| “ | My appointment here is for a year! I have one year to get rich! I'll be far away by the time Rome can act! Far away and rich! My life will be one long orgy. | „ |
| ~ Varius Flavus |
Varius Flavus (French: Gracchus Garovirus (meaning "beware of the virus")) is a character from the French comic book series Asterix and serves as the main antagonist in Asterix in Switzerland (French: Astrérix chez les Helvètes), the sixteenth volume. He is the corrupt governor of the Roman province Condatum. During his time in office, Flavus embezzles Condatian taxes to finance his luxurious lifestyle as well as his numerous orgies and only sends a meagre part to the Roman state treasury. One day the governor is visited by the Quaestor Vexatius Sinusitus, who was sent by Rome to investigate Flavus. To keep his crimes secret Flavus poisons the Quaestor but the latter is saved by the two Gauls Asterix and Obelix and Flavus is later arrested for his crimes.
Biography[]
First Appearance[]
Varius Flavus is a Roman official who is appointed governor of Condatum (now Rennes in Brittany, France). His appointment is for a year and he takes advantage to embezzle the local tax money in order to fund his orgies (wild, decadent parties). Once his appointment is over, he intends to flee abroad with the stolen money and maintain his decadent way of life elsewhere beyond the reach of Rome's authorities.
He is holding one such orgy in his palace when he is informed by one of his slaves that his trusty tax collector Caius Eucalyptus is waiting for him in his chambers. In the chambers the tax collector hands over the collected tax money to the governor who then divides it as follows: a small portion goes to Eucaliptus; Flavus keeps most of it for himself; and only three gold doubloons go to the Roman state treasury.
Eucaliptus asks his governor if he is not going too far with the embezzlement of the tax money and fears that Rome will send a Quaestor to Condatum to investigate the low taxes coming from his province. The annoyed governor answers furiously that he will either corrupt the Quaestor or kill him! He then invits Eucaliptus to join him and his guests.
Poisoning the Quaestor[]
| “ | Quaestor Sinusitus: "You make yourself pretty comfortable here...odd, for the governor of a province so poor that it contributes only a few pieces of gold to the Roman treasury" Governor Flavus: "Good taste that's the secret. It's suprising what a lot you can do on very little..." |
„ |
| ~ Flavus before poisoning the Quaestor |
Unfortunately for Flavus, Eucaliptus' fear becomes reality and on the very same day the Quaestor, named Vexatius Sinusitus, enters the palace and wishes to speak to the corrupt governor, who is busy continuing his orgy. At first Flavus tries to convince the Quaestor that this orgy is nothing more than an innocent family reunion and even offers him to join the party. But Sinusitus sees through Flavus's act and tells him that he is not interested in his orgies and that he was sent by Rome to check the tax accounts of the condatian governor due to Rome's suspicion of corruption.
Flavus then leads his guests out of the Palace, on the instructions of the Quaestor, so that the two can discuss Condate's "small" tax revenues undisturbed. But Flavus convinces Sinusitus to postpone this affair until tomorrow and offers him to stay overnight in his palace. The exhausted Sinusitus accepts Flavus's offer and then asks the governor to prepare a vegetable soup for him. Flavus immediately goes to the kitchen and tells the cook to prepare a soup for him once the soup is ready Flavus orders the cook to leave the kitchen immediately. Alone and undisturbed, Flavus takes the opportunity to mix a poisonous powder, hidden inside his jewelry rings, into the soup while having an evil smile on his face. He then serves the soup to the unsuspecting Quaestor, who drinks the soup immediately.
Late in the night, a servant of Flavus informs him about the health condition of the Quaestor, when Flavus visits him he sees the Quaestor lying in bed suffering from pain and asks Flavus to call the doctors. But the doctors sent by Flavus do not add anything good to the already serious situation, this was of course planned by Flavus. Irritated by the incompetence of the doctors, Sinusitus tricks the governor and the doctors into leaving the room, which he succeeds in doing. With Flavus and the doctors gone, Sinusitus asks his servant to make his way to a Gallic village. A druid is said to live there who might be able to help the Quaestor with his illness. This druid is none other than Getafix.
