Gaius Terentius Varro minter of coins down to the year 197 BC. Varro then disappears from history, either retiring or dying. Gaius Terentius Varro Gaius Terentius Varro (fl. 218 - 200 BC) was a Roman politician and general active during the Second Punic War. A plebeian son of a butcher, he was a populist politician who was elected consul for the year 216. While holding that office, he was decisively defeated by Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae. Varro was a member of the plebeian "gens Terentia" and the first man of note in his family. His father was reportedly a butcher who
Sexuality in ancient Rome insult against a husband who failed to prevent it. Despite the external controls and restrictions placed on a slave's sexuality, Roman art and literature perversely often portray slaves as lascivious, voyeuristic, and even sexually knowing. One of the themes of Roman comedy that distinguishes it from its Greek models is the depiction of master-slave relations. Freeborn Romans who fell into slavery were supposed to be protected from sexual exploitation, as indicated by two different stories recorded by ancient historians. Before the abolition of debt bondage in the 4th century BC, free Romans were sometimes driven to sell themselves or their