# Marcus Varro — The City of God character guide > Marcus Varro in The City of God by Augustine of Hippo. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** the same Varro, Varro, Mark **First appearance:** 0002-part-i-book-i ## Snapshot Rome's most learned antiquarian, whose careful scholarship on the gods Augustine turns against itself with evident relish. ## Who they are Varro is the pagan scholar Augustine most respects and most enjoys cornering, a man who disbelieves the scandalous myths about the gods yet still records them as civic history. He gives Athens its name through a contest between Neptune and Minerva, and traces Aeneas into Italy with the same sober precision he applies to divine genealogies. That tension, between Varro's private skepticism and his public defense of Roman religion, is exactly the crack Augustine widens to show that even Rome's best minds could not believe what they asked others to worship. ## In the story ### [Editor's Preface](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/editor-s-preface) Mentioned indirectly as a source of Latin literature preserved through Augustine's quotations. ### [On the City of God Against the Pagans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/on-the-city-of-god-against-the-pagans) Roman scholar whose works on pagan religion are used as a source for critique. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vi) Not directly mentioned, but his historical works are implied as sources for Roman history. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xi) Referenced as Labeo, an authority on the distinction between good and evil deities. ### [Book III: External Calamities and the Failure of the Pagan Gods](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-iii) Cited for his opinion that false claims of divine descent are useful for states. ### [Of Varro's opinion, that it is useful for men to feign themselves the offspring of the gods.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iv) Heathen scholar who argued that false beliefs about divine descent are useful for states. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Cited as the source of information on Numa's religious institutions. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xii) Referenced for his classification of gods as certain and uncertain, male and female. ### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xvii) Mentioned for his work on sacred places, which cites many temples that had fallen into disuse. ### [Of the civil dissension occasioned by the sedition of the Gracchi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxiv) Not directly mentioned but source of Roman historical details. ### [Of the temple of Concord, which was erected by a decree of the senate on the scene of these seditions and massacres.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxv) Referenced indirectly through Labeo's distinction between good and evil deities, which Augustine uses to critique Roman theology. ### [Of the various kinds of wars which followed the building of the temple of Concord](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxvi) Implied as a source for Roman historical accounts, though not directly named in this excerpt. ### [Book IV: The One True God, Not the Pagan Gods, Is the Author of Earthly Kingdoms](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-iv) Cited as a learned Roman who placed scenic plays among divine things, revealing the superstition of pagan religion. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-i) Cited as a learned Roman authority who classified scenic plays among divine things. ### [Whether the great extent and long duration of the Roman empire should be ascribed to Jove, whom his worshippers believe to be the chief god.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Cited for his belief that Jove is worshipped by monotheists under another name and for his criticism of idolatry. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxii) Boasts of conferring knowledge of the gods' powers on the Romans, comparing it to knowing the skills of a physician or craftsman. ### [Concerning the three kinds of gods about which the pontiff Scaevola has discoursed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxvii) Mentioned as the author of books about things divine, who agrees with Scaevola's expediency of deceiving states in religion. ### [Whether the worship of the gods has been of service to the Romans in obtaining and extending the empire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxviii) Implied as a source for the catalog of minor gods like Aurinus, Argentinus, and Aesculanus. ### [Concerning the opinions of Varro, who, while reprobating the popular belief, thought that their worship should be confined to one god, though he was unable to discover the true God.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxxi) Roman scholar who privately doubted popular religion and advocated for worship of one god as the soul of the world, but publicly upheld tradition. ### [Chapter XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxxii) Cited for his observation that the people preferred the poets' accounts of the gods over natural philosophy. ### [Book VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-vi) Cited for his division of theology into mythical, natural, and civil, and for his detailed but incomplete account of the gods. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-i) Alluded to as one of the learned men who catalogued the specific functions of the gods. ### [What we are to believe that Varro thought concerning the gods of the nations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Praised by Augustine as the most acute and learned investigator of pagan religious rites, whose writings inadvertently expose the absurdity of the gods of the nations. ### [Varro's Distribution of His Work on Human and Divine Antiquities](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iii) Varro is the central figure of this chapter, as it describes his methodical arrangement of his books on human and divine antiquities. ### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iv) Roman scholar whose arrangement of books on human and divine things is critiqued by Augustine. