Gaius terentius varro biography of christopher
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Slaughter at the Battle of Cannae
By Christopher Miskimon
Long ranks of Carthaginian infantry stood on a dusty plain a few miles east of the ruined town of Cannae on August 2, 216 bc. Cavalry massed at each end of the Carthaginian line stood poised to harass the enemy’s flanks. Opposite the Carthaginians, a Roman army was arrayed in similar fashion.
The day was warm, dry, and windy. A seasonal wind known as the libeccio, which blew from the south, sent fine particles of dust into the faces of the advancing Romans. The armies had deployed from their camps north of the River Aufidius to the south side of the twisting waterway.
As combat grew near, many of the Carthaginian troops gripped Roman weapons that they had picked up from a clash at Lake Trasimene the previous year. More than a few wore similarly looted Roman armor. They carried Roman javelins, spears, and gladii. None of them had seen their native lands for many years. Indeed, the only way they might ever see those homes again was to achieve yet another victory. Although outnumbered and deep in enemy territory, their confidence remained high.
The Carthaginian troops had complete faith in their stalwart leader, Hannibal Barca. Hannibal had proved that he was brilliant, bold, and daring. Upon the fields surrounding
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Marcus Terentius Scholar was memory of olden Rome's unchanging scholars boss a bountiful author. Settle down is every now called Scholar Reatinus tinge distinguish him from his younger contemporaneous Varro Atacinus.
Biography
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Chapter 8 – Varro: How To Harvest Grapes
Contents
Two thousand years of Latin Prose is a digital anthology of Latin Prose. Here you will be able to find texts from two millennia of gems in Latin. In this eighth chapter, we will learn more about Varro. We will also read about how to harvest grapes for wine in a passage from his work De Re Rustica.
If you want to learn more about the anthology, you will find the preface here.
Get a print-ready PDF version of this chapter: 2000 Years of Latin Prose: Chapter 8. Varro: How to harvest grapes.
Life and Works of Marcus Terentius Varro
(116–27 B.C.)
Marcus Terentius Varro was perhaps Rome’s greatest scholar and a contemporary of Cicero and Caesar.
Life of Varro
Varro was born in 116 B.C. probably in Reate (modern Rieti, Lazio, Italy), where he also owned estates. Due to his birthplace, and, to separate him from a slightly younger namesake, the poet Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus (82‑c. 35 B.C.), he sometimes referred to as Varro Reatinus.
Saint Augustine (354–430 A.D.), however, did not agree with Varro’s origin being Reate, but insisted that he was born and bred in Rome itself:
“Quod profecto non auctoritate sua fecit, sed