Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus (Latin: [ˈpuːbliʊs tɛˈrɛntiʊs ˈwarːoː atakiːnʊs]; 82 – c. 35 BC) was a Roman poet, more polished in his style than the more famous and learned Varro Reatinus, his contemporary, and therefore more widely read by the Augustan writers.
[1] He was born in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, the southern part of Gaul with its capital at Narbonne, on the river Atax[2] (now the Aude), for his cognomen Atacinus indicates his birthplace.
[3] His translation of the Alexandrian poet Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica into Latin has some fine surviving lines;[3] and was singled out for praise by Ovid: “Of Varro too what age will not be told/And Jason’s Argo and the fleece of gold?”.
[4] Oskar Seyffert considered that the poem to have been “the most remarkable production in the domain of narrative epic poetry between the time of Ennius and that of Vergil”.
Marmoreo Licinus tumulo iacet, at Cato nullo, Pompeius paruo: credimus esse deos?