it, and made war upon the Corsicans till he compelled them to surrender at discretion. (Zonar. 8.18, p. 400; Liv. Epit. 50; see Glicia.) Probably this Licinius is the same as the C. Licinius, who was sent to Carthage in B. 218 with four other ambassadors, all of whom were advanced in life. (Liv. 21.18.)
a man of praetorian rank, denounced Dolabella on the accession of Vitellius, although he had been one of Dolabella's most intimate friends. (Tac. Hist. 2.63.) [Dolabella, No. 11.]
a friend of Horace, who had fought with the poet at the battle of Philippi, and who appears to have been afterwards proscribed, and to have fled to Sex. Pompeius in Sicily. One of Horace's odes (2.7) is addressed to this Pompeius, in which the poet congratulates him upon his unexpected return to his native land. Many commentators accordingly suppose this ode to have been written as early as B. C. 39, when the triumvirs made peace with Sex. Pompeius, and allowed those who had been proscribed to return to Rome; but others maintain, with more probability, that it was not composed till after the battle of Actium in B. C. 31, and that Varus was one of those who had espoused the cause of Antonius, and was then pardoned by Octavianus. (Comp. Estré, Horatiana Prosopographia, p. 474, foll., Amstelod. 1846.)
1. SEX. QUINTILIUS SEX. F. P. N. Varus, consul B. C. 453 with P. Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus, died while consul of the pestilence which devastated Rome in this year. (Fasti Capit.; Liv. 2.32; Dionys. A. R. 10.53.)
2. M. Quintilius Varus, L. F. L. N., one of the consular tribunes in B. C. 403. (Fasti Capit. ; Liv. 5.1.)
3. Cn. Quintilius Varus, dictator B. C. 331 clavi figendi causa. (Liv. 8.18.)
4. P. Quintilius Varus, praetor B. C. 203, with Ariminum as his province. In conjunction with the proconsul M. Cornelius he defeated Mago, the brother of Hannibal, in the territory of the Insubrian Gauls. [Vol. II. p. 904a.] (Liv. 29.38, 30.1, 18.)
5. M. Quintilius Varus, the son of No. 4, distinguished himself in the battle in which his father defeated Mago. (Liv. 30.18.)
6. T. Quintilius Varus, served in Spain in B. C. 185, as legatus of the praetor Calpurnius Piso. (Liv. 39.31, 38.)
7. P. Quintilius Varus, flamen Martialis, died in B. C. 169. (Liv. 44.18.)
8. P. Quintilius Varus, praetor B. C. 167. (Liv. 45.44.)
9. P. Quintilius Varus, is mentioned by Cicero in his oration for Quintius in B. C. 81, and again in his oration for Cluentius as one of the witnesses in the trial of Scamander. (Cic. pro Quint. 17, pro Cluent. 19.)
10. Sex. Quintilius Varus, praetor B. C. 57, was in favour of Cicero's recall from banishment. (Cic. post Red. in Sen. 9.)
11. Sex. Quintilius Varus, quaestor B. C. 49, belonged to the Pompeian party. He fell into Caesar's hands at the capture of Corfinium at the beginning of B. C. 49; and after being dismissed by Caesar, he crossed over into Africa and fought under P. Atius Varus against Curio. (Caes. Civ. 1.23, 2.28, foil.) It appears that this Varus was again pardoned by Caesar; but, like many others, he joined the murderers of his benefactor and fight under Brutus and Cassius against the triunmvirs. After the loss of the battle of Philippi, he fell by the hands of his freedman, who slew him at his own request. (Vell. 2.71.) He was the father of the Varus who fell in Germany. [No. 13.]
