Talk:Aulus Terentius Varro Murena

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Conspiracy with Fannius Caepio

Latest comment: 13 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion

The final sentence in this article is problematic, regardless that it is linked to a published source. As it currently stands, Aulus Terentius Varro Murena was accused of conspiring with Fannius Caepio and executed as a result. Then, sometime later, Fannius Caepio is again accused of conspiring against Augustus, this time with Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena, the Legate of Syria. Given that all the persons who were involved in the so-called Murena conspiracy were executed without trial, including Fannius Caepio, it seems unlikely that he survived and was given another opportunity to conspire against Augustus.

The source for this, Clifford Ando's "Imperial ideology and provincial loyalty in the Roman Empire", gives a sequence of events that is not only contrary to the information presented in the article, but also at odds the traditional assessment of the events around 23 and 22 BC. According to Ando, Aulus Terentius Varro Murena died in 23 BC, prior to assuming the consulate, and it was his adopted brother, Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena, who was involved in the conspiracy against Augustus. Somehow, during all this, Ando fails to mention the trial of Marcus Primus, who was defended by Murena and was linked in some way to the eventual charges of conspiracy. Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena was in Syria at the time, so it couldn't have been him, yet according to Ando, Aulus Terentius Varro Murena was dead (the trial could not have preceeded his death as he wouldn't have been made consul designate had he offended Augustus).

Doing some further checking of recent secondary sources, Holland (Augustus, Godfather of Europe, 2004) and Eck & Takacs (The Age of Augustus, 2003) argue that it was Aulus Terentius Varro Murena, while Raaflaub (Between republic and empire: interpretations of Augustus and his principate, 1993), Davies (Aspects of Roman history, 82 BC-AD 14: a source-based approach, 2010), Southern (Augustus, 1998), and Wells (The Roman Empire, 1995) agree with Ando that it was Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena. Oatley2112 (talk) 02:48, 29 September 2011 (UTC)Reply

Having looked at a number of sources, it appears that the modern consensus is that Aulus Terentius Varro Murena died before achieving the Consulate, and that Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena was the one involved in the conspiracy against Augustus after his term as Legate of Syria was over. I shall correct this article and create one for Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena. Oatley2112 (talk) 05:21, 30 September 2011 (UTC)Reply

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