Background
Through his mother, Varus was a cousin to the future Roman empress Valeria Messalina.
jurist politician Ancient Roman senator
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 ca 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.
Varus was born in Rome between the years 1-6 and was raised in the city.
In late AD 6 or 7, his father was appointed to govern and Romanize the newly conquered Germania Inferior across the Rhine. But in September 9, due to his defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest he committed suicide.
After the death of his father, his mother never remarried and in 26, Pulchra died in exile as a victim of the treason trials of Sejanus. In 27, Varus became another victim from the treason trials of the Palace Guardsman Sejanus.
lieutenant is not known what Varus was charged with nor to what degree it was provoked.
He may had been charged with treason or maiestas. The outcome of the case is unknown as there is no further mention in the sources, but the absence of his family from history makes it likely that he was later condemned or committed suicide. Possible Survivor of the Treason Trials of Sejanus & Possible A passage from the Seneca the Elder (Controv i 3, 10), suggests that Varus may have been acquitted from his trial.
According to Seneca the Elder, Varus had somewhat a successful legal career, despite Lucius Cestius Pius taunting Varus with his father’s defeat in the Teutoburg Forest.
Varus married a noblewoman called Plautia Laterana, by whom he had a daughter called Quinctilia.
Varus was a member of the gens, Quinctilia.