The late Republican theologian Varro said that the Consualia were named for Consus.

" Varro ( 1st century BC ) said that enixae was the term for women in labor brought about by the Nixae, who oversee the types of religious practices that pertain to those giving birth.

" Macrobius reports the theological view of Varro that " those who dig out truth more diligently have said that the Penates are those through whom we breathe in our inner core ( penitus ), through whom we have a body, through whom we possess a rational mind.

Varro regarded her as the female counterpart of Faunus, and said that the fauni all had prophetic powers.

During Virgil's time Aeneas was well-known and various versions of his adventures were circulating in Rome, including Roman Antiquities by Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( relying on Marcus Terentius Varro, Ab Urbe Condita by Livy ( probably dependent on Quintus Fabius Pictor, fl.

The traditional date for the founding of Rome of 21 April 753 BC, was initiated by Varro.

Although there were earlier works of similar nature, by Marcus Terentius Varro for example, Pliny's was the only one to survive the Dark Ages.

Shortly after Fabius had laid down his Dictatorship, Gaius Terentius Varro, was elected Consul.

Varro, who was in command on the first day, was a man of reckless and hubristic nature, and was determined to defeat Hannibal.

The most learned writer of the period was Varro.

Ancient Romans, such as Pliny the Elder ( Natural History, 3. 5 ) and Varro ( cited by Pliny ), speculated that the name Lusitania was of Roman origin, as when Pliny says lusum enim liberi patris aut lyssam cum eo bacchantium nomen dedisse lusitaniae et pana praefectum eius universae: that Lusitania takes its name from the lusus associated with Bacchus and the lyssa of his Bacchantes, and that Pan is its governor.

Suetonius attributes the loss of the imperial favour to Maecenas ' having indiscreetly revealed to Terentia, his beautiful but difficult wife, the discovery of the conspiracy in which her brother Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena was implicated, but according to Dio Cassius it was due to the emperor's relations with Terentia.

However, the earliest known idea to indicate the possibility of diseases spreading by yet unseen organisms was that of the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro in a 1st century BC book titled On Agriculture in which he warns against locating a homestead near swamps:

Pecorino Romano cheese, whose method of production was first described by Latin authors like Varro and Pliny the Elder about 2, 000 years ago, was first created in the countryside around Rome.

At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Varro ( or, less frequently, year 731 Ab urbe condita ).

At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Varro ( or, less frequently, year 777 Ab urbe condita ).

Finally, under the Roman Empire, the date suggested by Marcus Terentius Varro, 753 BC, was agreed upon, but in the Fasti Capitolini the year given was 752.

Varro was acquainted with the libri pontificum (" books of the Pontiffs ") and their archaic classifications.

Unlike the Greek tradition of Cronus and Zeus, the usurpation of Saturn as king of the gods by Jupiter was not viewed by the Latins as violent or hostile ; Saturn continued to be revered in his temple at the foot of the Capitol Hill, which maintained the alternative name Saturnius into the time of Varro.

In response to the first threat, Rome's best general, Lucius Licinius Lucullus ( consul in 74 BC ), was sent to defeat Mithridates, followed shortly by his brother Varro Lucullus ( consul in 73 BC ).

Set by Varro, this was the most common date used.

At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Varro and Paullus ( or, less frequently, year 538 Ab urbe condita ).

" And since in practically all the temples where Serapis and Isis were worshiped there was also a figure that seemed to enjoin silence by a finger pressed against its lips, Varro thinks this had the same meaning, that no mention should be made of their having been human beings "

When Pompey was granted Hispania ( Iberia, comprising modern Spain and Portugal ) as a proconsular province, Afranius, together with Marcus Petreius and Marcus Terentius Varro, governed in his stead, Pompey remaining in Rome to manage affairs there.

Varro states his teacher Aelius Stilo called this god Diovis filium, i. e. Dius Filius as the Grreek Διόσκορον Castorem on the grounds of the alternance of the letters d and l in the Sabine tongue and identified him in Sabine Sancus and Greek Hercules.

