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Here the spectre of Varus, begrimed and gory, had risen from the morass to warn Germanicus, who came to avenge him, that Gothic freedom was a dangerous antagonist. And now, in the perpetual reproductions of history, another German warrior occupied a spot of vantage in that same perilous region.
The same summer during which these decrees were passed at Rome, and these transactions took place in Africa, Publius Quinctilius Varus, the praetor, and Marcus Cornelius, the proconsul, fought a pitched battle with Mago the Carthaginian in the territories of the Insubrian Gauls.
He was the author of a poem on Aetna, which in the opinion of many competent judges is the poem which has come down to us, and has been attributed to Varus, Virgil, and others. It has been admirably edited by Mr. Munro. Quaest., iv. ad init.
The weak Varus, who had underestimated the influence of Arminius, attempted to quell the rising, but without success, and the bank of the river was the scene of a wholesale slaughter.
Upon Maroboduus he fell with contumelious names, as "a fugitive, one of no abilities in war; a coward who had sought defence from the gloomy coverts of the Hercynian woods, and then by gifts and solicitations courted the alliance of Rome; a betrayer of his country, and a lifeguard-man of Caesar's, worthy to be exterminated with no less hostile vengeance than in the slaughter of Quinctilius Varus they had shown.
By his influence and that of his friends, Cornelius Gallus and Alfenus Varus the former a soldier and poet, the latter an eminent jurist, who both had been fellow-students of Virgil at Rome Virgil was compensated by an estate in Campania, and introduced to the intimate circle of Octavianus, who, under the terms of the triumvirate, was already absolute ruler of Italy.
Well; there is something to be said about that. Augustus was old, and the generals of the imperial family, who knew their business, were engaged elsewhere. And Germany was being governed by a good amiable soul by the name of Quintilius Varus, who persisted in treating the Germans as if they had been civilized Italians.
"They have always thought that Varus withdrew in the direction of Aliso the exact situation of which no man has ever discovered well, anyway, in a northerly direction, and in accordance with that theory the battle is supposed to have taken place between the sources of the Lippe and the Ems, near Detmold, Lippspring, Paderborn, and God knows where else!"
But by the Germans the Roman People have been bereft of five armies, all commanded by Consuls; by the Germans, the commanders of these armies, Carbo, and Cassius, and Scaurus Aurelius, and Servilius Caepio, as also Marcus Manlius, were all routed or taken: by the Germans even the Emperor Augustus was bereft of Varus and three legions.
When Varus, presuming that the troops of Curio wanted opportunity to pass over to his side, resolved to give battle chiefly for the sake of affording them this opportunity, the result did not justify his expectations.
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