Quintus Varius Severus

Summary

Quintus Varius Severus (from 125 to 120 BC; died after 90 BC) was a politician in the late Roman Republic. He was also called Hybrida (of mixed race) because his mother was from Hispania.[1][2]

Quintus Varius Severus Hybrida was from Sucro, Hispania (in eastern Iberian peninsula, in the contemporary municipality of Albalat de la Ribera) and was the first senator of the Republic to come from the province of Hispania. In 90 BC he was elected to the tribune. He wrote a law, the lex Varia, in order to punish all those who had “assisted” those who took up arms against the Roman people.[3] In practice it was used to prosecute those who had supported giving the Socii citizenship.[3] As a result, many distinguished senators, among them Gaius Aurelius Cotta, were sent to exile.[3] In the following year after the application of the law, Varius himself was also convicted by the same law he wrote.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Valerius Maximus, 8,6,4. "Q. autem Varius propter obscurum ius ciuitatis Hybrida", [1]
  2. ^ Harry Thurston Peck Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1898)"Varius Hybrida"
  3. ^ a b c d Sampson, Gareth C. (2013-09-09). The collapse of Rome : Marius, Sulla and the first Civil War, 91-70 BC. Barnsley, South Yorkshire. ISBN 9781473826854. OCLC 893910287.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Original texts edit

  • Appian, Die Bürgerkriege, Buch 1,37
  • Asconius 22
  • Cicero, Brutus 304-305
  • Valerius Maximus 8,6,4

Literature edit

  • Ernst Badian, "Quaestiones Variae", Historia 4 (1969), pp. 447–491.
  • Erich S. Gruen, "The Lex Varia", Journal of Roman Studies, 55 (1965), p. 59–73.
  • Jochen Martin, Die Popularen in der Geschichte der späten Republik. Dissertation, Freiburg i. Br. 1965.
  • Lukas Thommen, Das Volkstribunat der späten römischen Republik. Stuttgart, 1989 ISBN 3-515-05187-2.