12. Quintilius Varus, of Cremona, a friend of Horace and Virgil, died in B. C. 24. (Hieronym. in Enseb. Chron. 189. 1.) We learn from the ancient Scholiasts on Horace that this Quintilius is the same as the Quintilius, who is mentioned as an eminent critic in the De Arte Poütica (438) and whose death Horace laments in one of his odes (1.24). He is perhaps the same as the Varus, to whom Horace addresses the eighteenth ode of the first book, and also as the Varus mentioned in the fifth Epode. (Weichert, De L. Varii et Cassii Parmensis Vita, p. 121, foil.; Estré, Horatiana Prosopographia, p. 202, foll.)
13. P. Quintilius Varus, son of No. 11, was consul B. C. 13 with Tib. Claudius Nero, afterwards the emperor Tiberius. (D. C. 54.25.) Varus was subsequently appointed to the government of Syria as the successor of Sentius Saturninus, and remained in that province for several years, where he acquired enormous wealth. According to the antithetical expression of Velleius Paterculus (2.117), " as a poor man he entered the rich country, and as a rich man left the country poor." Shortly after his return from Syria he was made governor of Germany (probably about A. D. 7). Drusus had conquered a great part of central Germany as far as the Visurgis (Weser), and the various German tribes between this river and the Rhine seemed disposed to submit quietly to the Roman rule and to adopt Roman customs and habits. The time appeared favourable to Augustus for introducing into the country the regular administration of a Roman province; but he made an unfortunate choice in the person whom he selected to carry his purpose into effect. Varus was a man of moderate talents and fond of an idle and quiet life; he possessed neither the abilities nor the energy necessary for the important task entrusted to him. In addition to which, he had for years received in Syria the servile obedience of a race, which had long been accustomed to the Roman government; while in Germany he was called to rule over a brave and high-spirited people, who had only recently been subdued, and knew nothing of the jurisdiction of a Roman province.
As soon as Varus had crossed the Rhine, he proceeded to levy taxes and to introduce the Roman jurisdiction in the newly conquered country. For this he is strongly censured by Dio Cassius (56.18) and Velleius Paterculus (2.117), but without sufficient reason; for there can be no doubt that he acted in accordance with his instructions ; and it must be recollected that he was the first governor of Germany, to whom the civil administration as well as the military command had been entrusted. His mistake was in the manner in which he carried his instructions into effect, and in his infatuation in supposing that a brave nation could be governed in the same way as a herd of Syrian slaves. The Germans viewed with dismay and indignation the abolition of their own laws, and the introduction of the Roman jurisdiction, in consequence of which their rights, their property and even their lives would depend upon the decision of a Roman proconsul. They were ripe for revolt and found a leader in Arminius, a noble chief of the Cherusci, who had previously served in the Roman army and had been rewarded by the Roman franchise and the equestrian rank. The tribes in the north and south of Germany took no part in the insurrection, but most of the people in the central parts of the country joined in the revolt : the Cherusci were at the head with their subjects, and besides them we read of the Marsi, the Catti, and the Bructeri. Varus was blind to the impending danger. In the summer of B. C. 9 he had penetrated as far as the Weser, and took up his quarters on the western bank of the river, probably not far from the spot where it is joined by the Werra. Here, in fancied security, he held courts for the administration of justice, not like a general at the head of his army, but as if he were the city praetor sitting in the Roman forum. According to the preconcerted plan of Arminius, the orders of Varus were obeyed without opposition; and the most distinguished German chiefs, and among them Arminius himself, constantly visited his camp and lived with him on the most friendly terms. Varus therefore finding every thing so peaceful and the people so submissive did not consider it necessary to keep all his soldiers together in the summer camp. He had with him three Roman legions with their regular number of auxiliary troops, and a strong body of cavalry; but he had, at the request of Arminius and the other