Varro, who was himself Sabine, placed the Novensides in his much-noted catalogue of Sabine deities.

Varro, however, lists Summanus among gods he considers of Sabine origin, to whom king Titus Tatius dedicated altars ( arae ) in consequence of a votum.

" He did find, however, a vocabulary identified as Sabine of about 36 words in glosses by Roman authors ( such as Varro ) on other Greek and Latin authors and inscriptions.

The extravagant claims of Varro and Cicero that augury, divination by dreams and the worship of Minerva and Mars originated with the Sabines are disputable, as they were general Italic and Latin customs, as well as Etruscan, despite the fact that they were espoused by Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome and a Sabine.

Magna Graecia and Lanuvium mixed their influence in the formation of the Roman Hercules and perhaps there was a Sabine element too as is testified by Varro, supported by the find of the sanctuary of Hercules Curinus at Sulmona and by the existence of a Juno Curitis in Latium.

Varro places Feronia in his list of Sabine gods who had altars in Rome.

She is named as Mania by Varro ( 116 – 27 BC ), who believes her an originally Sabine deity.

" Varro connects the word with pandere, " to open ," but also explains it by panem dare, " to give bread ," so that Empanda would be the goddess of bread or food.

The Late Republican scholar Varro lists him as one of the twelve deities who presided over agriculture, paired with Lympha, the goddess who influenced the water supply.

Furrina ( or Furina ), was an ancient Roman goddess whose function had become obscure by the time of Varro.

Varro and Ovid relate, that in the Palilia, celebrated in honour of the goddess Pales, on the 20th of April, the anniversary of the foundation of Rome, the young Romans leaped over burning bundles of hay.

* Mother of the Lares ( Latin Mater Larum ), Roman chthonic goddess identified with Mania by Varro

Varro identified Feronia with Libertas, the goddess who personified Liberty.

Both the festival and the goddess had become obscure even to the Romans of the Late Republic ; Varro ( mid-1st century BC ) notes that few people in his day even know her name.

* 216 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of Cannae – The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army under command of consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro.

Varro may have used the consular list with its mistakes, and called the year of the first consuls " 245 ab urbe condita ", accepting the 244-year interval from Dionysius of Halicarnassus for the kings after the foundation of Rome.

The ancient Latin writers Varro and Cicero considered the etymology of Dīāna as allied to that of dies and connected to the shine of the Moon.

In Rome the cult of Diana should have been almost as old as the city itself as Varro mentions her in the list of deities to whom king Titus Tatius vowed a shrine.

Only a few educated Romans with antiquarian interests, such as Varro, could read Etruscan.

The rashness of Varro did not surprise Fabius, but when Fabius learned of the size of the army ( eighty-eight thousand soldiers ) that Varro had raised, he became quite concerned.

Unlike the losses that had been suffered by Minucius, a major loss by Varro had the potential to kill so many soldiers that Rome might have had no further resources with which to continue the war.

Fabius had warned the other Consul for the year, Aemilius Paullus, to make sure that Varro remained unable to directly engage Hannibal.

When word reached Rome of the disastrous Roman defeat under Varro and Paullus at the Battle of Cannae, the Senate and the People of Rome turned to Fabius for guidance.

Once the Roman Senate resumed their consular elections in 216 BC, they appointed Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus as consuls.

Hannibal capitalized on the eagerness of Varro and drew him into a trap by using an envelopment tactic, which eliminated the Roman numerical advantage by shrinking the combat area.

Pliny's description of the exposed portion of the tomb is intractable ; Pliny, it seems clear, had not observed this structure himself, but is quoting the historian and Roman antiquarian Varro.

The traditional chronology, as codified by Varro, allots 243 years for their reigns, an average of almost 35 years, which, since the work of Barthold Georg Niebuhr, has been generally discounted by modern scholarship.

* Marcus Terentius Varro, Roman scholar ( b. 116 BC )