Vardæi, a people of Dalmatia. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 5, ltr. 9.
Varia, a town of Latium.
Varia lex, de majestate, by the tribune [♦]Quintus Varius, A.U.C. 662. It ordained that all such as had assisted the confederates in their war against Rome, should be publicly tried.——Another, de civiate, by Quintus Varius Hybrida. It punished all such as were suspected of having assisted or supported the people of Italy in their petition to become free citizens of Rome. Cicero, For Milo, ch. 36; Brutus, chs. 56, 88, &c.
[♦] ‘L. Varrus’ replaced with ‘Quintus Varius’
Varīni, a people of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 40.
Varisti, a people of Germany.
Lucius Varius, or Varus, a tragic poet intimate with Horace and Virgil. He was one of those whom Augustus appointed to revise Virgil’s Æneid. Some fragments of his poetry are still extant. Besides tragedies, he wrote a panegyric on the emperor. Quintilian says, bk. 10, that his Thyestes was equal to any composition of the Greek poets. Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 40.——A man who raised his reputation by the power of his oratory. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 25.——One of the friends of Antony, surnamed Cotylon.——A man in the reign of Otho, punished for his adulteries, &c.
Varro Marcus Terentius, a Roman consul defeated at Cannæ, by Annibal. See: [Terentius]. A Latin writer, celebrated for his great learning. He wrote no less than 500 different volumes, which are all now lost, except a treatise de Re Rusticâ, and another de Linguâ Latinâ, in five books, written in his 80th year, and dedicated to the orator Cicero. He was Pompey’s lieutenant in his piratical wars, and obtained a naval crown. In the civil wars he was taken by Cæsar and proscribed, but he escaped. He has been greatly commended by Cicero for his erudition, and St. Augustin says that it cannot but be wondered how Varro, who read such a number of books, could find time to compose so many volumes; and how he who composed so many volumes, could be at leisure to peruse such a variety of books, and gain so much literary information. He died B.C. 28, in the 88th year of his age. The best edition of Varro is that of Dordrac, 8vo, 1619. Cicero, Academica, &c.—Quintilian.——Atacinus, a native of Gaul, in the age of Julius Cæsar. He translated into Latin verse the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, with great correctness and elegance. He also wrote a poem entitled de Bello Sequanico, besides epigrams and elegies. Some fragments of his poetry are still extant. He failed in his attempt to write satire. Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 46.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 1, li. 15.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.
Varrōnis villa, now Vicovaro, was situate on the Anio, in the country of the Sabines. Cicero, Philippics, bk. 2, ltr. 41.
Varus Quintilius, a Roman proconsul, descended from an illustrious family. He was appointed governor of Syria, and afterwards made commander of the armies in Germany. He was surprised by the enemy, under Arminius, a crafty and dissimulating chief, and his army was cut to pieces. When he saw that everything was lost, he killed himself, A.D. 10, and his example was followed by some of his officers. His head was afterwards sent to Augustus at Rome, by one of the barbarian chiefs, as also his body; and so great was the influence of this defeat upon the emperor, that he continued for whole months to show all the marks of dejection, and of deep sorrow, often exclaiming, “O Varus, restore me my legions!” The bodies of the slain were left in the field of battle, where they were found six years after by Germanicus, and buried with great pomp. Varus has been taxed with indolence and cowardice, and some have intimated, that if he had not trusted too much to the insinuations of the barbarian chiefs, he might have not only escaped ruin, but awed the Germans to their duty. His avarice was also conspicuous; he went poor to Syria, whence he returned loaded with riches. Horace, bk. 1, ode 24.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 117.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6.——A son of Varus, who married a daughter of Germanicus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 6.——The father and grandfather of Varus, who was killed in Germany, slew themselves with their own swords, the one after the battle of Philippi, and the other in the plains of Pharsalia.——Quintilius, a friend of Horace, and other great men in the Augustan age. He was a good judge of poetry, and a great critic, as Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 438, seems to insinuate. The poet has addressed the 18th ode of his first book to him, and in the 24th he mourns pathetically his death. Some suppose this Varus to be the person killed in Germany, while others believe him to be a man who devoted his time more to the muses than to war. See: [Varius].——Lucius, an epicurean philosopher, intimate with Julius Cæsar. Some suppose that it was to him that Virgil inscribed his sixth eclogue. He is commended by Quintilian, bk. 6, chs. 3, 78.——Alfrenus, a Roman, who, though originally a shoemaker, became consul, and distinguished himself by his abilities as an orator. He was buried at the public expense, an honour granted to few, and only to persons of merit. Horace, bk. 1, satire 3.——Accius, one of the friends of Cato in Africa, &c.——A river which falls into the Mediterranean, to the west of Nice, after separating Liguria from Gallia Narbonensis. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 404.