Murena was the natural born son of
Aulus Terentius Varro, and adopted brother to
Lucius Licinius Varro Murena. He was well connected to the Augustan regime, with his sister, Terentia, married to
Gaius Maecenas, the prominent adviser and friend of Augustus and patron of the arts, while his half-brother,
Gaius Proculeius, was an intimate friend of
Augustus during his rise to power. Augustus dispatched Murena to lead an expedition against the
Salassi tribe of the
Aosta Valley region in the northwestern
Alps in 25 BC. The
Salassi had proved troublesome to Roman armies using the
Great St Bernard pass, which, as the shortest route from Italy to the Upper
Rhine river, had become strategically vital to the Romans since the completion of
Julius Caesar's
conquest of Gaul in 51 BC. The Salassi were utterly defeated and, according to
Strabo, Murena deported and sold into slavery 44,000 tribespeople. According to
Cassius Dio, he sold only males of military age and only for an indenture-term of 20 years. In 24 BC, Murena established a Roman colony of 3,000 settlers in the heart of Salassi country -
Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (
Aosta, Italy). Murena was nominated to be
Consul, with Augustus, for the year 23 BC, but died shortly before his term in office began. His replacement was
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. Shortly after Murena's death, his brother by adoption,
Lucius Licinius Varro Murena, was accused of conspiring with Fannius Caepio against Augustus. == Sources ==