Publius Rutilius Rufus
Publius Rutilius Rufus | |
---|---|
Consul of the Roman Republic | |
In office 105 BC – 105 BC Serving with Gnaeus Mallius Maximus | |
Personal details | |
Born | 158 BC |
Died | after 78 BC Ancient Roman |
Publius Rutilius Rufus (158 BC – after 78 BC) was a Roman statesman, soldier, orator and historian of the Rutilia gens, as well as a great-uncle of Gaius Julius Caesar (through his sister Rutilia, Caesar's maternal grandmother). He achieved the highest political office in the Roman Republic when he was elected consul in 105 BC.
During his consulship, he reformed the drill system and improved army discipline. As legate to Quintus Mucius Scaevola, he attempted to protect the inhabitants of Asia from extortion by the equites, which provoked them to raise the accusation of extortion from those provincials. The charge was false, but as the juries were chosen from the equestrian order, he was condemned. He was exiled and went to Smyrna, where he wrote a history of Rome in Greek.
Early life
He was the third child of a Publius Rutilius,[citation needed] the other children being called Lucius and Rutilia (mother of Gaius Aurelius Cotta). Rufus studied philosophy under Panaetius (becoming a Stoic), law, public speaking under Sulpicius Galba,[1] and Greek.
Military career and consulship
He started his military career in 134 BC, as a member of the staff of
In 115 BC Rufus campaigned to get elected consul. He was defeated for the consulship by Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. After the elections he prosecuted Scaurus for ambitus. Scaurus in turn prosecuted Rufus for the same charge. Both failed.
Rufus was a legate of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus in the campaign against Jugurtha of 109 BC, along with Gaius Marius.[1] He distinguished himself in the Battle of the Muthul, where he faced a charge by Bomilcar and managed to capture or maim most of the Numidian war elephants.
In 105 BC he was elected to the consulship[2] as a senior partner of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus. During his time as consul, Rome was faced with the crisis of potential invasion by the migrating Cimbri and Teutons, who had reached the province of Transalpine Gaul: as the senior consul, and moreover the one with a distinguished military record, one would have expected Rutilius to be the one who led the Roman army north to confront the Germanic tribes. However, for whatever reason, this duty was handed to his junior partner, with disastrous consequences as Mallius and the proconsular governor Servilius Caepio proved unable or unwilling to cooperate, resulting in a shattering defeat at the Battle of Arausio, while Rutilius himself remained in Rome. His main achievements concerned the discipline of the army and the introduction of an improved system of drill. Subsequently, he served as legate to Quintus Mucius Scaevola, governor of Asia.[1]
Exile and later life
By assisting his superior in his efforts to protect the inhabitants of Asia from the extortions of the
He retired to
Family
Rufus was married to a Livia, the sister of Marcus Livius Drusus.[5] Their son may have been Publius Rutilius Nudus.[6]
In fiction
- In Steven Saylor's novel Wrath of the Furies, Publius Rutilius Rufus features as one of the secondary characters.
- In Colleen McCullough's novel The First Man in Rome (the first book in her Masters of Rome series) Publius Rutilius Rufus features as one of the secondary characters.
References
- ^ a b c d "Rutilius Rufus, Publius". Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ Smith, William (1871). A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology and Geography. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. p. 761.
- ^ Mommsen, Theodor (1867). The History of Rome. Vol. 3. London: Richard Bentley. p. 219.
- ISBN 978-0199537907.
- ISBN 978-1429989190.
- ^ "Sp.Rutilius Crassus". Roman Nobilitas Prosopography and Genealogy. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rutilius Rufus, Publius". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 943. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0525541875.