Talk:Varro Atacinus

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I removed this text, because at least some of these works were written by the other, more famous Varro and I'm not wise enough to sift them out: He also published love poems, Cosmographia or Chorographia (a work on geography, referred to by Virgil), Ephemeris, an agricultural calendar after Aratus, and Rerum Rusticarum ("Rustic Affairs").

That's my own translation of the epigraph: it needs vetting. --Wetman 18:01, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Looks OK to me! — Bill 12:22pm, 22 Mar 2005 (Chicago time)

Hmm. The part with "Credimus esse deos" is a little unwieldy. If you're reading the acc. Deos as the object of esse, which seems reasonable enough, you could eliminate the strange question mark construction with something like "Do we believe we are gods?" It's helpful to remember that, in your reading of the sentence, esse is taking the 1st plural subject governing credimus anyway. It's not a grammar test, so it should be fine to change the actual grammar to ensure readability in the English--just like you did with Pompeius paruo, where when you translated it, you gave Pompeius a dative sense. But, it reads a lot better than something like "Pompey is for a small one" or something similar.

This seems a mite dated and tendentious. Atacinus is and was a minor poet, and he was never more notable than the scholar and politician. Sources more recent than 1877 should be consulted. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 00:53, 21 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

dared not mention?

I see someone has marked as dubious the claim that the Augustan poets "dared not mention" the more famous polymath's name. I don't know whether that Varro is ever named by the Augustans, but "dared" implies that he was under such a dark anti-Caesarian cloud that it was dangerous to speak of him. How could this be true, when Julius Caesar himself pardoned Varro for taking the Optimate side, and gave Varro stuff to do (put him in charge of the public library, as I recall)? Cynwolfe (talk) 16:37, 10 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It does seem dubious and no source is mentioned for the claim, therefore I have removed it. It is true that he was not mentioned by any Augustan writers, but no reason is given. In response to your question, Julius Caesar appointed Varro Reatinus to oversee Rome's public library, but was proscribed by Antony. Antony later pardoned him, but left him destitute. Augustus later restored his wealth, but I am unsure if he reappointed him to the status of overseer of the library. He was quite old at that time, so I imagine not. Varro Reatinus (talk) 19:25, 11 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]