chiefs, sent various detachments into the surrounding country for the protection of the convoys or of the inhabitants against marauders. Such was the posture of affairs, when late in the summer Varus was surprised by the intelligence that a distant tribe of Germans had risen in arms against the Romans. This however was only a feint to draw Varus from his encampment; and it succeeded. He collected his army and commenced his march towards the south accompanied by Arminius and the German chiefs. The latter however left him almost immediately, promising to return as soon as they had collected their forces. Varus allowed them to depart and continued his march without suspicion. His road lay through the vallies of the Saltus Teutoburgiensis, a range of hills covered with wood, which extends north of the Lippe from Osnabrück to Paderborn, and is known in the present day by the name of the Teutoburgerwald or Lippische Wald. Varus had entered the pass, not suspecting any danger, his army in a long straggling line, encumbered with baggage, and accompanied by the wives and children, whom the soldiers had brought with them from their summer quarters, when the Germans suddenly appeared and attacked the Romans on all sides. The Romans were unable to form in line of battle, and with difficulty fought their way to a more open spot in the wood, where they pitched their camp for the night. The size and the arrangement of this camp, which Germanicus saw six years afterwards, showed that the three legions had not on the first day sustained any material loss. (Tac. Ann. 1.61.) Varus was now fully aware of his danger. He resolved to destroy almost all his baggage and to make for the strong fortress of Aliso, which had been erected by Drusus on the Lippe. His first camp was probably in the neighbourhood of Salzuffeln; and in order to reach Aliso he had to force his way through the pass in the neighbourhood of Detmold. His second day's march was one uninterrupted fight from morning to night, and the contracted extent of the camp, which he pitched at the close of the day, told Germanicus that his numbers had been already greatly reduced. On the morning of the third day Varus continued his march. His difficulties increased more and more. The roads were rendered almost impassable by the rain which descended in torrents : but nevertheless the Romans struggled on, though with continually increasing losses, and at last emerged from the woods into the open country, probably in the neighbourhood of Kreuzburg and Osterholz. Here, however, the main force of the Germans was ready to receive them. With diminished numbers and exhausted bodies, they were unable to penetrate through the vast hosts which surrounded them on all sides. The fight at length became a slaughter; the Romans could no longer preserve their ranks; Vars in despair put an end to his own life. Very few of the Romans succeeded in escaping to Aliso. Most perished on the field, but several were taken prisoners. Of these the most distinguished were sacrificed by Arminius to the gods of his country at altars in the forests; and the remainder were reduced to slavery. The ferocity of the enemy did not even spare the dead; the corpse of Varus was mangled, and his head cut off and forwarded, as a sign of victory, to Maroboduus, king of the Marcomanni, who, however, sent it to Augustus. The defeat of Varus was followed by the loss of all the Roman possessions between the Weser and the Rhine, and the latter river again became the boundary of the Roman dominions. When the news of this defeat reached Rome, the whole city was thrown into consternation ; and Augustus, who was both weak and aged, gave way to the most violent grief, tearing his garment and calling upon Varus to give him back his legions. Orders were issued as if the very empire was in danger; and Tiberius was despatched with a veteran army to the Rhine. (D. C. 56.18_25; Vell. 2.117_120; Suet. Aug. 23, Tib. 16, 17; Flor. 4.12; Tac. Ann. 1.60, 61, 71.) The history of the defeat of Varus has been treated by a great number of German writers, who have maintained very different views respecting the locality of his defeat The best account in a brief compass is given by Höckh, Römische Geschichte, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 84, foll., and by Ukert, Geographic der Griechen und Römer, vol. iii. pt. i. p. 124, foll., in the latter of which works a list of all the treatises on the subject is given.
The following coin was struck by Varus when he was proconsul of Syria.
