Marcus Terentius Varro was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome". He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus. 116 BC – 27 BC; died at about 88. Alive at the same time as Julius Caesar, Strabo, Aglaonike, Virgil, and Augustus. Wiki link