Publius Quinctilius Varus

Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC Cremona, Roman Republic – Sept. 9 AD near Kalkriese, Germany) 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 led by Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, whereupon he took his own life.

Family Background, Early Life, & Early Political Career

Varus was born into the gens, Quinctilia. Although he was a patrician by birth, his family, though aristocratic, had long been impoverished and was unimportant. His paternal grandfather Sextus Quinctilius Varus was a senator. His father, also named Sextus Quinctilius Varus, was a senator who had served as a quaestor in 49 BC. This Sextus aligned with the Senatorial Party in the civil war against Gaius Julius Caesar. Although Sextus survived the defeat, it is unknown whether he was involved in the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar. Sextus committed suicide after the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC. The mother of Varus is unknown. Varus had three sisters. 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.

Quinctilius Varus

Publius Quinctilius Varus Minor (Minor Latin for the younger) also known as Publius Quinctilius Varus the Younger,Varus the Younger,Publius Quinctilius Varus filius and Quinctilius Varus was an Ancient Roman nobleman who lived in the 1st century.

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 from his third wife Claudia Pulchra. Through his mother, Varus was a cousin to the future Roman empress Valeria Messalina;. Claudia Pulchra was the sister of Messallina's father, the short-lived Marcus Valerius Messala Barbatus (died ca. 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 and Britannicus.

Early life

Varus was born in Rome between the years 1-6 and was raised in the city. In late AD 6 or 7, his father was appointed to govern and Romanize the newly conquered Germania Inferior across the Rhine. But in Sept. 9, due to his defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest he committed suicide. After the death of his father, his mother never remarried and in 26, Pulchra died in exile as a victim of the treason trials of Sejanus. Varus became wealthy through his parent’s inheritance.