Lucius Varius Rufus (; 14 BC) was a Roman poet of the early Augustan age. He was a friend of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, after whose death he and Plotius Tucca prepared the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

'' for publication, and of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, for whom he and Virgil obtained an introduction to

Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( 13 April 68 BC – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. ...

. Horace spoke of him as a master of epic and the only poet capable of celebrating the achievements of Vipsanius Agrippa (''Odes'', i.6); Virgil (under the name of Lycidas, ''Ecl.'' ix.35) regretted that he had hitherto produced nothing comparable to the work of Varius or Helvius Cinna.

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

(''Saturnalia'', vi. I, 39; 2, 19) states that Varius composed an epic poem ''De Morte'', some lines of which are quoted as having been imitated or appropriated by Virgil; Horace (''Sat.'' i.10, 43) probably alluded to another epic, and, according to the scholiast on ''Epistles'', i.16, 2 729, these three lines were taken bodily from a

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...

of Varius on

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 ...

. Varius's most famous literary production was the tragedy ''Thyestes'', which

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

(''Inst. Orat.'' x.1, 98) declared fit to rank with any of the Greek tragedies. A ''didascalia'' on the play, preserved in a Paris manuscript, states that it was produced at the games celebrated in 29 BC by Octavian in honour of the victory at Actium, and that Varius received a present of a million sesterces from the Roman ruler. Fragments of Varius's works are located in E. Bahrens, ''Frag. Poetarum Romanorum'' (1886); monographs by A. Weichert (1836) and R. Unger (1870, 1878, 1898); Martin Schanz, ''Geschichte der römischen Litteratur'' (1899), ii.1; Teuffel, ''Hist. of Roman Literature'' (Eng. trans., 1900), 223.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rufus, Lucius Varius 70s BC births 14 BC deaths Golden Age Latin writers Latin writers known only from secondary sources 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century BC Roman poets Varii