Publius Quinctilius Varus | |
|---|---|
 Varus (left, sitting down), engraving from 1714 | |
| Born | 46 BC or before |
| Died | September AD 9 (aged 54–55) |
| Cause of death | Suicide viafalling on the sword |
| Allegiance | Roman Empire |
| Branch | Roman army |
| Rank | Governor (political) |
| Commands | |
| Engagements | |
| Children | Publius Quinctilius Varus the Younger |
Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC or before – September AD 9) was a Roman general and politician. Serving underAugustus, the founder of theRoman Empire, he is generally remembered for having lost threeRoman legions in theBattle of the Teutoburg Forest and subsequently committing suicide to avoidcapture (and inevitableexecution) andshameful reproach. Varus's defeat to theGermanic tribes led byArminius is considered to be one of the most important events inEuropean history, as it dissuaded the Romans from further expanding intoGermania and thus prevented theRomanization of the Germanic peoples to the east of theRhine.
Although he was apatrician by birth, Varus's family, the Quinctilii Vari, had long been impoverished and was unimportant;Ronald Syme notes, "The sole and last consul of that family", Sextus Quinctilius, "had been two years antecedent to theDecemvirs" (i.e., 453 BC).[1] His father,Sextus Quinctilius Varus, was a senator who had served as aquaestor in 49 BC.[1] This Sextus aligned with the Senatorial Party in thecivil war againstJulius Caesar.[2] Although Sextus survived the defeat, it is unknown whether he was involved in theassassination of Julius Caesar. Sextus killed himself after theBattle of Philippi in 42 BC.[3] The mother of Varus is unknown; Syme notes that "no relatives on either side of the family can be discovered or surmised."[1]
Varus had three sisters, all named Quinctilia. They were probably all younger based on when they started having children, so it seems likely he was born at least four years before his father's suicide. The fact that they had advantageous marriages indicates someone was involved in their upbringing. One sister marriedPublius Cornelius Dolabella, consul of 35 BC; another marriedSextus Appuleius, consul of 29 BC; and the third marriedLucius Nonius Asprenas, son of the consul of 36 BC.[4]
Varus marriedVipsania, the daughter ofMarcus Agrippa, at an unknown date before 13 BC.[5] Varus became a personal friend to Marcus Agrippa and Tiberius.
Vipsania later disappears from history. It is unknown whether she died or was divorced. Varus then marriedClaudia Pulchra, the daughter ofClaudia Marcella Minor and the Roman consul of 12 BC,Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus.[6][7] Pulchra's maternal grandmother wasOctavia the Younger, sister of Augustus. Hence, Pulchra was a grand-niece of Augustus.[8] His marriage to Pulchra suggests that Varus still enjoyed political favor at this time. Pulchra bore Varus a son, also namedPublius Quinctilius Varus.[6]
Despite his father's political allegiances, Varus became a supporter of Julius Caesar's heir,Augustus. Varus accompanied Augustus on a three-year tour of the eastern provinces between 22 BC and 19 BC, winning public acknowledgement while he was there.[9] Around 15 BC, Varus spent a year or more serving as thelegate of the 19th Legion while it was stationed at Dangstetten, as evidenced by a luggage-tag bearing his name and position excavated from the site.[10] WhenMarcus Agrippa died in early 12 BC, Varus delivered the funeral eulogy alongside the future emperorTiberius.[11][12] With his political career thus boosted, he was electedconsul in 13 BC as the colleague of Tiberius.[13]
In 8–7 BC, Varus governed theAfrican province.[14] Later, he went on to governSyria andJudaea in theLevant from 7–6 BC to 4 BC with four legions under his command. He was notorious for his harsh rule and high taxes.
The Jewish historianJosephus mentions the swift action of Varus against a messianic revolt after the death of the Romans' Jewish client kingHerod the Great in 4 BC.[15] After occupyingJerusalem, he crucified 2000Jews, making him one of the prime objects of popular resentment against Roman rule in Judaea.[citation needed]
Per archeological evidence, the people of Judaea took part in a popular full-scale boycott of Roman pottery (red slipware) in protest of Varus' cruelty.[16][better source needed] Following the massacre, Varus returned toAntioch.[17][18]
Between 10 BC and 6 AD, Tiberius, his brotherDrusus,Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, andGermanicus conducted long campaigns in Germania, the area north of the upperDanube and east of theRhine, in an attempt at achieving a further major expansion of the Roman Empire together with a shortening of its frontier line. They subdued several Germanic tribes, such as theCherusci. In 6 AD, Tiberius declared Germania pacified, and Varus was appointed to govern it. Tiberius, who would later rule as emperor, left the region to suppress theGreat Illyrian Revolt.Augustus made Publius Quinctilius Varus the first "officially appointed" governor of the newly createdRoman province of Germania in 7 AD.