Encounter with the Gauls[]
| “ | I'm the governor in these parts! I'll have you hounded out of this palace! | „ |
| ~ Flavus threatening Asterix, Obelix and Getafix |
Flavus, still relaxing after an orgy, is informed about the arrival of three Gauls, he doesn't waste any time and rushes to Sinusitus's room where he finds in fact the two Gauls Asterix and Obelix along with their druid Getafix, who is examining the bedridden Quaestor. Flavus sends his guards on the Gauls, but they are too drunk due to the many orgies and are easily knocked out by Obelix. After a close examination Getafix comes to the conclusion that he has to prepare a healing potion for Sinusitus, but for this he needs a certain flower called "Silver Star" which can only be found on the highest mountains. Flavus, who wants to prevent the Quaestor's recovery by all means, offers his "help" and wants to send his own men to search for the flower, but he is ignored by the others.
Asterix and Obelix are sent on the journey instead, Getafix suggests the two Gauls to search for the flower in the Roman province of Helvetia. Before the Gauls offer their help however, Getafix imposes the condition to take Sinusitus as a hostage into the village. At first Flavus objects, but as soon as Getafix tells the corrupt governor that if Asterix and Obelix do not return from their journey, Sinusitus will be executed by the Gauls. After hearing this, Flavus gets the idea to send a message to his colleague and friend the governor of Helvetia Curius Odus, who is at least as corrupt and as much of an orgy lover as Flavus himself. Flavus asks his friend in Geneva to stop the Gauls from obtaining the "Silver Star" and to make sure that they do not return from Helvetia. But Flavus has no idea that this so-called hostage-taking was nothing more than a trick by Getafix, neither he nor Asterix and Obelix ever had any intention to harm the Quaestor. The hostage-taking was only a pretext by Getafix to protect the sick Sinusitus from Flavus, otherwise his chances of survival would be very low.
Downfall[]
Flavus only reappears near the end of the story. He visits the Gaulish village to ask about the health of the Quaestor. Getafix tells him that Sinusitus is doing well regarding the circumstances, whereupon Flavus says that it is a "pity" that Asterix and Obelix have not yet returned and that Getafix will "unfortunately" have to execute Sinusitus. However, Asterix and Obelix have returned from their journey and have given Sinusitus the cure for the poison.
Suddenly, to Flavus' shock, a cured and angry Sinusitus storms out of Getafix's house. The frightened governor tries to calm Sinusitus down, but the latter is not interested in any of Flavus' excuses. As well as the cure, Sinusitus has been given some magic potion and takes his revenge by giving Flavus a powerful punch that sends the corrupt governor up into the air. As soon as Flavus comes down again, Sinusitus says, he will check the governor's accounts and then he can hold his next orgy together with his accomplice Curius Odus in the Roman circus.
Personality[]
Varius Flavus is a greedy and selfish man who shamelessly abuses his position as governor for his own interests, mainly to maintain a lifestyle of debauched, never-ending parties or orgies. He also seems to be completely without scruples as he tries everything to keep his embezzlement of tax money secret and does not even shy away from murder as long as he gets away with his crimes, as illustrated by his attempted murder of Sinusitus.
He is very insightful: when they first meet, Sinusitus rejects Flavus' offer to join the party he is hosting. This confirms to Flavus that the stiff, no-nonsense quaestor is above corruption and will have to be disposed of instead.
Sinusitus is probably not his first and only victim. When Flavus opens his rings in order to poison Sinusitus' soup, two of them are empty, and he tells himself that he must remember to get refills, indicating that he has already used poison to kill several of his enemies.
Quotes[]
| “ | Good taste that's the whole secret... I get the Roman Impresario Fellinus to lay on my orgies | „ |
| ~ Flavus to one of his guest at his orgy |
| “ | By Juno, I'll know how to deal with him! Either I'll make him decadent, and fast, or I'll get rid of him! | „ |
| ~ Flavus about the Quaestor |
| “ | I know the doctors in this garrison... When they get together, they're more murderous than a legion armed to the teeth! | „ |
| ~ Flavus about the doctors he is sending to Sinusitus |
| “ | There are a sight too many orgies in this palace!!! Throw these Gauls out of here! | „ |
| ~ Flavus yelling at his guards |
| “ | What a pity that your men aren't back. You'll have to execute him. After all, hostages are hostages. | „ |
| ~ Varius hoping for Sinusitus execution before he gets taken out by Sinusitus himself |
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 Villains
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