Publius Quinctilius Varus Minor (''Minor'' Latin for ''the younger'') (AD 4 AD 27) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

senator 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 ...

Family background

Varus was a member of the gens Quinctilia. He was the only child born to the Roman general and politician

Publius Quinctilius Varus Publius Quinctilius Varus (Cremona, 46 BC – Teutoburg Forest, AD 9) was a Roman general and politician under the first Roman emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribes l ...

from his third wife

Claudia Pulchra Claudia Pulchra (14 BCAD 26) (''PIR2'' C 1116) was a Patrician woman of Ancient Rome who lived during the reigns of the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius. Biography Early life She was a daughter of Claudia Marcella Minor and the Roman consu ...

. Through his mother, Varus was a cousin to the future Roman empress

Valeria Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputatio ...

. Claudia Pulchra was the sister of Messallina's father, the short-lived Marcus Valerius Messala Barbatus (died c. AD 20). Messallina had no brothers, but did have a younger half-brother Faustus Cornelius Sulla. Varus the younger was a generation removed from the children of Messalina,

Claudia Octavia Claudia Octavia (late 39 or early 40 – June 9, AD 62) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of the Emperor Claudius and Valeria Messalina. After her mother's death and father's remarriage to her cousin Agrippina the Younger, she became ...

and

Britannicus Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. For a time he was considered his father's heir, but that ...

Biography

Early life

Varus was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the year 4 and was raised in the city. In late AD 6 or 7, his father was appointed to govern and organize the newly conquered

Germania Inferior Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agrippin ...

across the Rhine. But in September AD 9, due to his defeat at the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Ancient Rome, Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius ...

Varus the Elder committed suicide. After the death of his father, his mother never remarried and in AD 26, Pulchra died in exile as a victim of the treason trials of

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guar ...

. Varus became wealthy through his parents' inheritance.

Victim of treason trials of Sejanus

In AD 27, Varus became another victim of the treason trials of the Palace Guardsman

. It is not known what Varus was charged with nor to what degree it was provoked;Seager, ''Tiberius'', p. 173 the charge may have been treason or ''maiestas''. His accusers were the celebrated orator

Domitius Afer Gnaeus Domitius Afer (died 59) was a Roman orator and advocate, born at Nemausus ( Nîmes) in Gallia Narbonensis. He flourished in the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. He was suffect consul in the '' nundinium'' of September to ...

and his cousin Publius Cornelius Dolabella. The outcome of the case is unknown as there is no further mention in the sources. The absence of his family from history leads some experts to conclude he was later condemned or committed suicide. However, a passage from

Seneca the Elder Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder (; c. 54 BC – c. 39 AD), also known as Seneca the Rhetorician, was a Roman writer, born of a wealthy equestrian family of Corduba, Hispania. He wrote a collection of reminiscences about the Roman schools of rheto ...

suggests that Varus may have been acquitted: Seneca writes that Varus had a somewhat successful legal career, despite

Lucius Cestius Pius Lucius Cestius, surnamed Pius, Latin rhetorician, flourished during the reign of Augustus. He was a native of Smyrna, a Greek by birth. According to Jerome, he was teaching Latin at Rome in the year 13 BC. He must have been living after AD 9, sin ...

taunting Varus with his father's defeat in the Teutoburg Forest.

Personal life and issue

He had a large villa at

Tivoli, Lazio Tivoli ( , ; la, Tibur) is a town and in Lazio, central Italy, north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna. History Gaius Julius Solinu ...

. Varus was betrothed to his distant maternal cousin

Julia Livilla Julia Livilla ( – ) was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula. Life Julia Livilla was the youngest great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive grandd ...

, one of the daughters of

Agrippina the Elder Agrippina "the Elder" (also, in Latin, , "Germanicus's Agrippina"; – AD 33) was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a close supporter of the first Roman emperor, Augustus) and ...

and

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...

, although they did not marry. Varus married a noblewoman called Plautia Laterana, by whom he had a daughter called Quinctilia.Settipani, ''Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale'', pp. 72, 223

References

Sources

* J. R. Abdale, ''Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg'' (Google eBook), Trafford Publishing, 2013 * M. McNally, ''Teutoburg Forest, AD: 9 The Destruction of Varus and His Legions'', Osprey Publishing, 2011 * R. Seager, ''Tiberius'' (Google eBook), John Wiley & Sons, 2008 * C. Settipani, ''Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale'', 2000 * A. Barrett, ''Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire'', Yale University Press, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Varus, Quinctilius AD 4 births 27 deaths Senators of the Roman Empire Julio-Claudian dynasty Quinctilii 1st-century Romans