Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1243

Rh VARUS. 11. Sex. QuiNTTLius Varus, quaestor b. c. 49, belonged to the Pompeian party. He fell into Caesar's hands at the capture of Corfinium at the be- ginning of B. c. 49 ; and after being dismissed by- Caesar, he crossed over into Africa and fought under P. Atius Varus against Curio. (Caes. B. C. i, 23, ii. 28, foil.) It appears that this Varus was again pardoned by Caesar ; but, like many others, he joined the murderers of his benefactor and fought under Brutus and Cassius against the trium- virs. After the loss of the battle of Philippi, he fell by the hands of his freedman, who slew him at his own request. (Veil. Pat. ii, 71.) He was the father of the Varus who fell in Germany. [No. 13.] 12. QoiNTiLius Varus, of Cremona, a friend of Horace and Virgil, died in b. c. 24. (Hieronym. in Eusch. Chron. Ib9. 1.) We learn from the ancient Scholiasts on Horace that this Quintilius is the same as the Quintilius, who is mentioned as an eminent critic in the De Arte Po'Ctica (438) and whose death Horace laments in one of his odes (i. 24). He is perhaps the same as the Varus, to whom Horace addresses the eighteenth ode of the first book, and also as the Varus mentioned in the fifth Epode. (Weichert,Z)e L. Varii et Cassii Parmensis Vita, p. 121, foil. ; Estre, Horatiana Prosopographeia, p. 202, foil.) 13. P. Quintilius Varus, son of No. 11, was consul B.C. 13 with Tib. Claudius Nero, after- wards the emperor Tiberius. (Dion Cass. liv. 25.) Varus was subsequently appointed to the govern- ment of Syria as the successor of Sentius Satur- ninus, and remained in that province for several years, where he acquired enormous wealth. Ac- cording to the antithetical expression of Velleius Paterculus (ii. 117), "as a poor man he entered the rich country, and as a rich man left the country poor." Shortly after his return from Syria he was made governor of Germany (probably about A. d. 7). Drusus had conquered a great part of central Germany as far as the Visurgis (Weser), and the various German tribes between this river and the Rhine seemed disposed to submit quietly to the Roman rule and to adopt Roman customs and habits. The time appeared favourable to Augustus for introducing into the country the regular ad- ministration of a Roman province ; but he made an unfortunate choice in the person whom he se- lected to carry his purpose into effect. Varus was a man of moderate talents and fond of an idle and quiet life ; he possessed neither the abilities nor the energy necessary for the important task en- trusted to him. In addition to which, he had for years received in Syria the servile obedience of a race, which had long been accustomed to the Roman government ; while in Germany he was called to rule over a brave and high-spirited people, who had only recently been subdued, and knew nothing of the jurisdiction of a Roman province. As soon as Varus had crossed the Rhine, he proceeded to levy taxes and to introduce the Ro- man jurisdiction in the newly conquered country. For this he is strongly censured by Dion Cassius (Ivi. 18) and Velleius Paterculus (ii. 117), but without sufficient reason ; for there can be no doubt that he acted in accordance with his instructions ; and it must be recollected that he was the first governor of Germany, to whom the civil adminis- tration as well as the military command had been entrusted. His mistake was in the manner in which he carried his instructions into effect, and VARUS. 1231 in his infatuation in supposing that a brave nation could be governed in the same way as a herd of Syrian slaves. The Germans viewed with dismay and indignation the abolition of their own laws, and the introduction of the Roman jurisdiction, in con- sequence of which their rights, their property and even their lives would depend upon the decision of a Roman proconsul. They were ripe for revolt, and found a leader in Arminius, a noble chief of the Cherusci, who had previously served in the Roman army and had been rewarded by the Roman franchise and the equestrian rank. The tribes in the north and south of Germany took no part in the insurrection, but most of the people in the central parts of the country joined in the revolt : the Cherusci were at the head with their subjects, and besides them we read of the Marsi, the Catti, and the Bructeri. Varus was blind to the im- pending danger. In the summer of B. c. 9 he had penetrated as far as the Weser, and took up his quarters on the western bank of the river, probably not far from the spot where it is joined by the Werra. Here, in fancied security, he held courts for the administration of justice, not like a general at the head of his army, but as if he were the city praetor sitting in the Roman forum. According to the preconcerted plan of Arminius, the orders of Varus were obeyed without opposition ; and the most distinguished German chiefs, and among them Arminius himself, constantly visited his camp and lived with him on the most friendly terms. Varus therefore finding every thing so peaceful and the people so submissive did not consider it necessary to keep all his soldiers together in the summer camp. He had with him three Roman legions with their regular number of auxiliary troops, and a strong body of cavalry ; but he had, at the re- quest of Arminius and the other chiefs, sent various detachments into the surrounding country for the protection of the convoys or of the inhabitants against marauders. Such was the posture of affairs, when late in the summer Varus was surprised by the intelligence that a distant tribe of Germans had risen in arms against the Romans. This however was only a feint to draw Varus from his encampment ; and it succeeded. He collected his army and commenced his march towards the south accompanied by Arminius and the German chiefs. The latter however left him almost immediately, promising to return as soon as they had collected their forces. Varus allowed them to depart and continued his march without suspicion. His road lay through the vallies of the Saltus Teutoburgiensis, a range of hills covered with wood, which extends north of the Lippe from Osnabriick to Paderbom, and is known in the present day by the name of the Teutoburgerwald or Lippische Wald. Varus had entered the pass, not suspecting any danger, his army in a long straggling line, encumbered with baggage, and accompanied by the wives and chil- dren, whom the soldiers had brought with them from their summer quarters, when the Germans suddenly appeared and attacked the Romans on all sides. The Romans were unable to form in line of battle, and with difficulty fought their way to a more open spot in the wood, where they pitched their camp for the night. The size and the ar- rangement of this camp, which Germanicus saw six years afterwards, showed that the three legions had not on the first day sustained any material loss. (Tac. Ann. i. 61.) Varus was now fully