14. Quintilius Varus, probably the son of No. 13, was accused by Domitius Afer in A. D. 27 (Tac. Hist. 4.66.) He is called by Tacitus the propinquus of the emperor Tiberius; and we learn from Seneca, who had heard Varus declaiming, that he was the son-in-law of Germanicus. (Senec. (Controv. 4.) Varus may also have been called the propinquus of Tiberius, because his mother Claudia Pulchra was the sobrina of Agrippina. (Tac. Ann. 4.52, 66.)
whose name occurs only on coins, a specimen of which is annexed. On the obverse is the head of M. Antonius, and on the reverse Venus holding a figure of Victory in one hand and a cornucopia in the other. This Varus must have been triumvir of the mint or have held some magistracy after the death of Julius Caesar and the commencement of the triumvirate, as is shown by the beard of M. Antonius, which he allowed to grow at the beginning of the triumvirate. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 342.) The name of Vibius Varus occurs in the reign of Hadrian : there was a C. Vibius Juventius Varus, who was consul in A. D. 134.
VARUS (Οὔαρος), a river which the ancient geographers make the boundary of Gallia and Italia, as it is now the boundary of France and Italy. (Mela, 2.4; Ptol. 2.10.1.) It is only the lower part of the Var which forms the boundary between Italy and France. The river gives its name to the French department of Var, the eastern limit of which is the lower course of the river Var. The larger part of the Var is in the Sardinian territory. It is only the mouth of the Var which Ptolemy names when he fixes the limit between Italy and Gallia Narbonensis. D'Anville remarks on the line of Lucan (Luc. 1.404)-- Finis et Hesperiae promoto limited Varus--
that he alludes to the extension of the boundary of Italy westward from the summit of the Alpis Maritima, which is Italy's natural boundary. He adds that the dependencies of the province of the Alpes Maritimae comprehended Cemenelium (Cimiez) and its district, which are on the Italian side of the Var and east of Nicaea (Nizza). [CEMENELIUM]. But D'Anville may have mistaken Lucan's meaning, who seems to allude to the extension of the boundary of Italy from the Rubicon to the Varus, as Vibius Sequester says: Varus nunc Galliam dividit, ante Rubicon( ed. Oberl.). However, the critics are not agreed about this passage. (D'Anville, Notice, &c.; Ukert, Gallien, p. 81.)
[G.L]A cognomen in many Roman gentes, signifying a person who had his legs bent inward, and differed from Valgius, which signified a person having his legs turned outward.
A river in Gallia Narbonensis, forming the boundary between that province and Italy. It rises in Mount Cema in the Alps, and falls into the Mediterranean Sea between Antipolis and Nicaea. It is now the
(1) A Roman jurist, the Alfenus vafer of Horace, was a native of Cremona, where he carried on the trade of a barber or a cobbler. Having come to Rome, he became a pupil of Servius Sulpicius, attained the dignity of the consulship, and was honoured with a public funeral.
(2) A general of Vitellius in the Civil War of A.D. 60.
A Roman consul B.C. 13, and subsequently appointed to the government of Syria, where he acquired enormous wealth. Shortly after his return from Syria he was made governor of Germany (probably about A.D. 7), and was instructed by Augustus to introduce the Roman jurisdiction into that newly conquered country. The Germans, however, were not prepared to submit thus tamely to the Roman yoke, and found a leader in Arminius, a noble chief of the Cherusci, who organized a general revolt of all the German tribes between the Visurgis and the Weser. When he had fully matured his plans, he suddenly attacked Varus, at the head of a countless host of barbarians, as the Roman general was marching with his three legions through a pass of the Saltus Teutoburgiensis, a range of hills covered with wood, which extends north of the Lippe from Osnabrück to Paderborn, and is known in the present day by the name of the Teutoburgerwald or Lippische Wald. The battle lasted three days, and ended with the entire destruction of the Roman army. Varus put an end to his own life. His defeat was followed by the loss of all the Roman possessions between the Weser and the Rhine, and the latter river again became the boundary of the Roman dominions. When the news of this defeat reached Rome, the whole city was thrown into consternation; and Augustus, who was both weak and aged, gave way to the most violent grief, tearing his garments and calling upon Varus to give him back his legions—“Vare, Vare, redde legiones!” (Suet. Aug. 23; Suet. Tib. 16). See Arminius; Germania.