Quinctilius Varus Minor

Publius Quinctilius Varus Minor (Minor in Latin means 'the younger') (AD 4 AD 27) was a Roman senator. 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 c. 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. Biography Early life Varus was born in Rome in the year 4 and was raised in the city. In late AD 6 or 7, his father was appointed to govern and organize the newly conquered Germania Inferior across the Rhine. But in September AD 9, due to his defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest Varus the Elder committed suicide. After the death of his father, his mother never remarried and in AD 26, Pulchra died in exile as a victim of the treason trials of Sejanus. Varus became wealthy through his parents' inheritance.