The Terentii Varrones were a branch of the ''
gens Terentia'' in
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
.
Members
*
Gaius Terentius Varro
Gaius Terentius Varro ( 218-200 BCE) was a Ancient Rome, Roman politician and general active during the Second Punic War. A plebs, plebeian son of a butcher, he was a populist politician who was elected Roman consul, consul for the year 216 BCE. ...
(d. sometime after 200 BC), the surviving commander of the defeated
Roman army
The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...
at the
Battle of Cannae
The Battle of Cannae (; ) was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Ancient Carthage, Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy. The Carthaginians and ...
.
* Aulus Terentius Varro, an envoy ''(
legatus)'' of
Aulus Cornelius Mammula, who was stationed with troops as
propraetor
In ancient Rome, a promagistrate () was a person who was granted the power via '' prorogation'' to act in place of an ordinary magistrate in the field. This was normally ''pro consule'' or ''pro praetore'', that is, in place of a consul or praet ...
in Greece, in 190–189. Along with
Marcus Claudius Lepidus, Varro was sent to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
to deliver "disturbing reports" from Asia. In 189, he returned to Greece with envoys from
Aetolia
Aetolia () is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania.
Geography
The Achelous River separates Aetolia from Acarnania to the west; on ...
. In 184, he was assigned to
Hispania Citerior
Hispania Citerior (English: "Hither Iberia", or "Nearer Iberia") was a Roman province in Hispania during the Roman Republic. It was on the eastern coast of Iberia down to the town of Cartago Nova, today's Cartagena in the autonomous community of ...
("Nearer"
Roman Spain) as
praetor
''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...
, and levied a new army with which he successfully fought the
Suessetani. He continued his command as propraetor in 183–182, with victories over the
Ausetani and
Celtiberi. In 182, he may have held
proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.
In the Roman Republic, military ...
ar powers, and upon his return to Rome that year celebrated an ''
ovatio''. In 172, Varro was part of a diplomatic embassy to
Gentius
Gentius (, ''Génthios''; 181–168 BC) was an Illyrian king who belonged to the Labeatan dynasty. He ruled in 181–168 BC, being the last attested Illyrian king. He was the son of Pleuratus III, a king who kept positive relations with Rome. ...
, king of
Ilyria, that lodged a protest against attacks on Roman allies. In 167, he was among the ten legates known to have been assigned by the Senate to assist the ''
imperator
The title of ''imperator'' ( ) originally meant the rough equivalent of ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later, it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as their praenomen. The Roman emperors generally based their autho ...
''
Lucius Aemilius Paullus in organizing
Macedonia as a
Roman province
The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
. Either he or the A. Terentius Varro who was a legate in 82 BC was honored with a statue by the
Delians.
* Terentius Varro, a
quaestor
A quaestor ( , ; ; "investigator") was a public official in ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times.
In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officia ...
in
Hispania Ulterior
Hispania Ulterior (English: "Further Hispania", or occasionally "Thither Hispania") was a Roman province located in Hispania (on the Iberian Peninsula) during the Roman Republic, roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of moder ...
("Farther" Roman Spain) in 154 BC. He served under the
praetor
''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, and was killed in a battle with the
Lusitani
The Lusitanians were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people living in the far west of the Iberian Peninsula, in present-day central Portugal and Extremadura and Castilla y Leon of Spain. It is uncertain whether the Lusitanians ...
led by
Punicus that resulted in heavy Roman losses.
* Terentius Varro, conjectured name of a
monetalis whose coinage, issued sometime in the period 150 to 133 BC, named him as
VARO.
* Aulus Terentius Varro, one of the ten legates known to have been sent by the Senate in 146 to assist the consul
Lucius Mummius in reorganizing
Greece under Roman rule
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. They returned in the spring of 145.
* Aulus Terentius Varro, a lieutenant ''(legatus)'' in 82 BC under Lucius Licinius Murena as propraetor in Asia. He was prosecuted twice for extortion while in Asia, but was represented by
Quintus Hortensius and acquitted.
* Terentius Varro, possibly a praetor in 78 BC, if he is correctly identified as the governor of
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
in 77. He is otherwise unknown, and this
promagistrate
In ancient Rome, a promagistrate () was a person who was granted the power via ''prorogation'' to act in place of an ordinary magistrate in the field. This was normally ''pro consule'' or ''pro praetore'', that is, in place of a consul or praeto ...
of Asia may instead have been the Aulus Terentius Varro who was Murena's legate and tried for extortion.
*
Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus, the consul of 73 BC, born Marcus Licinius Lucullus but
adopted in adulthood, the younger brother of the famous
Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Ancient Romans, Roman List of Roman generals, general and Politician, statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and ...
.
* Marcus Terentius Varro, usually known in English by his ''
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...
''
Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...
, one of the leading scholars writing in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
at the time of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
.
* Marcus Terentius Varro Gibba, quaestor in 46 under
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...
in
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul (, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the name given, especially during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, to a region of land inhabited by Celts (Gauls), corresponding to what is now most of northern Italy.
Afte ...
and
tribune of the plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman Republic, Roman state that was open to the plebs, plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the pow ...
in 43. He died at the
Battle of Philippi.
* Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus, the younger contemporary of the famous Varro, a poet from
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
usually known as
Varro Atacinus.
* Aulus Terentius Varro Murena, a legate of
Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great") in 48. He was among the Pompeians present at the conference at the
Apsus river. An inscription records him as
curule aedile
Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...
in or before 44 BC, along with a Lucius Trebellius Fides.
['' CIL'' I2.2.2514 = '' Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae'' 6075; Broughton, ''MRR2'', p. 322.]
*
Aulus Terentius Varro Murena, a Roman general who died before he could assume the consulship for 23 BC with
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
.
See also
*
Varro (cognomen)
References
{{Reflist
Roman stirpes
Terentii
Ancient Roman prosopographical lists