Rufus
Rufus, Rufus (Roman cognomen)
- a common Roman surname (like the German Roth, Rother), Quint. 1, 4, 25; Cic. Fam. 5, 19 tit.; 14, 14, 2 al.
artists.
1. A painter, of whom nothing is known beyond the mention of his name in the Greek Anthology (Anth. Pal. 11.233, vol. ii. p. 38, ed. Jacobs).
2. A gem-engraver, whose name occurs on one stone in the form ΡΟΥΦΟΞ (Raspe, No. 9823), and on a very beautiful cameo, in the Orleans cabinet, representing Aurora with the horses of the Sun, in the form ΡΟΥΦΟΞ ΕΠΟΙΕΙ. (Pierres gruvées d'Orleans, vol. i. pl. 45, pp. 19.5, 196; R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 152, 153, 2d ed.) [P.S]
(Ῥοῦφος), the name of probably two physicians who have been sometimes confounded together, and whom it is not in every case easy to distinguish with certainty.
1. Menius Rufus, (Μήνιος Ῥοῦθος),It is not quite certain that Menius Rufus was a physician at all, as Asclepiades does not say that he was the author of the medical prescription which he quotes, but that he made use of it must have lived some time in or before the first century after Christ, as he is mentioned by Asclepiades Pharmacion (ap. Gal. De Compos. Medicam. sec. Gen. 7.12, vol. xiii. p. 1010). He is perhaps the same person who is quoted by Andromachus (ap. Gal. De Compos. Medicam. sec. Loc. 7.5, vol. xiii. p. 92) simply as Rufus. Perhaps also, if the date commonly assigned to Rufus Ephesius be correct, he is the physician quoted with approbation by Servilius Damocrates (ap. Gal. De Antid. 2.2, vol. xiv. p. 119).
2. Rufus Ephesius, so called from the place of his birth, is said by Abú-l-faraj (Hist. Dynast. p. 59) to have lived in the time of Plato; and called by John Tzetzes (Chil. vi. Hist. 44. 300, p. 104) physician to Cleopatra. Suidas places him in the reign of Trajan, A. D. 98-117, which date is adopted by most modern authors, and is probably correct, as Rufus quotes Zeuxis (ap. Gal. Comment. in Hippocr. "Prorrhet. I." 2.58. vol. xvi. p. 636) and Dioscorides (ap. Mai, Class. Auct. e Vatic. Codic. editi, vol. iv. p. 11), and is himself quoted by Galen. Works
Rufus wrote several medical works, some of which are still extant. Περὶ Ὀνομασιας τῶν τοῦ Ἀνθρώπον Μορίων (De Appellationibus Parlium Corporis Humani)
Rufus' principal surviving work is entitled Περὶ Ὀνομασιας τῶν τοῦ Ἀνθρώπον Μορίων, De Appellationibus Parlium Corporis Humani, which consists of two unequal parts, viz. the original treatise, and an extract from it : but whether both parts belong to Rufus, is doubtful. The first and fourth books together form the original work; and the second and third books, the extract, by help of which several passages might be corrected. They are generally reckoned as only three books, as the second is merely the alter primus. The work itself is chiefly interesting for the information it contains concerning the state of anatomical science at Alexandria, and before the time of Galen. Rufus considers the spleen to be absolutely useless (p. 59, ed. Clinch). He intimates that the nerves now called recurrent, were then recently discovered. "The ancients," says he (p. 42), "called the arteries of the neck καρωτίδες or καρωτικοί, because they believed, that, when they were pressed hard, the animal became sleepy and lost its voice; but in our age it has been discovered that this accident does not proceed from pressing upon these arteries, but upon the nerves contiguous to them." He shows that the nerves proceed from the brain, and he divides them into two classes, those of sensibility and those of motion (p. 36). He considers the heart to be the seat of life, and notices that the left ventricle is smaller and thicker than the right (p. 37). Editions
This work was first published in a Latin translation by J. P. Crassus, together with Aretaeus, Venet. 1552, 4to. Other Extant Works
The other extant works of Rufus are : an incomplete treatise, Περὶ τῶν ἐν Νέφροις καὶ Κύστει Παθῶν, De Renum et Vesicae Morbis; and A fragment, Περὶ τῶν Φαρμάκων Καθαρτικῶν, De Medicamntis Purgantibus. Editions
These three works were first published in Greek by J. Goupyl, Paris, 8vo. 1554; and there is an edition (which is not of much critical value,) by J. Clinch, Greek and Latin, Lond. 1726, 4to. The last two were published in Greek, by C. F. de Matthaei, Mosq. 1806, 8vo., who supplied, from a MS. at Moscow, several passages that had never before been published: this edition is now become excessively scarce. The Latin translation by J. P. Crassus of these three works is inserted in the Medicae Artis Principes, by H. Stephens, 1567, fol. Paris. Treatise on the Gout surviving in Latin translation
Besides these three works, an old Latin version of a treatise on the Gout, consisting of thirty-seven short chapters. Edition
The treatise on the Gout has lately been published under the name of Rufus from a MS. in the Royal Library at Paris by M. E. Littré, in the "Révue de Philologie," vol. i. (1845). The work appears to be quite genuine, as it contains two chapters (30, 31) which agree very closely with a passage attributed to Rufus by Aetius (3.4.24, p. 593). Treatise on the Pulse (Σύνοψις περὶ Σφυγμῶν) attributed to Rufus Editions
A short treatise on the Pulse, Σύνοψις περὶ Σφυγμῶν, has been lately published in Greek, with a French translation, by M. Ch. Daremberg, 1846, 8vo. Paris, from a MS. in the Royal Library, which attributes it to Rufus, but probably without sufficient reason. It seems to be the same work which has appeared in an old Latin translation, among Galen's writings, and is called "Compendium Pulsuum Galeno adscriptum" [Galen, p. 214.69], and which Ackermann attributes to one of the Arabistae (Hist. Liter. Gal. p. clxvi.). The real author's name is unknown, and with respect to his date it can only be stated that he lived certainly after Herophilus, and probably before Galen (see M. Daremberg's Introd.). Greek Fragments
Some Greek fragments of the lost works of Rufus are to be found in Angelo Mai's collection of "Classici Auctores e Vaticanis Codicibus editi" (vol. iv. Rom. 1831), one of the most interesting of which is a passage respecting the plague, which appears to prove, beyond all doubt, that the glandular (or true) plague was known to the ancients some centuries earlier than was commonly supposed (see Littré, Oeuvres d'Hippocr. vol. iii. p. 4). There are also several fragments of his lost works preserved by Galen, Oribasius, Aetius, Rhazes, Ibn Baitar, &c. There is a dissertation by C. G. Kiihn, containing "Rufi Ephesii, De Medicamentis Purgantibus Fragmentum e Codice Parisiensi dscriptum," 1831, 4to. Lips.; and another by F. Osann, De Loco Rufi Ephesii Medici apud Oribasium servato, sive de Peste Libyca, 1833, 4to. Giess. A new and improved edition of (it is believed) all the extant works of Rufus, is at this present time (1848) being prepared by Dr. C. Daremberg of Paris.
Haller is inclined (Biblioth. Botran. vol. i. p. 108) to attribute to Rufus an anonymous fragment of one hundred and ninety Greek hexameter verses, Περὶ Βοτανῶν, De Viribus Herbarum, which was first published in the Aldine edition of Dioscorides, Venet. 1518, 4to. p. 231, &c., and which is inserted by Fabricius in his Bibliotheca Graeca (vol. ii. p. 629, ed. vet.), with Greek scholia, and a Latin translation and notes by J. Rentorf. Fabricius and others have been of the same opinion. Hermann (Orphica, Lips. 1805. 8vo. pp. 717, 750, 761, &c.), on metrical grounds, determines the writer to have lived some time between Manetho, the author of the Ἀποτελεσματικά, and Nonnus, the author of the Dionysiaca ; a date sufficiently indeterminate. Rufus certainly wrote a Greek hexameter poem, in four books, Περὶ Βοτανῶν, which is mentioned by Galen (De Simplic. Medicam. Temper, ac Facult. vi. praef. vol. xi. p. 796), who quotes a few verses (De Compos. Medicam. sec. Loc. 1.1, vol. xii. p. 425); but this is supposed by Choulant to have been quite a different work from the fragment in question, chiefly on the ground that so scientific and sensible a physician as Rufus would not have written any thing so full of popular superstitions and absurdities. The fragment treats of thirteen different plants, in as many chapters, in which, says Haller, Medicarum virium adest farrago verarum et falsarum. Names of Lost Works
The names of several of his lost works have been preserved by Galen, Suidas, and especially by the Arabic writers, who appear to have been well acquainted with his books, and to have translated almost all of them into their language (see Wenrich, De Auctor. Graecor. Version. Arab. Syriuc. Armen. &c. p.221,&c.). Of these were five books Περὶ Διαίτης, De Victus Ratione, quoted by Oribasins, Suidas, and Ibn Baitar (vol. i. pp. 366, 378, 533, 2.390); Θεραπευτικά, De Methodo Medendi (Galen, De Simplic. Medicam. Temper. ac Facult. vi. praef. vol. xi. p. 796), from which work probably the fragments preserved by Aetius are taken; Περὶ Μελαγχολίας, De Melancholia (Galen, De Atra Bile, c. i. vol. v. p. 105; Ibn Baitar, vol. i. p. 89); Περὶ Διαίτης Πλεόντων, De Victu Navigantium (Suid.; or De Viatorum Vivendi Ratione, Wenrich); Πεὶ Τραυματικῶν Φαρμάκων, De Medicamentis Vulnerum (Suid.; or De Vulneribus, Wenrich); Περὶ Σύκων, De Ficubus * Probably wrongly rendered by Fabricius, "De Ficosis Tumoribus sive Excrescentiis." (Suid.; Oribas. Coll. Medic. 1.40, p. 213; or De Mariscis, Wenrich); Περὶ, Ἀρχαίας Ἰατρικῆς, De Vetere Medicina (Suid.); Περὶ Γάλκτος, De Lacte ; Περὶ Οἴνου, De Vino ; Περὶ Μέλιτος, De Melle (Suid.; Oribas. Coll. Medic. 2.61, 5.7, pp. 232, 266; Ibn Baitar, ii. p. 420, &c. Perhaps these three formed part of his work on Diet); De Morbis qui Articulis contingunt (Oribas. Coll. Medic. 8.47, p. 362).
The titles of twenty or ` thirty other treatises are enumerated in Wenrich, but many of them (as indeed some of those mentioned above,) appear to have been only the different chapters of some extensive work. Rufus was also one of those who commented on some of the works of Hippocrates, and he is said by Galen (Comment. in Hippoer. "Epid. VI." 1.10. vol. xvii. pt. i. p. 849) to have been a diligent student of them, and to have always endeavoured to preserve the ancient readings of the text (Comment. in Hippocr. "Prourhet. 1." 2.58, vol. xvi. p. 636). Further Information
Further information respecting Rufus and his writings may be found in Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. p. 102, 13.385, ed. vet.; Haller's Bibl. Bolan., Anatom., and Medic. Pract. ; Sprengel's Hist. de la Med. ; Choulant's Handb. der Bücherkunde für die Aeltere Medicin ; and the Penny Cyclopaedia, from which some of the preceding remarks are taken. [W.A.G]
1. A lyric poet, and a contemporary of Ovid. [RUFUS, ANTONIUS.]
2. A friend of Pliny the younger, who addresses two letters to him (Ep. 5.21, 7.25). His gentile name is not mentioned by Pliny. There were four other correspondents of Pliny who bear the cognomen of Rufus; namely, Calvisius, Caninius, Octavius, and Sempronius, all of whom are mentioned below in alphabetical order.
3. Of Perinthus, a Greek sophist, was a pupil of Herodes Atticus. An account of him is given by Philostratus. (Vit. Soph. 2.17, pp. 597, 598, ed. Olearius; comp. Westermann, Gesch. d. Griech. Beredtsamkeit, § 92, n. 5.)
4. A Greek writer, the author of a work on Music, in three books, in which he treated of the origin of tragedy and comedy. Sopater availed himself to a considerable extent of this work of Rufus. (Phot. Bibl. 161; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. p. 320.)
5. The author of a short treatise on rhetoric. Editions
This was published for the first time along with a work of Tiberius on the same subject, by Boissonade, London, 1815. Further Information
Westermann, Gesch. d. Griech. Beredtsamkeit, § 104, n. 2.
a contemporary of the younger Pliny, was consul designates in A. D. 102, in which year he spoke in the senate respecting the accusation of Varenus Rufus by the Bithynians. (Plin. Ep. 5.20.6, 6.13.)
served as praefectus of the cavalry under Domitius Corbulo in Armenia, and, on account of his misconduct, was degraded and punished by Corbulo. (Frontin. Strat. 4.1.28.)
[Luscus, Annius, No. 3.]
procurator of Judaea at the death of the emperor Augustus, A. D. 14 (J. AJ 18.2.2). He was succeeded in the government by Valerius Gratus. [Gratus.]
the name of a Latin grammarian, quoted by Quintilian (1.5.43) and Velius Longus (p. 2237, ed. Putsch.). The Scholiast Cruquianus (ad Hor. Ar. Poet. 288) speaks of an Antonius Rufus who wrote plays both praetextatae and togatae, but whether he is the same as the grammarian, must be left uncertain. Glandorp, in his Onomasticon (p. 99), states on the authority of Acron that Antonius Rufus translated both Homer and Pindar, but there is no passage in Acron in which the name of Antonius Rufus occurs. Glandorp probably had in his mind the statement of the Scholiast on Horace already referred to. and connected it with a line in Ovid (ex Pont. 4.16. 28), in which Rufus is spoken of as a lyric poet; but who this Rufus was, whether the same as Antonius Rufus or not, cannot be determined. (Wernsdorf, Poetae Latini Minores. vol. iii. p. 30, vol. iv. p. 585.)
a friend of Tacitus and the younger Pliny, the latter of whom recommends Asinius Bassus, the son of Rufus, to Fundanus. (Plin. Ep. 4.15.)
a Roman eques, was murdered in the theatre, as had been foreshown him in a dream during the preceding night. (V. Max. 1.7.8.)
a man of consular rank, was governor of Syria during the reign of Domitian, and died just before the return of Agricola from Britain, A. D. 84. (Tac. Agric. 40.)
one of the officers in Pompey's army in Greece, in B. C. 48, accused Afranius of treachery on account of his defeat in Spain in the preceding year. (Caes. Civ. 3.83.)
praefectus of the camp at Nauportus, when the formidable insurrection of the Pannonian legions broke out on the death of Augustus, was an especial object of the wrath of the soldiers. (Tac. Ann. 1.20.)
a name which occurs only on coins, of which a specimen is annexed. It has on the obverse the head of Pallas, and on the reverse Jupiter driving a quadriga, with the legend AV. RVF. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 148.)
praefectus praetorii under the emperor M. Aurelius, was raised to this dignity on account of his virtues, though he had received no education in consequence of his rustic origin. (D. C. 71.5.) He is alluded to in a letter of Avidius Cassius, preserved by Vulcatius Gallicanus ("audisti praefectum praetorii nostri philosophi, ante triduum quam fieret, mendicum et pauperem, sed subito divitem factum," 100.14). The name of Bassaeus Rufus occurs in inscriptions. (See Reimarus, ad Dion. Cass. 71.3.25, p. 1179.)
was condemned on the charge of repetundae, at the accusation of the Bithynians in A. O. 49, but was restored by Otho in A. D. 69 to his rank as senator. (Tac. Ann. 12.22, Hist. 1.77.)
1. L. Caecilius Rufus, the brother of P. Sulla by the same mother, but not by the same father, was tribune of the plebs, B. C. 63, amid proposed soon after he had entered upon the office that his brother P. Sulla and Autronius Paetus, both of whom had been condemned on account of bribery in the consular comitia of B. C. 66, should be allowed to become candidates again for the higher offices of the state, but dropt the proposal at the suggestion of his brother. In the course of his tribunate he rendered warm support to Cicero and the aristocratical party, and in particular opposed the agrarian law of Servilius Rullus. In his praetorship, B. C. 57, he joined most of the other magistrates in proposing the recall of Cicero from banishment, and incurred in consequence the hostility of P. Clodius, whose hired mob attacked his house in the course of the same year. In B. C. 54, he supported the accusation against Gabinius. (Cic. pro Sull. 22, 23; comp. D. C. 37.25; Cic. post Red. in Sen. 9, pro Mil. 14; Ascon. in Mil. p. 48, ed. Orelli; Cic. ad Q. Fr. 3.3.2.)
2. C. Caecilius Rufus, consul A. D. 17, with L. Pomponius Flaccus. (Tac. Ann. 2.41; D. C. 57.17.)
was the son of a wealthy Roman eques of the same name, who appears to have obtained his property as a negotiator in Africa. He was accused of parsimony, especially in reference to his son, but the extravagant habits of the latter required some degree of restraint. He was alive at the trial of his son in B. C. 56 (Cic. pro Cael. 2, 15, 30, 32.) The younger Caelius was born at Puteoli on the 28th of May, B. C. 82. on the same day and the same year as the orator C. Licinius Calvus, in conjunction with whom his name frequently occurs (Plin. Nat. 7.49. s. 50; Quint. Inst. 10.1.115, 10.2.25, 12.10.11). His father was enabled to procure him introductions to M. Crassus and Cicero, who gave him the advantage of their advice in the prosecution of his studies, especially in the cultivation of oratory. During Cicero's praetorship (B. C. 66), and the two following years, Caelius was almost always at his side; but in the consulship of the great orator (B. C. 63), he became intimate with Catiline, whose society had such extraordinary fascinations for all the wealthy Roman youths ; although he took no part in the conspiracy, if we may trust Cicero's positive assurance. In B. C. 61, he accompanied the proconsul Q. Pompeius Rufus to Africa, partly to become acquainted with the mode of administering a province, but probably still more in order to look after his father's property in that country. On his return to Rome he accused in B. C. 59 C. Antonius, Cicero's colleague in the consulship, of having been one of Catiline's conspirators ; and notwithstanding Cicero spoke in his behalf, Antonius was condemned. The oration which Caelius delivered against Antonius possessed considerable merit, and was read in the time of Quintilian (Quint. Inst. 4.2.123, 9.3.58). Not long afterwards he obtained the quaestorship, and was charged with having purchased the votes at his election, an accusation from which Cicero endeavoured to clear him when he defended him in B. C. 56.
In B. C. 57, Caelius accused L. Sempronius Atratinus of bribery, and when the latter, who was defended by Cicero, was acquitted, he accused him again of the same crime in B. C. 56. But while the second suit was in progress, and had not yet come on for trial, Caelius himself was accused of vis by Sempronius Atratinus the younger. Caelius had for some time been living in the house of P. Clodius on the Aventine, and was one of the avowed paramours of his notorious sister Clodia Quadrantaria. He had, however, lately deserted her ; and she, in revenge, induced Sempronius Atratinus to bring him to trial. The two most important charges in the accusation arose from Clodia's own statements; she charged him in the first place with having borrowed money from her in order to murder Dion, the head of the embassy sent by Ptolemy Auletes to Rome; and declared, in the second place, that he had made an attempt to carry her off by poison. Caelius spoke on his own behalf, and was also defended by M. Crassus and Cicero : the speech of the latter is still extant. Caelius had done great damage to his character, not only by his intrigue with Clodia, but still more by the open part he had taken both at Baiae as well as at Rome in the extravagant debaucheries of herself and her friends; and Cicero therefore exerts himself to show that the reports respecting the character of his client were unfounded, or at least grossly exaggerated; that he was not the extravagant spendthrift and luxurious debauchee that he had been represented, but had devoted much of his time to serious occupations, especially to the study of oratory. The judges acquitted him ; and a second accusation, which the Claudii brought against him two years afterwards (Cic. ad Q. Fr. ii 13), appears likewise to have failed.
In B. C. 52, Caelius was tribune of the plebs. He warmly supported Milo, who murdered P. Clodius at the beginning of this year, and he opposed the measures brought forward by Pompey. But his efforts were all in vain, and Milo was condemned. (Comp. Cic. pro Mil. 33.) In the same year he proposed a bill in conjunction with his nine colleagues to allow Caesar to become a candidate for a second consulship in his absence. To this measure no serious opposition was offered as Pompey did not venture to refuse to it his sanction. No sooner had his year of office expired than he accused his late colleague Q. Ponipeius Rufus of vis under the provisions of the very law which the latter had taken so active a part in passing. The triumvir, who had no further occasion for his services, rendered him but faint support. He was condemned, and retired to Bauli in Campania, where he was in great pecuniary difficulties, till Caelius generously compelled Cornelia, the mother of Pompeius, to surrender to him his paternal property. (V. Max. 4.2.7.)
In B. C. 51, Cicero went to Cilicia as proconsul, much against his will, and before leaving Italy he requested Caelius, who accompanied him on his journey as far as Cumae, to send him from time to time a detailed account of all the news of the city. Caelius readily complied with his request, and his correspondence with his friend is still preserved in the collection of Cicero's letters. In the same year Caelius became a candidate for the curule aedileship, which he gained along with Octavius. As he was anxious to exhibit the games with becoming splendour, he applied to Cicero for money and for panthers, as his command of an Asiatic province would enable him to obtain a large supply of both without much difficulty. Cicero, with all his faults, did not plunder the provincials. He therefore refused the money at once ; and does not seem to have put himself to much trouble to procure the panthers, although Caelius reminds him of them in almost every letter. During his aedileship in the following year (B. C. 50), Caelius still carried on his correspondence with Cicero; and his letters contain some interesting ing accounts of the proceedings of the different parties at Rome immediately before the breaking out of the civil war. In the same year he became involved in a personal quarrel with the censor Ap. Claudius Pulcher, and with L. Domitius Ahenobarbus. who had been the colleague of Claudius in the consulship; but we must refer the reader for particulars to his correspondence with Cicero (Cic. Fam. 8.12, 14). Having thus become a personal sonal enemy of two of the most distinguished leaders of the aristocracy, his connection with this party, of which he had hitherto been a warm supporter, was naturally weakened. He felt no confidence in Pompey and the senate in the impending pending civil war; he saw that Caesar was the stronger; and avowing the principle that the more powerful party is to be joined when the struggle in a state comes to arms, he resolved to espouse the side of Caesar.
In the discussions in the senate at the beginning of January, B. C. 49, Caelius supported the opinion of M. Calidius that Pompey ought to betake himself to his Spanish provinces in order to remove every pretext for war. By this declaration he openly broke with the aristocratical party, and in a few days afterwards he fled from Rome with M. Antonius, Q. Cassius, and C. Curio to Caesar's camp at Ravenna (Caes. Civ. 1.2; D. C. 41.2, 3). Caesar sent him into Liguria to suppress an insurrection at Intemelium (ad Fam. 8.15); and in April he accompanied Caesar in his campaign in Spain (ad Fam. 8.16.4,17.1). It is supposed by some modern writers that he also served under Curio in Africa in the course of the same year, as we read of a M. Rufus who was the quaestor of Curio in Africa (Caes. Civ. 2.43); but this M. Rufus must in all probability have been a different person.
He was rewarded for his services by the praetorship, which he held in B. C. 48. But various causes had already alienated the mind of Caelius from his new patron, and these at length led him to engage in desperate enterprises which ended in his ruin and death. He was mortified that Caesar had entrusted the honourable duties of the city praetorship to C. Trebonius rather than to himself, a distinction, however, to which Trebonius had much greater claims, as he had in his tribuneship in B. C. 55 proposed the law for prolonging the proconsular government of Caesar. But his chief dissatisfaction with the existing state of things arose from his enormous debts. It seems that he had looked forward to a proscription for the payment of his creditors; but as Caesar's generous conduct towards his opponents deprived him of this resource, he saw no remedy for his ruined fortunes but a general commotion. Accordingly, when Trehonius was, in the exercise of his judicial duties, carrying into execution the law which had been lately passed by Caesar for the settlement of debts, Caelius set up his tribunal by the side of his colleague and promised his assistance to all who might appeal to him against the decision of the latter. But as no one availed himself oi his proffered. aid, he brought forward a law according to which debts were to be paid without interest in six instalments, probably at the interval of six months from one another. *The passage in Caesar (Caes. Civ. 3.20), from which the statement in the text is taken, is corrupt :--"legemr promulgavit, ut series seni dis sine usuris creditae pecuniae solvantur." Niebuhr conjectures series semestri die (Kleine Schriften, vol. ii. pp. 253, 254.) When this measure was opposed by Servilius Isauricus, Caesar's colleague in the consulship, and by the other magistrates, he dropt it and brought forward two others in its place, which were in fact equivalent to a general confiscation of property. By one of these new laws the proprietors of houses had to give up a year's rent to their tenants, and by another creditors were to forgive debtors all their debts. After such sweeping measures as these, the decisions of Trebonius, however lenient, would seem harsh towards wards debtors. A mob attacked him as he was administering justice; several persons were wounded, and Trebonius himself driven from his tribunal. Thereupon the senate resolved to deprive Caelius of his office, and Servilius carried the decree into execution by breaking himself the curule seat of the praetor. Caelius saw that he could effect nothing more at Rome, and accordingly left the city, giving out that he intended to repair to Caesar. But his real intention was to join Milo in Campania. whom he had secretly sent for from Massilia, and along with him to raise an insurrection in favour of Pompey. Milo, however, was killed in an attack upon an obscure fort near Thurii before Caelius could join him [Milo] ; and Caelius himself was put to death shortly afterwards at Thurii by some Spanish and Gallic horsemen who he was endeavouring to bribe to surrender render the place. (Caes. Civ. 3.20-22; D. C. 42.22_25; Appian, App. BC 2.22; Liv. Epit. Ill; Vell. 2.68; Oros. 6.15; Quint. Inst. 6.3.25.) Works
Caelius had paid considerable attention to literature, and with no small success. He was an elegant writer and an eloquent speaker; he possessed an excitable temperament, and a lively imagination; the speeches in which he accused others were considered his master-pieces (Cic. Brut. 79; orator iracundissimus, Senec. de Ira, 3.8). He was a friend of Catullus, who has addressed two of his poems to him (Carm. lviii. c.), and he also lived, as has appeared from the above account, on the most intimate terms with Cicero. It was the latter circumstance apparently that led Niebuhr to extenuate the faults of Caelius, and to ascribe to him virtues that he never possessed ; but Cicero's intimacy with the young profligate speaks rather to the prejudice of his own character than in favour of his friend's morals. All the ancient writers, with the exception of Cicero, who have occasion to mention Caelius, agree in an unfavourable estimate of his character ; and independent of their testimony, his letters to Cicero, and the speech of the latter on his behalf, in which he attempts to clear his friend of the charges brought against him, are sufficient of themselves to convince any attentive reader of the worthlessness of his moral character. Edition
Meyer, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta, p. 458, &c., 2d ed. Further Information
Niebuhr, Kleine Schriften, vol. ii. p. 252; Meyer, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta, p. 458, &c., 2d ed.; Drumann, Geschichte Roms, vol. ii. p. 411, &c.; and especially Suringar, M. Caelii Rufi et M. Tullii Ciceronis Epistolae mutuae, Lugd. Batav. 1846, in which all the authorities for the life of Caelius, both ancient and modern, are printed at length.
proscribed by Antony in B. C. 43, and killed. He owed his fate to a beautiful insula or detached mansion which he had in the city, and which had taken the fancy of Fulvia, the wife of Antony. When his head was brought to Antony, he sent it to his wife, saying that it did not belong to him. (Appian, App. BC 4.29; V. Max. 9.5.4.)
an intimate friend of the younger Pliny (Plin. Ep. 1.12.12, 4.4), who has addressed several of his letters to him. (Ep. 2.20, iii. l, 19, 5.7, 8.2, 9.6.)
of Bononia, a friend of Martial, died at an early age in Cappadocia. (Mart. 6.85.)
a native of Comum, and a friend and neighbour of the younger Pliny, was well versed in literature, and especially poetry. He appears also to have possessed some talent for the composition of poetry, and meditated writing a poem on the Dacian war (Plin. Ep. 8.4). But as most of his time was taken up in the personal management of his estates, Pliny begs him to leave them to his bailiffs, and to devote his own time to the prosecution of his studies (Plin. Ep. 1.3). There are also several other letters of Pliny addressed to him, which all more or less urge him to prosecute his literary pursuits, and undertake the composition of some poetical work. (Ep. 2.8, 3.7, 6.21, 7.18, 8.4, 9.33.)
a Roman poet, to whom Martial has addressed one of his epigrams. (Ep. 3.20).
[Claudius, No. 12.]
[Cluvius, No. 7.]
a name known to us only from coins, of which a specimen is annexed. It has on the obverse the head of the Dioscuri with RVFVS III VIR (that is, of the mint), and on the reverse a female figure with MAN. CORDIVS. (Eekhel, vol. v. p. 178.)
a friend of the younger Pliny, whom he looked up to as a father, and of whom he always speaks with the highest veneration and respect. Corellius had been a martyr to hereditary gout for 33 years; and at length, in order to escape from the incessant pain which he suffered, he put an end to his life by voluntary starvation at the age of 67, at the commencement of Trajan's reign. His virtues and his death form the subject of one of the letters of Pliny (Plin. Ep. 1.12), who also mentions him on many other occasions. (Ep. 4.17.4, 5.1.5, 7.11.3, 9.13.6.)
said to have been the son of a gladiator by some, followed in the train of one of the quaestors to Africa for the purpose of gain, and, while at Adrumetum, is reported to have seen a female of superhuman size, who prophesied to him that he would one day visit Africa as proconsul. Urged on by this vision, he repaired to Rome and obtained the quaestorship and praetorship in the reign of Tiberius, at a later period the consular imperium and triumphal ornaments, and at length the government of Africa, as had been predicted (Tac. Ann. 11.20, 21; Plin. Ep. 7.27). Some modern writers suppose that this Curtius Rufus was the father of Q. Curtius Rufus, the historian.
the historian. [Curtius.]
[Rufinus, literary, No. 4.]
1. L. Egnatius Rufus, a friend of Cicero, was a Roman eques, who appears to have carried on an extensive business in the provinces as a money-lender, and a farmer of the taxes. Cicero frequently recommends him to the governors of the provinces; as, for instance, to Q. Philippus (ad Fam. 13.73, 74), to Quintius Gallius (ad Fam. 13.43, 44), to Appuleius (ad Fam. 13.45), and to Silius (ad Fam. 13.47). Both Cicero and his brother Quintus had pecuniary dealings with him (ad Att. 7.18.4, 10.15.4, 11.3.3, 12.18.3).
2. M. Egnatius Rufus, probably son of the preceding, was aedile in B. C. 20, and gained so much popularity in this office, principally through extinguishing the fires by means of his own servants, that he obtained the praetorship for the following year in opposition to the laws, which enacted that a certain time should intervene between the offices of aedile and praetor. Encouraged by this success, he endeavoured to secure the consulship for the following year, B. C. 18; but as the consul C. Sentius Saturninus refused to receive his name as one of the candidates, he entered into a plot with persons who were, like himself, bankrupts in character and fortune, to murder Augustus. Being detected in these treasonable designs, he was thrown into prison and executed. (Vell. 2.91-93; D. C. 53.24; Suet. Aug. 19.)
[Rufus, physicians, No. 2, p. 669.]
or Fe'nius, was appointed by Nero praefectus annonae in A. D. 55, and gained the favour of the people by his discharging the duties of this office without any view to private emolument. He was in consequence appointed praefect of the praetorian cohorts along with Sofonius Tigellinus, in A. D. 62, as Nero wished, by the elevation of Rufus, to counterbalance the unpopularity of the latter appointment. But Rufus never obtained much influence with the emperor, and all the real power was in the hands of his colleague Tigellinus, whose depraved mind was more akin to Nero's own. In addition to this, his friendship with Agrippina had rendered him an object of suspicion to Nero; and he was therefore the more easily induced to take part in the conspiracy of Piso, A. D. 65. On the detection of the conspiracy he was compelled to put an end to his own life, which he did not do with the same firmness as most of his accomplices. His friends shared in his fall, and one was banished simply on account of his intimacy with him. (Tac. Ann. 13.22, 14.51, 57, 15.50, 53, 61, 66, 68, 16.12; D. C. 62.24.) Rufus Festus Avie'nus
[Avienus.]
was accused of the crime of majestas towards the end of A. D. 32, in consequence of his intimacy with Sejanus. He put an end to his own life, and his wife Publia Prisca followed his example. (D. C. 58.4; Tac. Ann. 6.14.)
a common soldier, saved the life of a Roman citizen in the war with Tacfarinas in Africa in A. D. 20. (Tac. Ann. 3.21.)
consul A. D. 178 with Gavius Orfitus. (Lamprid. Commod. 12.)
1. Consul A. D. 67 with L. Fonteius Capito. He died of a carbuncle, as is related by the elder Pliny. (H. N. 26.1. s. 4.)
2. A contemporary of Martial, was apparently a writer of satires. (Mart. 10.99.)
3. One of the Roman nobles slain by the emperor Severus. (Spartian. Sever. 13.)
known to us only from coins, a specimen of which is annexed. The obverse represents the head of Pallas; the reverse Victory driving a biga, with M. LVCILI. RVF. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 239.)
one of the legates of Crassus in the Servile war. (Frontin. Strat. 2.4.7.)
[Rufus, physicians, No. 1, p. 668.]
Cicero's quaestor in Cilicia, B. C. 51, of whose official conduct Cicero complains to Atticus in the strongest terms (ad Att. 6.3, 4). On his departure from the province Cicero left Tiro at Laodiceia to settle his accounts with him; and in consequence of the difficulties and misunderstandings which arose out of this settlement, Cicero wrote to him a long letter which is extant (ad Fam. 5.20). But though Cicero had found so much fault with Rufus in his letter to Atticus, he bestows the highest praises upon him in a letter in which he urges him to join the side of Pompey on the breaking out of the civil war (ad Fam. 5.19). At a later time, B. C. 46, Cicero writes Rufus a letter of consolation, as he seems to have been discontented with his position (ad Fam. 5.21). In the same year Cicero recommended him to Serv. Sulpicius, the governor of Achaia, in which province Rufus had some business which required his presence (ad Fam. 13.26, 28). After the death of Caesar he joined the republican party, and served under Cassius Longinus, by whom he was sent against Tarsus. (D. C. 47.31.)
The name of L. Mescinius Rufus frequently occurs on coins as triumvir of the mint under Augustus; and it appears from these coins that he must have held this office in the years B. C. 17 and 16. The following is an interesting specimen of one of these coins. On the obverse is a cippus with IMP. CAES. AVGV. COMM. CONS., that is, Imperator Caesar Augustus communi consensu, and round the cippus L. MESCINIVS RVFVS III VIR : on the reverse we have inclosed in a chaplet of oak, I. O. M. S. P. Q. R. V. S. PR. S. IMP. CAES. QVOD PER EV. R. P. IN AMP. ATQ. TRAN. S. E. , that is, Iovi Optimo Maximo S. P. Q. R. votum susceptum pro salute Imperatoris Caesaris, quod per eun res public in ampliore atque tranquilliore status est. This interpretation is confirmed by the fact that, after the defeat of Varus some years afterwards, we read that games were vowed by Augustus to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, si respublica in meliorem statum vertisset (Suet. Aug. 23). (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 252, vol. vi. pp. 102-105.)
1. M. Minucius Rufus, was consul B. C. 221, with P. Cornelius Scipio Asina, and carried on war, in conjunction with his colleague, against the Istrians, whom he subdued (Eutrop. 3.7; Oros. 4.13; Zonar. 8.20). In B. C. 217 Rufus was appointed magister equitum to the dictator Q. Fabius Maximus, who had been called to this office after the disastrous defeat of the Romans at the battle of the lake Trasimenus. The cautious policy of Fabius displeased the impetuous temper of Rufus, who excited the discontent of the soldiers and the people against the slow and defensive system of the dictator. Certain religious rites called Fabius to Rome, but before his departure he charged Rufus on no account to risk a battle. But his orders were disregarded. The master of the horse straightway commenced an offensive system, and was fortunate enough to obtain a victory over a considerable division of Hannibal's troops. This success gained Rufus such popularity at Rome, that a bill was passed, on the proposition of the tribune Metilius, giving the master of the horse equal military power with the dictator. In consequence of this the Roman army was divided, and each portion encamped separately under its own general. Anxious for distinction, Rufus eagerly accepted a battle which was offered him by Hannibal, but was defeated, and his troops were only saved from total destruction by the timely arrival of Fabius, with all his forces. Thereupon Rufus generously acknowledged his error, gave up his separate command, and placed himself again under the authority of the dictator. He fell at the battle of Cannae in the following year. (Plb. 3.87, 89, 94, 101-105; Liv. 22.8, 12-30, 49; Piut. Fab. Max. 4-13; Appian, Bell. Hannib. 12, &c.; V. Max. 5.2.4.)
2. Q. Minucius Rufus, C. F. C. N., plebeian aedile B. C. 201, and praetor B. C. 200, obtained in the latter year Bruttii as his province. Here he carried on an investigation respecting the robbery of the temple of Proserpine at Locri, and likewise discovered a conspiracy that had been formed in that part of Italy; and as he had not completed his inquiries at the end of the year, his imperium was prolonged for another year. In B. C. 197 he was consul with C. Cornelius Cethegus, and carried on war against the Boii with success; but as the senate refused him the honour of a triumph, he celebrated one on the Alban Mount. In B. C. 189 he was one of the ten commissioners sent into Asia after the conquest of Antiochus the Great; and his name occurs in the Senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus (B. C. 186), as one of the senators present at the time it was written out. In B. C. 183 he was one of the three ambassadors sent into Gaul, and this is the last time that his name is mentioned. (Liv. 31.4, 6, 12, 13, 32.1, 27-31, 33.22, 23; Zonar. 9.16; Cic. Brut. 18 ; Liv. 37.55, 39.54.)
3. M. Minucius Rufus, praetor B. C. 197, obtained the peregrina jurisdictio. At the end of B. C. 194 he was one of the three commissioners appointed, with an imperium for three years, for the purpose of founding a Latin colony at Vibo, among the Bruttii. This colony was not founded till B. C. 192; and in the previous year, B. C. 193, Rufus was one of the ambassadors sent to Carthage. ( Liv. 32.27, 28, 34.53, 35.40, 34.62.)
4. T. Minucius Rufus, served in the campaign against Perseus, king of Macedonia, in B. C. 171. (Liv. 42.54.)
4a. M. Minucius Rufus, Q. F., tribune of the plebs, B. C. 121, brought forward a bill to repeal the laws of C. Gracchus. This bill was opposed by C. Gracchus, in a speech which was extant in later times, and is quoted by Festus, under the title of De Lege Minucia (Flor. 3.15; Aurel. Vict. de Vir. Ill. 65; Festus, s. v. Osi sunt, p. 201, ed. Müller; Meyer, Fragm. Orat. Rom. p. 244, 2nd ed.). This Marcus Rufus and his brother Quintus are mentioned as arbiters between the inhabitants of Genua and the Viturii, in a very interesting inscription, which was discovered in the year 1506, about ten miles from the modern city of Genoa. This inscription has been frequently printed. It is given by Orelli (Inscr. No. 3121), and has been also published by Rudorff, with important elucidations, under the title of "Q. et M. Minuciorum Sententia inter Genuates et Viturios dicta, ed. et illustr. A. A. F. Rudorff," Berol. 1842, 4to.
5. Q. Minucius Rufus, Q. F., consul B. C. 110, with Sp. Postumius Albinus, obtained Macedonia as his province. He carried on war with success against the barbarians in Thrace, and on his return to Rome in the following year, obtained a triumph for his victories over the Scordisci and Triballi (Sal. Jug. 35, where his praenomen is Marcus; Liv. Epit. 65; Eutrop. 4.27; Flor. 3.4.5; Frontin. Strat. 2.4.3; Vell. 2.8). He perpetuated the memory of his triumph by building the Porticus Minucia, near the Circus Flaminius. In the Notitia we have mention of a Minucia Vetus et Frumentaria, whence it is doubtful whether two different porticus or only one is intended. It appears that the tesserae, or tickets, which entitled persons to a share in the public distributions of corn, were given to the citizens in the Portus Minucia. fence it has been conjectured that the Porticus built by the consul originally served for that purpose, but that afterwards a new Porticus Frumentaria was erected, and that accordingly the name of Vetus was given to the other one. In an inscription we read of a Procurator Minuciae. (Vell. Pat. l.c.; Cic. Phil. 2.34; Lamprid. Commod. 16; Appul. de Mund. p. 74. 14, Elm.; Gruter, ccccii. 4; Becker, Römisch. Alterth. vol. i. p. 621.)
6. Minucius Rufus, one of the commanders of the Roman fleet in the war against Mithridates. (Appian, App. Mith. 17.)
7. Q. Minucius Rufus, a Roman eques of high character, who lived at Syracuse, and, on more than one occasion, offered opposition to Verres. At the trial of the latter he appeared as one of the witnesses against him. (Cic. Ver. 2.28, 30, 33, 3.64, 4.27, 31.)
8. Minucius Rufus, espoused the side of Pompey in the civil war, and commanded, along with Lucretius Vespillo, a squadron of eighteen ships, at Oricum, in B. C. 48 (Caes. Civ. 3.7; Appian, App. BC 2.54). He is probably the same as the Minucius who was at Tarentum in B. C. 49, and of whom Cicero speaks (ad Att. 11.14, 15, ad Q. Fr. 3.1.6). He may also be the same as the Minucius who was praetor in B. C. 43, and was one of the victims of the proscription in that year. (Appian, App. BC 4.17.)
9. Q. Minucius Rufus, whose name occurs on the following coin, cannot be identified with certainty with any of the above-mentioned persons. He may perhaps be the same as No. 2. On the obverse is the head of Pallas, with Rvf, on the reverse the Dioscuri, with Q. MINV., and underneath ROMA. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 225.)
10. L. Minucius Rufus, consul A. D. 88. with the emperor Domitian (Fast.).
one of the most intimate friends of the younger Cato, wrote a work on his friend, which is referred to by Plutarch. In B. C. 58 Rufus accompanied Cato to Cyprus, who was charged with the task of uniting the island to the Roman dominion; but he quarrelled with his friend, and returned to Italy in disgust, because Cato would not allow him any opportunity of enriching himself. Rufus, however, in his work on Cato, gave a different account of their quarrel. They were afterwards reconciled by the intervention of Marcia, Cato's wife. (Plut. Cat. Mi. 9, 30, 36, 37; V. Max. 4.3.2.)
a celebrated Stoic philosopher in the first century of the Christian era, was the son of a Roman eques of the name of Capito, and was born at Volsinii in Etruria, either at the end of the reign of Augustus, or the beginning of that of Tiberius. In consequence of his practising and inculcating the principles of the Porch, he became an object of suspicion and dislike at Nero's court, and was accordingly banished to the island of Gyaros, in A. D. 66, under the pretext of his having been privy to the conspiracy uf Piso. The statement of Suidas (s. v.), that he was put to death by Nero, is unquestionably erroneous. He returned from exile on the accession of Galba, and when Antonius Primus, the general of Vespasian, was marching upon Rome, he joined the ambassadors that were sent by Vitellius to the victorious general, and going among the soldiers of the latter, descanted upon the blessings of peace and the dangers of war, but was soon compelled to put an end to his unseasonable eloquence. When the party of Vitellius gained the upper hand, Musonius distinguished himself by accusing Publius Celer, by whose means Barea Soranus had been condemned, and he obtained the conviction of Publius. Musonius seems to have been held in high estimation by Vespasian, as he was allowed to remain at Rome when the other philosophers were banished from the city. The time of his death is not mentioned, but he was not alive in the reign of Trajan, when Pliny speaks of his sonin-law Artemidorus. (Tac. Ann. 14.59, 15.71, Hist. 3.81, 4.10, 40; D. C. 62.27, 66.13; Plin. Ep. 3.11; Philostr. Vit. Apoll. 4.35, 46, 7.16; Themist. Orat. xiii. p. 173, ed. Hard.) The poet Rufus Festus Avienus was probably a descendant of Musonius. [See Vol. I. p. 433a.] Works
Musonius wrote various philosophical works, which are spoken of by Suidas as λόγοι διάφοροι φιλοσοφίας ἐχόμενοι. Besides these Suidas mentions letters of his to Apollonius Tyanaeus, which were spurious. His opinions on philosophical subjects were also given in a work entitled, Ἀπομνημονεύματα Μουσωνίου τοῦ φιλοσόφου, which Suidas attributes to Asinius Pollio of Tralles (s. v. Πωλίων), but which must have been the work of a later writer of this name, as Asinius Pollio was a contemporary of Pompey. [See Vol. III. p. 439b.] The work of Pollio seems to have been an imitation of the Memorabilia of Xenophon, and it was probably this work that Stobaeus (Floril. 29.78, 56.18), A. Gellius (5.1, 9.2, 16.1), Arrian, and other writers made use of, when they quote the opinions of Musonius. Editions
All the extant fragments of his writings and opinions are carefully collected by Peerlkamp, in the work referred to below. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 566, 567; Ritter and Preller, Historia Philosophiae, pp. 438-441; Niewland, Dissert. Philos. Crit. de Musonio Rufoo, Amstelod. 1783, which is reprinted by Peerlkamp, in his C. Musonii Rufi Reliquiae et Apophthegmata, Harlemi, 1822.