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-v) Roman scholar whose tripartite division of theology is the subject of Augustine's critique. ### [Concerning the Mythic, Fabulous, and Civil Theology Against Varro](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vi) Roman scholar whose tripartite theology (fabulous, natural, civil) is examined and criticized by Augustine. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vii) Cited as the authority who recorded shameful sacred rites and the story of Hercules and Larentina in his books on divine things. ### [Chapter VIII: Concerning the interpretations, consisting of natural explanations, which the pagan teachers attempt to show for their gods.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-viii) Cited as an interpreter who links Saturn to seeds falling back into the earth. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Roman scholar whose enumeration of gods from conception to death is used to illustrate the shameful nature of civil theology. ### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-x) Varro is mentioned as having censured the fabulous theology but not the civil theology, in contrast to Seneca's more vehement critique. ### [Book VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-vii) Roman scholar whose sixteen books on civil theology and selection of twenty select gods are the main subject of critique; his interpretations of myths are shown to be inconsistent and reductive. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-i) Roman scholar whose sixteen books on civil theology are referenced; his selection of select gods is under scrutiny. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Cited as the source of the list of select gods and their assigned functions. ### [Chapter III: How there is no reason which can be shown for the selection of certain gods, when the administration of more exalted offices is assigned to many inferior gods.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iii) Cited as the source for the classification of select and obscure gods. ### [Concerning the more secret doctrine of the pagans, and concerning the physical interpretations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-v) Roman scholar whose physical interpretations of the gods are examined and critiqued. ### [Concerning the opinion of Varro, that God is the soul of the world, which nevertheless, in its various parts, has many souls whose nature is divine.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vi) Proposes that God is the soul of the world and that the world is divided into parts filled with divine souls. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vii) Cited as the source of the identification of Janus with the world and the distinction between Janus and Terminus. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Roman scholar whose definitions of the gods are examined and critiqued. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xiii) Source of the exposition on Saturn and Genius, cited by Augustine. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xvii) Varro is cited as expressing doubt about his own writings on the gods, admitting uncertainty in both his books on certain and uncertain gods. ### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xviii) Cited for his natural interpretation of the myth of Saturn and Jupiter, which Augustine refutes. ### [Chapter XIX: Concerning the interpretations which compose the reason of the worship of Saturn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xix) Roman scholar whose interpretations of Saturn's myths are examined and refuted. ### [Concerning the rites of Eleusinian Ceres](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xx) Cited as the source of the naturalistic interpretation of Ceres and Proserpine. ### [Concerning the shamefulness of the rites which are celebrated in honour of Liber](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxi) Cited as the source describing the rites of Liber in Italy. ### [Concerning Neptune, and Salacia, and Venilia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxii) Cited as the source of the theological interpretations Augustine challenges. ### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxiii) Roman scholar whose theories on the soul of the world and the goddess Tellus are examined and refuted by Augustine. ### [Concerning the surnames of Tellus and their significations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxiv) Cited for his interpretation of Tellus and the Great Mother's attributes. ### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxv) Varro is noted for properly opposing and refusing to state the allegorical interpretation of Atys' mutilation, despite being learned. ### [Concerning the Abomination of the Sacred Rites of the Great Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxvi) Cited as having omitted discussion of the effeminates consecrated to the Great Mother. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxviii) Varro attempts to reduce all gods to heaven and earth but fails; his theory is inconsistent. ### [How Piety Distinguishes the Creator from the Creatures](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxx) Cited as the learned man who attempted to distribute divine works among select gods through physical interpretation. ### [That Only Through the Christian Religion Could the Deceit of Malign Spirits Have Been Manifested](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxxiii) Roman scholar who attempted to give natural interpretations to shameful pagan rites. ### [Concerning the books of Numa Pompilius, which the senate ordered to be burned, in order that the causes of sacred rites therein assigned should not become known.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxxiv) Cited by Augustine as the source for the story of the discovery and burning of Numa's books. ### [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxxv) Cited as the source describing hydromancy and Numa's practices. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-i) Mentioned as a contrast; he extended natural theology to the world and soul of the world, whereas Platonists acknowledge a transcendent Creator. ### [Concerning Plato, the chief among the disciples of Socrates, and his threefold division of philosophy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iv) Not directly mentioned in this chapter, but referenced as a source for philosophical divisions in broader context. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-v) His interpretations of sacred rites are dismissed as failing to convey truth and as improperly elevating natural elements to divine status. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xiii) Mentioned indirectly through reference to Labeo, who is contrasted with Varro's earlier classification. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxvi) Referenced for his teaching that all dead men are thought to be gods Manes, proved by funeral games. ### [Of the opinion of the Platonists, that the souls of men become demons when disembodied.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xi) Cited as the source of the opinion that souls become Lares, Lemures, Larvae, or Manes depending on their moral state. ### [Book XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-book-xviii) Learned Roman writer whose historical work is referenced for the early kingdoms. ### [Of the kings and times of the earthly city which were synchronous with the times of the saints, reckoning from the rise of Abraham.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-ii) Cited as a learned man who begins his history of the Roman race from the kings of Sicyon, passing to the Athenians, then to the Latins, and finally to the Romans. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Cited for the tradition that the Sicyons sacrificed at the tomb of their seventh king Thuriachus. ### [Of Apis king of Argos, whom the Egyptians called Serapis, and worshipped with divine honours](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-v) Cited for his explanation of the name Serapis from 'soros' and 'Apis', and for interpreting the finger-on-lips gesture. ### [Chapter VIII: Who Were Kings When Moses Was Born, and What Gods Began to Be Worshipped Then](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-viii) Mentioned as beginning his historical work from the flood of Ogyges. ### [The Founding of Athens and Varro's Account of Its Name](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-ix) Cited as the source for the story of Athens' naming and the contest between Minerva and Neptune. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-x) Varro provides an alternative historical explanation for the name Areopagus, rejecting the fable of Mars' trial. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xiii) Varro is referenced as having closed his second book about the race of the Roman people at the Trojan war. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xvii) Relates stories of metamorphoses, including Circe, Arcadian werewolves, and Demaenetus, and connects them to the Roman Luperci. ### [Of the Erythraean sibyl, who is known to have sung many things about Christ more plainly than the other sibyls](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiii) Declared there were many sibyls, not merely one. ### [About the Most Mendacious Vanity of the Egyptians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xl) Cited as a historian of no small authority who noted that the Egyptians learned letters from Isis only about two thousand years ago. ### [Book XIX: The Ends of the Two Cities](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-book-xix) His book De Philosophia is cited for distinguishing 288 possible sects based on opinions about the supreme good. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-i) Roman scholar whose book De Philosophia is used to enumerate 288 possible sects of philosophy based on opinions about the supreme good. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-ii) Varro is the central figure of the chapter, who systematically reduces the number of philosophical sects from 288 to twelve by eliminating differences that do not concern the chief good. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Varro is the primary expositor of the Old Academy's view on the chief good, defining man as body and soul together and arguing for virtue as the supreme good. ### [How different the uncertainty of the New Academy is from the certainty of the Christian faith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xviii) Mentioned as the source of the claim about the New Academy's uncertainty. ### [Of the dress and habits of the Christian people](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xix) Referenced for his distinction of sects in connection with the Cynic school. ### [Whether the God whom the Christians serve is the true God to whom alone sacrifice ought to be paid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxii) Most learned Roman who mistakenly identified the true God with Jupiter. ### [That All Marvels Are Not of Nature's Production, but That Some Are Due to Human Ingenuity and Others to Diabolic Contrivance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-vi) Cited as an authority on the disagreements among historians, supporting Augustine's selective belief in profane history. ### [Chapter VIII: That It Is Not Contrary to Nature That, in an Object Whose Nature Is Known, There Should Be Discovered an Alteration of the Properties Which Have Been Known as Its Natural Properties](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-viii) Cited as a learned heathen historian; his account of Venus's change is used as evidence of divine power over nature. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-vi) Implied as a source of Roman antiquarian knowledge, though not directly quoted in this chapter. ### [Chapter XI: Against the Platonists' Arguments from the Elements](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xi) Cited for the miracle of the vestal virgin carrying water in a sieve. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxviii) Cited for his work 'On the Origin of the Roman People' and his record of astrologers' belief in palingenesy. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/marcus_varro - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters