Quintus Varius Severus
Quintus Varius Severus was a politician in the late Roman Republic. He was also called Hybrida because his mother was from Hispania.
Quintus Varius Severus Hybrida was from Sucro, Hispania and was the first senator of the Republic to come from the province of Hispania. In 90 BC he was elected to the tribune. He wrote a law, the lex Varia, in order to punish all those who had “assisted” those who took up arms against the Roman people. In practice it was used to prosecute those who had supported giving the Socii citizenship. As a result, many distinguished senators, among them Gaius Aurelius Cotta, were sent to exile. In the following year after the application of the law, Varius himself was also convicted by the same law he wrote.
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Literature
- Ernst Badian, "Quaestiones Variae", Historia 4, pp. 447–491.
- Erich S. Gruen, "The Lex Varia", Journal of Roman Studies, 55, p. 59–73.
- Jochen Martin, Die Popularen in der Geschichte der späten Republik. Dissertation, Freiburg i. Br. 1965.
- Lukas Thommen, Das Volkstribunat der späten römischen Republik. Stuttgart, 1989.