Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/689

Rh RUFUS. RUFUS, M. POMPO'NIUS, one of the con- sular tribunes b. c. 399. (Li v. v. 13 ; Fasti Capit.) RUFUS, POMPO'NIUS, mentioned by Pliny {Ep. iv. 9. § 3), as Pomponius Rufus Varenus. [Varenus.] RUFUS, A. PU'PIUS, 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 POT4>OC, as well as nOTniOC, but the former name is omitted in the specimen annexed. (Eckhel, vol. iv. p. 126.) COIN OF A. PUPIUS RUFUS. RUFUS, RUTI'LIUS. [Rutilius.] RUFUS, SALVIDIE'NUS. [Salvidienus.] RUFUS, SA'TRIUS, a Roman orator, and a contemporary of the vounger Pliny. (Plin. Ep. i. 5. §ll,ix. 13. §17.) RUFUS, SCRIBO'NIUS. [Proculus, Scri- BONIUS, No. 2.) RUFUS, SEMPRO'NIUS. 1. C. Sempro- Nius 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. Corni- ficius, in consequence of which Rufus proposed a senatusconsultum after Caesar's death, which con- tained certain things to the prejudice of Cornificius. (Caelius, ad Fam. viii. 8 ; Cic. ad Ait. vi. 2. § 10, ad Fam. xii. 22, 25, 29.) [Comp. Rufio.] 2. A friend of the younger Pliny, who addresses one of his letters to him. {Ep. iv." 22.) 3. An eunuch, and a Spaniard by birth, had been guilty of various crimes, but possessed un- bounded influence with the emperor Caracalla. (Dion Cass. Ixxvii. 17.) RUFUS, L. SE'RVIUS, a name which occurs only on coins, a specimen of which is annexed. COIN OF L. SERVIUS RUFUS. RUFUS, SEXTFLIUS. 1. P., succeeded to the property of Q. Fadius Callus in a dishonourable manner. (Cic. de Fin. ii. 17.) 2. C, was quaestor in Cyprus in b. c. 47, at which time Cicero wrote a letter to him, which is extant {ad Fam. xiii. 48). In the wars which followed the death of Caesar, Rufus joined the re- publican party and commanded the fleet of C. Cassius {ad Fam. xii. 13. § 4). «UFUS, SEXTUS. [Sextus Rufus.] RUFUS, P. SUI'LLIUS, had been formerly the quaestor of Germanicus, and having been con- victed, iu the reign of Tiberius, of receiving bribes RUFUS. 677 in the discharge of his judicial duties, was sen- tenced by that emperor to be banished to an island. He was subsequently allowed to return to Romej and gained great influence with the emperor Claudius, by whom he was promoted to the con- sulship 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. iv. 31, xi. 1, 4, 5, xiii. 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 {ece Pont. iv. 8). Suillius was also the half-brother of Domitius Corbulo, the celebrated general in the reign of Nero ; the name of their mother was Vcb- tilia. (Plin. H. N. vii. 4. s. 5.) RUFUS, SULPI'CIUS. [Sulpicius.] RUFUS, TA'RIUS, 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 suf- fectus in b, c. 16. RUFUS, TFTIUS, was put to death in the reign of Caligula, for saying that the senate thought differently from what it said, (Dion Cass. lix. 18.) RUFUS, TREBELLIE'NUS, who had pre- viously 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. ii. 67, iii. 38, vi. 39.) RUFUS, VA'LGIUS. LValgius.] RUFUS, VERGFNIUS, was consul for the first time in a. d. 6.3, with C. Memmius Regulus, and received afterwards the government of Ger- many. He commanded in this country in the last year of Nero's reign (a. d. 68), when Julius Vin- dex, 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 dig- nity, 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, con- ferred no mark of favour upon him ; and this neg- lect 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 X X 3