Quintus Pomponius Rufus was a Roman

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

active in the imperial service; he was governor during the reigns of the emperors Domitian and

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

. Rufus was also suffect consul for the '' nundinium'' September-December AD 95 as the colleague of Lucius Baebius Tullus. Pomponius Rufus is known primarily from inscriptions.

Career

An inscription from the Arch of Trajan in Lepcis Magna provides us some of the details of his '' cursus honorum''. However, as Ronald Syme states, it "is perplexing in more ways than one."Review of ''Die Statthalter der römischen Provinz Dalmatien von Augustus bis Diokletian'' by Adolf Jagenteufel
''Gnomon'', 31 (1959), p. 512 One issue is that the inscription lacks any mention of his traditional Republican magistracies -- quaestor, plebeian tribune, and

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

; while not all such inscriptions include these magistracies, more do than do not. Another is the mention that Rufus was ("prefect of the coasts of nearer Spain, and Gallia Narbonensis in the war which Emperor Galba fought for the Republic"). Syme observes this was Rufus' debut, in the Year of Four Emperors. "Galba's own insurrection in Spain, the war he raised against Nero, asunder the name and plea of the Res Publica. Galba had support in certain cities of Narbonensis, such as Vienna. The coast now acquired strategic importance." Rufus was assigned the defense of the coasts of the provinces Baetica and Narbonensis, which leads to a number of insights. One is that Rufus was an important supporter of one of the rivals of the eventual victor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, yet survived the violence. Another is that Rufus was at least 30 years old in the year 69, which means he was at least 56 years old when he acceded to the consulate. The next issue, in chronological order, is that he was commissioned '' legatus legionis'' or commander of a "Legio V"; this could be either Legio V Alaudae or

Legio V Macedonica Legio V Macedonica (the Fifth Macedonian Legion) was a Roman legion. It was established in 43 BC by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Augustus, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as the Roman Emperor, Emperor Augustus). and ...

, both of which were in existence at this time. The Fifth Alaudae suffered severe losses in AD 70 during the Batavian rebellion, and may have been disbanded soon after. A fourth issue is the inscription records he was ''legatus Augusti pro praetor provinciarum Moesia Dalmatia tHispania'', or governor of three imperial provinces. His time in two of these are documented from military diplomas. Pomponius Rufus is attested as governor of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

on 13 July 94; Werner Eck has interpreted this to indicate his tenure as governor ran from the year 92 to 95, the year Rufus became consul. Following his consulate, he was appointed governor of the province of

Moesia Inferior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

from 98 to 100. This leaves the issue when he governed "Hispania" -- presumably

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now ...

-- to be solved. If the names were listed in reverse chronological order, then his tenure there completed before the year 94. There is a gap in the list of governors for this province between the offices of Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Quirinalis Valerius Festus (78-81) and Gaius Catellius Celer (85-90); his own tenure as governor probably fell between those two. There is another possibility: Syme notes that Rufus may have served in that province as a '' juridicus'', as had other senators. Syme admits that "in correct terminology ufus' officeis not styled ''leg. Aug. pro pr.'' But this inscription is not correct in all respects." Syme dates a possible posting as "''iuridicus'' before or after Glitius Agricola, consul suffect in 97." According to the inscription on the Arch of Trajan, Rufus was a member of the '' sodales Flaviales'', and later admitted to the prestigious college of pontiffs. His first appointment after his tenure as suffect consul was '' curator operum publicorum'', or overseer of public works in Rome. The two appointments to the provinces mentioned above followed -- Dalmatia and Moesia Inferior. The final office Rufus held is known from the before-mentioned Arch of Trajan; Rufus achieved the mark of a successful senatorial career by being

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

ar governor of

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in 110/111.Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten", p. 349 This inscription was the work of his own or , Lucius Asinius Rufus. When Rufus stepped down as proconsul in the year 111, he was at least 72 years old. Based on our knowledge of ancient Roman demographics, it is likely Pomponius Rufus died soon after he returned to Rome.

Career

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Further reading