Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1232

Rh 1220 VARENUS. which were in reality the property of Scipio, and hence Valgius has been ranked among the writers of comedy, although there is no proof that Actaeon was a play of any kind. 10. Quintilian tells us (iii. 1. § 18, corap. iii. 5. § 17, V. 10. § 4) that the precepts of the Greek rhetorician Apollodorus who gave instructions at ApoUonia to Augustus (Suet. Octav. 89) may best be learned from his disciples, of whom the most diligent in translating them into Latin " fuit C. Valgius Graece Atticus." He adds that the only genuine production of Valgius upon this subject was entitled Ars edita ad Matium, that others had indeed been ascribed to him, but that he had not acknowledged them in his letter to Domitius. 11. Gellius (xii. 3) speaks of "Valgius Rufus " and Charisius (p. 84, ed. Putsch.) of " Valgius " as the author of some grammatical investigations called Res per epistolam quaesitae. They extended to two books at least, and probably were something of the same kind as the Epistolicae Quaestiones of Varro (Gell. xiv. 7). 12. Festus (s. V. secus) and Charisius (p. 116, ed. Putsch.) refer to Valgius on matters connected with grammar. 1 3. Diomedes (p. 382, ed. Putsch.) gives two words from " Valgius de Tralatione." 14. Finally, Seneca says (Ep. xli. § 1) that Aetna, and Charisius (p. 79, ed. Putsch.) gives an example from " Valgius " of lacte as a nominative. It is perfectly manifest that the evidence con- tained in the above paragraphs is far from being sufficient to enable us to decide anything with cer- tainty regarding the person or persons named. We may fairly surmise that the Valgius of (1) is the same with the Valgius of (2) and perhaps of (3) and (4) also. Beyond this we cannot advance without losing ourselves in a haze of dim conjecture. The assertion of Broukhusius {ad Tibull. iv. 1. 80) that there were two distinguished writers in the Augustan age both named Valgius Rufiis, but dis- tinguished from each other by difference of prae- noraen, namely, C. Valgius Rufus, the consular and prose writer, and T. Valgius Rufus, the poet, is altogether destitute of any firm foundation, for no authority whatsoever can be adduced for the ex- istence of a T. Valgius Rufus. (All the matters connected with this inquiry are very fully discussed by Weichert, in his Poetarum Lat. Reliquiae (8vo. Lips. 1830, p. 203—240), who in p. 233, foil, has collected a few mutilated fragments bearing the name of Valgius.) [W.R.] VA'LLIUS SYRIACUS. [Sykiacus.] VA'NGIO. [Vannius.] VA'NNIUS, a chief of the Quadi, was made king of the Suevi by Germanicus in A. D. 19 ; but after holding the power for thirty years he was driven out of his kingdom in the reign of Claudius, A. D. 50, by Vibillius the king of the Hermunduri, and his own nephews Vangio and Sido, the sons of his sister. Vannius received from Claudius a set- tlement in Pannonia, and his kingdom was divided between Vangio and Sido. (Tac. Ann. ii. 63, xii. 29, 30 ; Vannianum regnum, Plin. H. N. iv. 25.) VARAN ES, the name of six Persian kings of the dynasty of the Sassanidae. [Sassanidae, p. 715.] L. VARE'NUS. 1. Was accused, probably about B. c. 80 or 79 under the Cornelia law de Sicariis, of the murder of C. Varenus, and of an VARIUS. attempt to murder Cn. Varenus. He was defended by Cicero in a speech which is lost, but was con- demned. (Quintil. X. 13. § 28, vii. 1. § 9, ix. 2. § 56 ; Cic.Fragm.vol iv. p. 443, Orelli ; Drumann, Geschichie Roms, vol. v. pp. 244, 245.) 2. A centurion in Caesar's army distinguished himself, along Avith T. Pulfio, by a daring act of bravery, when the camp of Q. Cicero was be- sieged by the Nervii in b. c. 54. (Caes. B. G. V. 45.) VA'RGULA, a friend of C. Julius Caesar Strabo, was noted as a wit. (Cic. de Orat. ii. 60.) VARGUNTEIUS. 1. L. Vargunteius, a senator and one of Catiline's conspirators, under- took, in conjunction with C. Cornelius, to murder Cicero in B. c. 63, but their plan was frustrated by information conveyed to Cicero through Fulvia. He was afterwards brought to trial, but could find no one to defend him, not even Hortensius, who had defended him on a former occasion when he was accused of bribery. (Sail. Cat. 17, 28, 47, pro Sull. 2.) 2. Vargunteius, legatus of Crassus, in the Parthian war, in which he perished, b. c. 54. (Plut. Crass. 28.) 3. Q. Vargunteius, a Roman grammarian, who used to lecture on the Annals of Ennius. (Suet, de III. Gram. 2.) 4. M. Vargunteius, is mentioned on coins, a specimen of which is annexed. The obverse represents the head of Pallas with m. varg., the reverse Jupiter in a quadriga with roma below. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 335.) COIN OF VARGUNTEIUS. VARI'LIA, APPULEIA. [Appuleius, No. 9.] VARFNIUS GLABER. [Glaber.] M. VARISI'DIUS, a Roman eques, a friend of L. Munatius Plancus and of Cicero (Plancus, ap. Cic. ad Fam. x. 7, 12.) VA'RIUS. 1. Q. Varius Hybrid a, tribune of the plebs, B.C. 90, was a native of Sucro in^ Spain, and received the surname of Hybrida, be- cause his mother was a Spanish woman. He is called by Cicero vastus homo atque foedus, but! nevertheless obtained considerable power in thel state by his eloquence. In his tribuneship he proposed a. lex de majestate, in order to punish alll those who had assisted or advised the Socii toj take up arms against the Roman people. Hej brought forward this law at the instigation of th« equites, who made common cause with the peopU against the reforms of Drusus ; and as they poa sessed the judicia at this time, they hoped by banishing the most distinguished senators to get the whole power of the state into their hands. The senators used all their influence to prevent the proposition from passing into a law. The other tribunes put their veto upon it, but the equites with drawn swords compelled them to give way, and the law was carried. The equites
 * ' Valgius " applied the epithet unicus to mount