In September 9 AD, Varus was preparing to leave his summer headquarters inVetera (modernXanten) and march three legions – theSeventeenth,Eighteenth, andNineteenth – with him toMoguntiacum (modernMainz) when news arrived from the Germanic princeArminius (a Roman citizen and leader of an auxiliary cavalry unit) of a growing revolt in an area of theRhine to the west. Ignoring a warning fromSegestes not to trust Arminius, Varus marched his forces behind the latter's lead.
Not only was Varus' trust in Arminius a terrible misjudgement, but Varus compounded it by placing his legions in a position where their fighting strengths would be minimized and those of the Germanic tribesmen maximized, as he expected no ambush and very little trouble in intimidating the rebels. Arminius and theCherusci, along with other allies, had skillfully laid an ambush, and in theBattle of the Teutoburg Forest in September atKalkriese (north of modernOsnabrück), the Romans marched right into it.
The heavily forested and swampy terrain made the infantry manoeuvres of the legions impossible to execute and allowed the Germanic coalition todefeat the legions in detail. On the third day of fighting, Germanic fighters overwhelmed the Roman troops at Kalkriese Hill, north of Osnabrück. Accounts of the defeat are scarce, due to the totality of the defeat, but the Roman historianVelleius Paterculus testifies that some Roman cavalrymen abandoned the infantry and fled towards the Rhine, but were intercepted by Germanic tribesmen and killed.[19] Varus himself, upon seeing all hope was lost, took his own life byfalling on his sword.[20][21] Arminiuscut off Varus' head and sent it toBohemia as a present toMaroboduus of theMarcomanni, the other most important Germanic leader, whom Arminius hoped to coax into an anti-Roman military alliance, but Marboduus declined the offer and sent the head on toRome for a proper burial.
Some captured Roman soldiers were caged andburned alive; others were enslaved or ransomed. The Roman historiansTacitus andFlorus report that the victorious Germanic tribes tortured and sacrificed captive Roman officers totheir gods on altars that could still be seen years later.[22] TheRoman army later recovered the lost legions'eagles, one each underGermanicus in 15 AD, 16 AD, and 42 AD.[23]
Due to the shame and the ill luck thought to be created by the Roman defeat, the XVII, XVIII and XIX legions never again appeared in the Roman Army's order of battle. The loss at the Teutoburg Forest was keenly felt by Augustus in his remaining years. According to the biographerSuetonius, upon hearing the news, Augustus tore his clothes, refused to cut his hair for months and, for years afterwards, was heard, upon occasion, to yell, "Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions!" (Quintili Vare, legiones redde!).[24] Roman historians referred to the battle as theclades Variana ("Varian disaster").[25]
Gibbon describes Augustus' reaction to the defeat as one of the few times the normally stoic ruler lost his composure. Varus' political legacy in Rome was destroyed and the government blamed him for the defeat.[26] His son's (the younger Varus) chances for a political career were ruined. Tiberius himself fell under severe criticism for recommending Varus as the governor of Germania. Tiberius, according to Gaius Stern, was forced to sacrifice his friend and former brother-in-law to save his career.[27] Furthermore, Varus himself had been one of the figures on theAra Pacis, but the figure is lost today.
Stern has proposed that common citizens vandalized the Ara Pacis by damaging Varus in anger over their lost loved ones, leaving the regime, which had blamed Varus, uncertain as to whether or not to fix the damage.[27] Approximately 40 years after Varus' death, a general underClaudius,Pomponius Secundus, raided Germania and by chance rescued a few POWs from Varus' army.[28] Claudius welcomed them home after their long captivity, their stories arousing much pity.[citation needed]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Roman consul 13 BC withTiberius Claudius Nero | Succeeded by |
