Quintus Pomponius Rufus was a Roman senator active in the imperial service; he was governor during the reigns of the emperors

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...

and

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. 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 Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names in antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean. Originally a 7th-centuryBC Phoenician foundation, it was great ...

provides us some of the details of his ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

''. However, as

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

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 Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power o ...

, 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 discharge vari ...

; 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 A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...

. "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 (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

, 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 Legio V Alaudae ("Fifth Legion of the Lark"), sometimes also known as ''Gallica'', was a legion of the Roman army founded in 52 BC by the general Gaius Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome 49-44 BC). It was levied in Transalpine Gaul to fight the arm ...

Legio V Macedonica ''Legio V Macedonica'' (the Fifth Macedonian Legion) was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied in 43 BC by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus (later known as the Emperor Augustus). It was bas ...

, both of which were in existence at this time. The Fifth Alaudae suffered severe losses in AD 70 during the

Batavian rebellion The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia, on ...

, 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 diploma A Roman military diploma was a document inscribed in bronze certifying that the holder was honourably discharged from the Roman armed forces and/or had received the grant of Roman citizenship from the emperor as reward for service. The diploma ...

s. Pomponius Rufus is attested as governor of Dalmatia on 13 July 94;

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is Professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. Hi ...

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 from 98 to 100. This leaves the issue when he governed "Hispania" -- presumably Hispania Tarraconensis -- 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 Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Quirinalis Valerius Festus was a Roman Empire, Roman Roman senate, senator, general, and ''amicus'' to each of the Flavian dynasty, Flavian emperors. He proved his value to the Flavians when, as ''legatus legionis'', or com ...

(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 The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other '' ...

. 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 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 command, or ...

ar governor of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

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

See also

References

Further reading