Varro Atacinus: Difference between revisions
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==Writings== | ==Writings== | ||
Only fragments of his works survive. His first known works are {{Lang|la|Bellum sequanicum}},<ref name=Rose>H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Latin Literature'' (London 1967) p. 146</ref> a poem on [[Julius Caesar]]'s campaign against [[Ariovistus]], and some satires; these should not be confused with the ''Menippean Satires'' of the other Varro, of which some 600 fragments survive. He also wrote a geographical poem, ''Chorographia'';<ref name=EB1911/> ''Ephemeris'', a hexameter poem on weather-signs after Aratus, from which Virgil has borrowed;<ref name=EB1911/> and (late in life) elegies to his lover Leucadia.<ref name=Rose/> | |||
Only fragments of his works survive. His first known works are {{Lang|la|Bellum sequanicum}},<ref name=Rose>H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Latin Literature'' (London 1967) p. 146</ref> a poem on [[Julius Caesar]]'s campaign against [[Ariovistus]], and some satires; these should not be confused with the ''Menippean Satires'' of the other Varro, of which some 600 fragments survive. | |||
His translation of the Alexandrian poet [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]]' ''Argonautica'' into [[Latin]] has some fine surviving lines;<ref name=Rose/> and was singled out for praise by [[Ovid]]: | His translation of the Alexandrian poet [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]]' ''[[Argonautica]]'' into [[Latin]] has some fine surviving lines;<ref name=Rose/> and was singled out for praise by [[Ovid]]: "Of Varro too what age will not be told/And Jason's ''Argo'' and the fleece of gold?".<ref>A. D. Melville, trans., ''Ovid: The Love Poems'' (OUP 2008) p. 27 and p. 188</ref> [[Oskar Seyffert (classical scholar)|Oskar Seyffert]] considered that the poem to have been "the most remarkable production in the domain of narrative epic poetry between the time of Ennius and that of Vergil".<ref>O. Seyffert, ''A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (London 1892) p. 619</ref> | ||
Of Varro's fragments, the | Of Varro's fragments, the [[epigram]] on "The Tombs of the Great" is well-known; whether or not it is truly Varro's is debatable: | ||
{{Verse translation| | {{Verse translation| | ||
{{lang|la|Marmoreo Licinus tumulo iacet, at [[Cato the Younger|Cato]] nullo, | {{lang|la|Marmoreo Licinus tumulo iacet, at [[Cato the Younger|Cato]] nullo, | ||
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In a marble tomb [the freedman] Licinus lies; yet Cato lies in none | In a marble tomb [the freedman] Licinus lies; yet Cato lies in none | ||
and Pompey in but a small: | and Pompey in but a small: do we believe there are gods?}} | ||
==Patrons== | ==Patrons== | ||
[[Cicero]] as well as [[Caesar]] have been suggested as possible patrons of Varro's writings.<ref>B. Gold ed., ''Literary and Artistic Patronage in Ancient Rome'' (2012) p. 91</ref> | [[Cicero]] as well as [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] have been suggested as possible patrons of Varro's writings.<ref>B. Gold ed., ''Literary and Artistic Patronage in Ancient Rome'' (2012) p. 91</ref> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Latest revision as of 06:00, 29 December 2025
Template:Short description Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus (Script error: No such module "IPA".; 82 – c. 35 BC) was a Roman poet, more polished in his style than the more famous and learned Varro Reatinus, his contemporary, and therefore more widely read by the Augustan writers.[1] He was born in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, the southern part of Gaul with its capital at Narbonne, on the river Atax[2] (now the Aude), for his cognomen Atacinus indicates his birthplace. Varro Atacinus was also in the neoteric circle, which included other notable poets such as Catullus and Marcus Furius Bibaculus.
Writings
Only fragments of his works survive. His first known works are Script error: No such module "Lang".,[3] a poem on Julius Caesar's campaign against Ariovistus, and some satires; these should not be confused with the Menippean Satires of the other Varro, of which some 600 fragments survive. He also wrote a geographical poem, Chorographia;[2] Ephemeris, a hexameter poem on weather-signs after Aratus, from which Virgil has borrowed;[2] and (late in life) elegies to his lover Leucadia.[3]
His translation of the Alexandrian poet Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica into Latin has some fine surviving lines;[3] and was singled out for praise by Ovid: "Of Varro too what age will not be told/And Jason's Argo and the fleece of gold?".[4] Oskar Seyffert considered that the poem to have been "the most remarkable production in the domain of narrative epic poetry between the time of Ennius and that of Vergil".[5]
Of Varro's fragments, the epigram on "The Tombs of the Great" is well-known; whether or not it is truly Varro's is debatable: Template:Verse translation
Patrons
Cicero as well as Caesar have been suggested as possible patrons of Varro's writings.[6]
See also
Notes
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Charles Thomas Cruttwell, History of Roman Literature (1877) Template:Webarchive: Book II, part I, note III
- ↑ a b c Template:Cite EB1911
- ↑ a b c H. J. Rose, A Handbook of Latin Literature (London 1967) p. 146
- ↑ A. D. Melville, trans., Ovid: The Love Poems (OUP 2008) p. 27 and p. 188
- ↑ O. Seyffert, A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (London 1892) p. 619
- ↑ B. Gold ed., Literary and Artistic Patronage in Ancient Rome (2012) p. 91
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External links
- Fragments of Varro Atacinus, with Portuguese translation.