From Rerum rusticarum libri III:
> Precautions must also be taken in the neighbourhood of swamps, both for the reasons given, and because there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases. [...] See that the steading does not face in the direction from which the infected wind usually comes, and do not build in a hollow, but rather on elevated ground, as a well-ventilated place is more easily cleared if anything obnoxious is brought in. Furthermore, being exposed to the sun during the whole day, it is more wholesome, as any animalculae which are bred near by and brought in are either blown away or quickly die from the lack of humidity. (emphasis mine)
Does this sound like bacterial and microbial theory or does it? Or did the ancient miasmic theory of bad air also include the presence of "animalculae" in the air? Was this something Varro deduced himself or did he rely on earlier writers or on common lore?
I've always been lead to believe that Romans viewed retreat with disgrace, and many Roman military commanders (Varus, Brutus+Cassius, Antony etc) committed suicide after devastating defeats. Varro encouraged Rome to abandon Fabian strategy and attack Hannibal, left his fellow Consul to die on the field, and then survived. I've heard the regular soldiers who fought their way out at Cannae were sent to Sicily to await a dangerous military mission so they could die with honor. How did Varro not only return to Rome but continue to serve in major posts?
Gaius Terentius Varro was a Roman Consul during the second Punic War against Carthage and made arguably one of the greatest cock-ups in history, mainly because he was a glory-seeking idiot.
Hannibal had crossed the Alps with his elephants and won every battle he had fought against the Romans. Roman casualties were stacking up. 2000 dead at Ticinus, 26,000 at Trebia, 15,000 at Lake Trasimene.
The Romans were losing, and so elected Fabius Maximus as Dictator for a year. Fabius' strategy was to explicitly not fight Hannibal in a pitched battle, but instead wearing him down by whittling away at his army and harassing their supply lines.
This strategy was deeply unpopular, and so when Fabius' term was up, he was not re-elected.
Enter Varro. He was elected as Consul alongside Lucius Aemilius Paullus, which meant that between them both, they were essentially commanders-in-chief for a year. They would resume the typical way of things, and seek to engage Hannibal. They were given the largest Roman army that had ever been assembled, and indeed one of the largest that would ever be assembled. Eight legions of Roman troops numbering about 40,000, and an equal number of "Allied" troops from cities and tribes under Roman hegemony, for a total of 80,000 men. Hannibal would be outnumbered almost than two to one.
Varro's co-Consul Paullus was cautious. He was very much aware that Hannibal was a spectacularly competent general. He wanted to provoke Hannibal into making the first move, since Hannibal's victories up to that point had tended to involve the Romans blundering in pig-headedly.
Varro disagreed. He wanted to blunder in pig-headedly, and take the glory for shattering Hannibal.
Unfortunately for Rome, the consuls took it in turns to command the army each day. On the morning of the 2nd of August, 216 BC, Varro crossed a river to meet Hannibal's army in battle. He ordered the army to form up into a thick line and advance towards Hannibal's centre to break it.
However, Hannibal guessed in advance that Varro would do just this, and so to counter it he deployed his army in a bow-shaped formation with his weakest troops in the centre. He wanted the Romans to try and break his centre.
Hannibal's one advantage was his cavalry. He had far more than the Romans, and it was generally better quality. In the opening move of the battle, Hannibal charged his cavalry at the Romans'. The fighting was vicious, and on the Roman right flank there was so little space
... keep reading on reddit ➡Marcus Terrentius Varro wrote, in De Re Rustica in the 1st book in the 10th chapter, that "vorsum" was a unit of length used in Campania, and that in their language "vor" means "hundred" and that "sum" means "feet". Which language was that?
I believe it was Etruscan. What other language could it be? Clearly it wasn't Latin or Greek, since Latin word for "hundred" was "centum" and Greek was "hekaton". Perhaps it was Illyrian (Messapian), but I think the Illyrian word for "hundred" would have been something similar to the Indo-European root *k^(j)mtom, rather than "vor". It probably wasn't Phoenician either, as Phoenician was closely related to Hebrew, and Hebrew word for "hundred" was "meha".
Personally I would put Varro above Agron. We haven't gotten many scenes of Varro fighting however I remember in the initial part of season 1 varro trained with a prime crixus and although it was a very short scene (I think they showed him training with crixus twice) I know I may be looking too deep into it but crixus absolutely violated duro during their fight but you never really seen Varro banged up after the training. His skills could only have improved as time went on. What do you think?
I won't count the blow he landed on Spartacus because I don't think Spartacus went all out in that fight
Meie Varro, kes Sa oled Facebookis! Pühitsetud olgu Sinu kaabu. Sinu laivid tulgu. Sinu tahtmine sündigu nagu Objektiivis, nõnda ka SAPTKs. Meie igapäevast laimu anna meile tänapäev. Ja anna meile andeks meie valitsus, nagu meiegi andeks anname oma tervishoiu töötajatele. Ja ära saada meid Toompeale, vaid päästa meid ära homoparaadidest. Sest Sinu päralt on kriitiliselt mõtlejad ja põhiseadise tundjad ja au igavesti.
Varro!
I'd like to think there was, how small it may have been. For instance, the boy was fond of Spartacus. Spartacus could've talked him out of it and make ridiculous promises such as him becoming his personal gladiator - Batiatus would accept literally everything to rise, even getting his wife fucked by others.
Another way could've been Spartacus faking a fall, becoming unconscious.
It's a hard scene to watch
