Varro

Varro may refer to several people bearing the Latin name Varro, most prominently Marcus Terentius Varro (c. 116–27 BCE), also known as Varro Reatinus, a Roman scholar and writer. Varro was among the most prolific authors of his era, producing a large body of work on topics ranging from language and literature to history, agriculture, and natural philosophy. Although his corpus was vast, only a portion survives in complete form; much of what is known about his ideas comes from later authors who quoted or cited him, notably Cicero and Pliny the Elder.

During the late Republic, Varro sought to codify and preserve knowledge through a method combining philology, antiquarian inquiry, and practical observation. His best known surviving work is De Lingua Latina, a comprehensive study of Latin grammar, etymology, and vocabulary that influenced later grammarians and lexicographers. He also wrote De Re Rustica, a substantial treatise on farming and rural life, cited by later agricultural writers. Other works covered history, religion, and the natural world; these were largely lost but referenced in later Roman literature.

Varro's reputation rests on his breadth of learning and his role in shaping Latin prose. He influenced a tradition of learned miscellany in the Latin curriculum and is frequently cited as a source by later scholars. The name Varro is also borne by other individuals in Roman and modern history, but Marcus Terentius Varro remains the best known.