Publius Tullius Varro 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 lett ...

general and

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 ...

during the reign of

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

. The commander of two different legions during his career, one of his most important military roles was as commander of

Legio VI Victrix Legio VI Victrix ("Victorious Sixth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian (who, as Augustus, later became Rome's first emperor). It was the twin legion of VI ''Ferrata'' and perhaps held vet ...

during its transfer from Vetera in

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 Agripp ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

in AD 122.

Life

Varro was a native of

Tarquinii Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage statu ...

in Etruria. Anthony Birley wrote that "he had excellent connections in high places for his elder brother had been adopted, it would seem, by the influential Spaniard Dasumius, taking the names P. Dasumius Rusticus", indicating his brother was '' consul ordinarius'' in 119 as the colleague of the emperor Hadrian.Birley, ''The Fasti of Roman Britain'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), p. 239 However, it appears that Birley's understanding of this relationship was based on a misunderstanding of an inscription known as the ''

Testamentum Dasumii The Testamentum Dasumii refers to an inscription in several pieces found in Rome, that bears the only Roman will inscribed on stone. Originally presenting the complete will, while the surviving pieces of the inscription include parts of all 133 line ...

'', which had led experts to conclude that Tullius Varro was the friend of its testator whose son that person would adopt, and the adoptee would be known by the name L. Dasumius Tullius Tuscus. Once it was clear that the testator of this inscription was not "Dasumius", this reconstruction lapses. While it is possible that the man who adopted Varro's natural son was related to Dasumius Rusticus, he has no further relationship to Varro.Olli Salomies, ''Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire'', (Helsinski: Societas Scientiarum Fenica, 1992), pp. 98f Varro's career began in the '' vigintivirate'' as a member of the ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis''. He then received his first military commission, as the ''

tribunus laticlavius In the Roman army of the late Republic and the Principate, the ("broad-striped tribune") was one of the six military tribunes in a legion. Usually, they were a young man around the age of 20 that belonged to a wealthy family. Or they were friend ...

'' of

Legio XVI Flavia Firma Legio XVI Flavia firma ("Steadfast Flavian Sixteenth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The legion was created by Emperor Vespasian in 70 from the remains of the XVI ''Gallica'' (which had surrendered in the Batavian rebellion). Th ...

, which was stationed at

Satala Located in Turkey, the settlement of Satala ( xcl, Սատաղ ''Satał'', grc, Σάταλα), according to the ancient geographers, was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, a little north of the Euphrates, where the road from Trapez ...

at the time. He returned to Rome, where he was elected '' quaestor urbanus'', and after his praetorship, Varro was assigned his first

legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

to command,

Legio XII Fulminata Legio XII Fulminata ("Thunderbolt Twelfth Legion"), also known as ''Paterna'', ''Victrix'', ''Antiqua'', ''Certa Constans'', and ''Galliena'', was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was originally levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, and the leg ...

which was stationed in the border province of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

. The

sortition In governance, sortition (also known as selection by lottery, selection by lot, allotment, demarchy, stochocracy, aleatoric democracy, democratic lottery, and lottocracy) is the selection of political officials as a random sample from a larger ...

awarded him

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a 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 command, or ...

ar governor of

Hispania Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic di ...

which he held for a year, and Birley speculates that it may have been while he held this post that he came to the attention of Hadrian, who assigned Varro the "delicate" job of uprooting Legio VI Victrix from its long-term home and relocating it to Britain. His command of a second legion was followed by a term as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of the '' aerarium Saturni'', or public treasury, after which Varro was appointed suffect consul in 127 with

Junius Paetus Junius often refers to: * Junius (writer), the pseudonym of an 18th-century British political writer of strongly Whig principles * The nomen of the ancient Roman * or , the month of June on the ancient Roman calendar * Rosa Luxemburg's '' Junius P ...

as his colleague. After his consulship, Varro's subsequent offices were ''curator alvei

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where ...

'', governor of Moesia Superior from 133 to 136, and Proconsul of Africa from 142 to 143. Birley notes that Varro's "social standing is demonstrated by his having been an augur."Birley, ''Fasti of Roman Britain'', p. 240

Family

Due to a number of facts, it is generally accepted that the suffect consul of 152, Lucius Dasumius Tullius Tuscus, is Varro's biological son. The elements "Lucius Dasumius" were added to the son's name from his

adoptive Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

father's whom Salomies notes was "certainly related" to Publius Dasumius Rusticus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tullius Varro, Publius 2nd-century Romans Senators of the Roman Empire Roman governors of Hispania Baetica Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Lower Moesia Roman governors of Africa Augurs of the Roman Empire Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown