Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/685

Rh RUFUS. Caelius had paid considerable attention to liter- ature, and Avith no small success. He was an elegant writer and an eloquent speaker ; he pos- sessed an excitable temperament, and a lively imagination ; the speeches in which he accused others were considered his master-pieces (Cic. Brut. 79 ; orator iraetindissimus, Senec. de Ira, iii. 8). He was a friend of Catullus, who has addressed two of his poems to him (Carm. Iviii. 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 charac- ter 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 them- selves to convince any attentive reader of the worthlessness of his moral character, (Niebuhr, Kleine Sckriften, vol. ii. p. 252 ; Meyer, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta, p. 458, &c., 2d ed. ; Dru- mann, Geschichte Roms, vol. ii, p. 4 11, &c. ; and especially Suringar, M. Caelii Rufi et M. Tullii Ciceronis Epistolae mutuae, Lugd. Batav. 1 846, in which all the authorities for the life of Caelius, both ancient and modern, are printed at length.) RUFUS, CAESE'TIUS, proscribed by An- tony 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, B. C. iv. 29 ; Val. Max. ix. 5. § 4.) RUFUS, C. CALVrSIUS, an intimate friend of the younger Pliny (Plin. Ep, i. 12. § 12, iv, 4), who has addressed several of his letters to him. {Ep. ii. 20, iii. 1, 19, v. 7, viii. 2, ix. 6.) RUFUS, CAMO'NIUS, of Bononia, a friend of Martial, died at an early age in Cappadocia. (Mart. vi. 85.) RUFUS CANFNIUS, 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. viii. 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. i, 3). There are also several other letters of Pliny ad- dressed to him, which all more or less urge him to prosecute his literary pursuits, and undertake the composition of some poetical work. {Ep. ii. 8, iii. 7, vi. 21, vii, 18, viii. 4, ix. 33.) RUFUS, CA'NIUS, a Roman poet, to whom Martial has addressed one of his epigrams. {Ep. iii. 20.) RUFUS, CLAU'DIUS CRASSUS. [Clau- dius, No. 1 2.] RUFUS, CLU'VIUS. [Cluvius, No. 7.] RUFUS, M', CO'RDIUS, a name known to us only from coins, of which a specimen is annexed. VOL. in. RUFUS. 673 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. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 178.) COIN OF M . CORDIUS RUFUS, RUFUS, CORE'LLIUS, 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 vo- luntary starvation at the age of 67, at the com- mencement of Trajan's reign. His virtues and his death form the subject of one of the letters of Pliny {Ep. i. 12), who also mentions him on many other occasions. {Ep. iv. 17. § 4, v, 1, § 5, vii, 11. §3, ix. 13. §6.) RUFUS, CU'RTIUS, 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 pro- consul. Urged on by this vision, he repaired to Rome and obtained the quaestorship and praetor- ship in the reign of Tiberius, at a later period the consular imperiura and triumphal ornaments, and at length the government of Africa, as had been predicted (Tac.^ww, xi, 20, 21 ; Plin. Ep. vii. 27). Some modern writers suppose that this Curtius Rufus was the father of Q. Curtius Rufus, the historian. RUFUS, Q. CU'RTIUS, the historian. [Cur- tius.] RUFUS DOME'STICUS. [Rufinus, lite- rarv. No. 4,] RUFUS, EGNA'TIUS. I. L. Egnatius Ru- fus, 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. xiii. 73, 74), to Quintius Gallius {ad Fam. xiii. 43, 44), to Appuleius {ad Fam. xiii. 45), and to Silius {ad Fain. xiii. 47). Both Cicero and his brother Quintus had pecuniary dealings with him {ad Att. vii, 18. § 4, x. 15. § 4, xi. 3. § 3, xii. 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 ser- vants, that he obtained the praetorship for the fol- lowing year in opposition to the laws, which enacted that a certain time should intervene be- tween the offices of aedile and praetor. En- couraged by this success, he endeavoured to secure the consulship for the following year, B. c. 1 8 ; but as the consul C. Sentius Saturninus refused to receive his name as one of the candidates, he en- tered into a plot with persons who were, like him- X X