[Nasidienus.]
tribune of the plebs B. C. 57, opposed Cicero's return from banishment, and is said to have been bought by the enemies of the orator. Cicero says that Numerius was in ridicule called Gracchus, and that in one of the tumults of that year he was very nearly put to death by his own party, that they might bring the odium of the deed upon the friends of Cicero. (Cic. pro Sest. 33, 38; Ascon. in Pis. p. 11, ed. Orelli ; Schol. Bob. pro Sext. p. 303, ed. Orelli.)
a Roman legate, assisted Mummius Lupercus in the defence of Vetera Castra against Civilis, A. D. 69-70 [Lupercus], but before that camp was taken he had left it, and joined Vocula at Novesium, where he was made prisoner by Classicus and Tutor [Classicus; Vocula], and taken to Treviri, where he was afterwards put to death by Valentinus and Tutor [Valentinus]. (Tac. Hist. 4.22, 55, 70, 77.)
quaestor about B. C. 230. [Octavius, No. 1.]
a contemporary of the younger Pliny and a poet, to whom Pliny addresses two of his letters (Ep. 1.7, 2.10).
consul B. C. 4, with C. Calvisius Sabinus (Monum. Ancyr.), is probably the same as the Passienus who obtained the honour of the triumphal ornaments on account of his victories in Africa. (Vell. 2.116.)
1. One of the accusers of Titius Sabinus in A. D. 28, because the latter had been a friend of Germanicus. Petilius had already been praetor, and he undertook that accusation in hopes of gaining the consulship (Tac. Ann. 6.68). The modern editions of Tacitus have Petitius, but we prefer the reading Petilius, as there was a consul of the name of Petilius Rufus in the reign of Domitian [No. 2].
2. Consul A. D. 83, with the emperor Domitian (Fasti).
[Mamercinus.]
one of the conspirators against Augustus (Suet. Aug. 19). He is perhaps the same as the C. Plotius Rufus whose name occurs on the coins of Augustus as one of the triumvirs of the mint. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 278.)
[Pompeius, Nos. 6. 8, 9, 13.]
one of the consular tribunes B. C. 399. (Liv. 5.13; Fasti Capit.)
mentioned by Pliny (Plin. Ep. 4.9. ' 3), as Pomponius Rufus Varenus. [Varenus.]
occurs on the coins of Cyrene, with the legend TAMIAC, from which it appears that he was quaestor in the province. Most of the coins have on them ΠΟΓΦΟΞ, as well as ΠΟΓΠΙΟΞ, but the former name is omitted in the specimen annexed. (Eckhel, vol. iv. p. 126.)
[Rutilius.]
[Salvidienus.]
a Roman orator, and a contemporary of the younger Pliny. (Plin. Ep. 1.5.11, 9.13.17.)
[Proculus, Scribonius, No. 2.]
1. C. Sempronius Rufus, a friend of Cicero, was accused by M. Tuccius in B. C. 51. Shortly before Caesar's death he had received some injury from Q. Cornificius, in consequence of which Rufus proposed a senatusconsultum after Caesar's death, which contained certain things to the prejudice of Cornificius. (Caelius, ad Fam. 8.8; Cic. Att. 6.2.10, ad Fam. 12.22, 25, 29.) [Comp. Rufio.]
2. A friend of the younger Pliny, who addresses one of his letters to him. (Ep. 4.22.)
3. An eunuch, and a Spaniard by birth, had been guilty of various crimes, but possessed unbounded influence with the emperor Caracalla. (D. C. 77.17.)
a name which occurs only on coins, a specimen of which is annexed.
1. succeeded to the property of Q. Fadius Gallus in a dishonourable manner. (Cic. de Fin. 2.17.)
2. was quaestor in Cyprus in B. C. 47, at which time Cicero wrote a letter to him, which is extant (ad Fam. 13.48). In the wars which followed the death of Caesar, Rufus joined the republican party and commanded the fleet of C. Cassius (ad Fam. 12.13.4).
[Sextus Rufus.]
had been formerly the quaestor of Germanicus, and having been convicted, in the reign of Tiberius, of receiving bribes in the discharge of his judicial duties, was sentenced by that emperor to be banished to an island. He was subsequently allowed to return to Rome, and gained great influence with the emperor Claudius, by whom he was promoted to the consulship in A. D. 46. But he prostituted his power and talents to base and unworthy purposes. He possessed considerable powers of oratory, but these were employed in bringing accusations against his wealthy contemporaries; and his services were only to be obtained by large sums of money. In the reign of Nero, A. D. 58, he was accused of various crimes, was condemned, and was banished to the Balearic islands (Tac. Ann. 4.31, 11.1, 4, 5, 13.42, 43). Suillius married the daughter of Ovid's third wife; and one of the poet's letters from Pontus is addressed to Suillius, in which he begs the latter to reconcile Germanicus to him (ex Pont. 4.8). Suillius was also the half-brother of Domitius Corbulo, the celebrated general in the reign of Nero; the name of their mother was Vestilia. (Plin. Nat. 7.4. s. 5.)
[Sulpicius.]
was appointed, in A. D. 23, to succeed Ateius Capito, in the important office of "curator aquarum publicarum," but was himself succeeded, in the following year, by M. Cocceius Nerva, the grandfather of the emperor (Frontin. de Aquaed. 102). He is probably the same as the L. Tarius Rufus who was consul suffectus in B. C. 16.
was put to death in the reign of Caligula, for saying that the senate thought differentlv from what it said. (D. C. 59.18.)
who had previously been praetor, was appointed by Tiberius, in A.D. 19, to govern Thrace on behalf of the children of Cotys. He put an end to his own life in A. D. 35. (Tac. Ann. 2.67, 3.38, 6.39.)
[Valgius.]
was consul for the first time in A. D. 63, with C. Memmius Regulus, and received afterwards the government of Germany. He commanded in this country in the last year of Nero's reign (A. D. 68), when Julius Vindex, the propraetor of Gaul, revolted from Nero, and offered the sovereignty to Galba, who was then in Spain. The soldiers of Rufus wished their own commander to assume the supreme power, but he steadily refused it himself, and would not allow any one else to obtain it, except the person upon whom it might be conferred by the senate. He accordingly marched against Vindex, who was defeated by him in a bloody battle, and put an end to his life. When the news of this disaster reached Galba, he was so alarmed that he was also on the point of destroying himself. The soldiers of Rufus were now more anxious than ever to raise him to the imperial dignity, and as he would not yield to their entreaties they proceeded to use threats, which he equally disregarded. Soon afterwards Nero perished, and Galba was recognised as emperor by the senate. The new emperor, afraid of the intentions of Rufus, eagerly solicited him to accompany him to Rome ; and Rufus, who had no wish for the sovereignty, complied with his request. Galba, however, still jealous of his fame with the German troops, conferred no mark of favour upon him; and this neglect of their former general gave no small umbrage to the soldiers who had served under him. On the death of Galba, Otho, anxious to conciliate the favour of the soldiers, raised Rufus to the consulship for the second time. Otho perished by his own hand soon afterwards, and the soldiers determined that Rufus should now, at all events, accept the empire. He remained, however, firm in his resolution; and when the soldiers blockaded him in his house, he escaped from them by a backdoor. But this continued opposition to their desires almost proved his ruin. Thinking themselves insulted by him, they began to hate him as much as they had formerly loved him; and accordingly when he was accused of taking part in a conspiracy against Vitellius, they flocked to the emperor, and eagerly demanded the death of their former favourite. But Rufus escaped this peril, and lived for many years afterwards, honoured and beloved by all classes in the city. At length, in A. D. 97, when he was eighty-three years of age, the emperor Nerva made him consul for the third time, along with himself. During his consulship he broke his leg, and this accident occasioned his death. He was honoured with a public funeral, and the panegyric over him was pronounced by Cornelius Tacitus, who was then consul. His praises were also celebrated by the younger Pliny, of whom he had formerly been the tutor or guardian, and who has preserved the epitaph which Rufus composed for his own tomb :
"Hic situs est Rufus pulso qui Vindice quondam Imperium adseruit non sibi sed patriae."
(D. C. 63.24, 25, 27, 64.4, 68.2 ; Plut. Galb. 4, 6, 10; Tac. Hist. 1.8, 9, 77, 2.49, 51, 68; Plin. Ep. 2.1, 5.3.5, 6.10, 9.19.) The praenomen of Virginius Rufus is doubtful, as we find in inscriptions, in which his different consulships are recorded, both Lucius and Titus. But since he is expressly stated to have been three times consul (Plin. Ep. 2.1), it is more likely that there is an error in one of the inscriptions than that they refer to different persons. Some modern writers, indeed, assign a fourth consulship to him, but this opinion is untenable. (See Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, vol. ii. p. 208, ed. Bruxelles.)
lived in the reign of Tiberius, and prided himself on two things; namely, that he possessed the curule chair which the dictator Caesar was accustomed to use, and that he had married the widow of Cicero. But his boasting gave no offence, and he was raised by Tiberius to the consulship. His name, however, does not appear in the Fasti (D. C. 57.15). The widow of Cicero has been usually supposed to be Terentia, but Drumann has remarked, with justice, that it was far more likely Publilia, the second wife of Cicero (Geschichte Roms, vol. vi. p. 696). Vibius Rufus frequently appears as one of the declaimers in the Controversiae of the elder Seneca. (Contr. 2, 4, 5, 7-9, et alibi.)
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…ne triumpharent, calumnia paucorum, quibus omnia honesta atque inhonesta vendere mos erat, sed praetores Q. Pompeius Rufus Capuam, Q. Metellus Celer in agrum Picenum iisque permissum, uti pro tempore atque periculo exercitum conpararent .…
Sallust, Catilina
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…etiam ut dolere alterius improbe facto videatur. quid est enim aliud esse versutum memini me adesse P. Sextilio Rufo, cum is rem ad amicos ita deferret, se esse heredem Q. Fadio Gallo, cuius in testamento…
M. Tullius Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
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…produci iubet. erant quinque senatorii ordinis, L. Domitius, P. Lentulus Spinther, L. Caecilius Rufus, Sex. Quintilius Varus quaestor, L. Rubrius ; praeterea filius Domiti aliique complures adulescentes et magnus numerus…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
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…eo duabus legionibus, ne ad eius periculum reservare et retinere eas ad urbem Pompeius videretur ; ut M. Rufus, qui sententiam Calidi paucis fere mutatis verbis sequebatur. hi omnes convicio L. Lentuli consulis correpti exagitabantur .…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
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…quas alii dicerent ; ut Q. Metello F ., ut Q. Caepioni, ut Q. Pompeio Rufo, quamquam is etiam ipse scripsit eas, quibus pro se est usus, sed non sine Aelio. his…
M. Tullius Cicero, Brutus
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…. Considius Longus unius legionis praesidio tuebatur. reliquae Caesaris naves eius fuga se Hadrumetum receperunt. hunc secutus Marcius Rufus quaestor navibus xii, quas praesidio onerariis navibus Curio ex Sicilia eduxerat, postquam in litore relictam navem conspexit ,…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
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…totius exercitus procul animadversa sese incolumes in castra conferunt. milites ad unum omnes interficiuntur. His rebus cognitis Marcius Rufus quaestor in castris relictus a Curione cohortatur suos, ne animo deficiant. illi orant atque obsecrant, ut in…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
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…tum cum P. Lentulus, is qui princeps senatus fuit, accusabat M. Aquilium subscriptore C. Rutilio Rufo, aut cum P. Africanus, homo virtute, fortuna, gloria, rebus gestis amplissimus, posteaquam bis…
Cicero, Divinatio in Q. Caecilium
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…Scaurus non fecisse videntur. tres candidati fore rei putabantur, Domitius a Memmio, Messalla a Q. Pompeio Rufo, Scaurus a Triario aut a L. Caesare. quid poteris inquies pro iis dicere ne vivam ;…
Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum
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…, placere eum quam amplissime supremo suo die efferri. et cum Ser. Sulpicius Q. f. lemonia Rufus ita de re publica meritus sit ut eis ornamentis decorari debeat, senatum censere atque e re publica existimare aedilis…
Cicero, Philippicae
The brother of P. Sulla by the same mother, but not by the same father. He was tribune of the plebs B.C. 63, when he rendered warm support to Cicero, and in particular opposed the agrarian law of Rullus. In his praetorship, B.C. 57, he joined most of the other magistrates in proposing the recall of Cicero from banishment.
A young Roman noble distinguished as an elegant writer and eloquent speaker, but equally conspicuous for his profligacy and extravagance. Notwithstanding his vices he lived on intimate terms with Cicero, who defended him in B.C. 56 in an oration still extant. The accusation was brought against him by Sempronius Atratinus, at the instigation of Clodia Quadrantaria, whom he had lately deserted. Clodia charged him with having borrowed money from her in order to murder Dion, the head of the embassy sent by Ptolemy Auletes to Rome, and with having made an attempt to poison her. In 52 Caelius was tribune of the plebs and in 50 aedile. During the years 51 and 50 he carried on an active correspondence with Cicero, who was then in Cilicia, and many of the letters which he wrote to Cicero at that time are preserved in the collection of Cicero's Letters. On the breaking out of the Civil War in 49 he espoused Caesar's side, and was rewarded for his services by the praetorship in 48. Being at this time overwhelmed with debt, he availed himself of Caesar's absence from Italy to bring forward a law for the abolition of debts. He was, however, resisted by the other magistrates and deprived of his office; whereupon he went into the south of Italy to join Milo (q.v.), whom he had secretly sent for from Massilia. Milo was killed near Thurii before Caelius could join him, and Caelius himself was put to death shortly afterwards at Thurii.
The colleague of Q. Fabius (B.C. 217) in the Second Punic War. See Fabius.
See Curtius.
See Sextus Rufus.
Valgius. See Valgius.