Vulcacius Rufinus (died 368) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

politician, related to the

Constantinian dynasty The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great, who became the sole rule ...

Biography

Rufinus' siblings were

Neratius Cerealis Neratius (or Naeratius) Cerealis ( 328–358) was a Roman senator and politician, ''Praefectus urbi'' and Consul. Biography He was the brother of Galla, wife of Julius Constantius, and half-brother of Vulcacius Rufinus, and probably had a ...

, Galla (the mother of

Constantius Gallus Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326 – 354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as Caesar (title), ''Caesar'' under emperor Constantius II (), his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius ...

), and the mother of

Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman hi ...

. A pagan, he was '' pontifex maximus'', ''

consularis ''Consularis'' is a Latin adjective indicating something pertaining to the position or rank of consul. In Ancient Rome it was also used as a noun (plural ''consulares'') to designate those senators who had held the office of consul or attained con ...

'' for

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

, ''comes ordinis primi intra

consistorium The ''sacrum consistorium'' or ''sacrum auditorium'' (from , "discuss a topic"; , "sacred assembly") was the highest political council of the Roman Empire from the time of Constantine the Great on. It replaced the '' consilium principis'' that had ...

'' under the Emperor

Constans I Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), also called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of '' caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. After his father's death, he was made ''a ...

or his brother

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

, ''comes per Orientem, Aegypti et Mesopotamiae per easdem vice sacra iudicans'' from 5 April 342,

praetorian prefect of Italy The praetorian prefecture of Italy (, in its full form (until 356) ) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided since the first half of the 4th century. It comprised the Italian peninsula, the western Bal ...

from 344 to 347 (between the prefectures of Fulvius Placidus and Ulpius Limenius), ''consul ordinarius prior'' in 347 with Flavius Eusebius, and

praetorian prefect of Illyricum The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum (; , also termed simply the prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. The administrative centre of the prefecture was Sirmium (375–379 ...

between 347 and 352. During Rufinus' prefecture of Illyricum,

Magnentius Magnus Magnentius ( 303 – 10 August 353) was a Roman general and usurper against Constantius II. Of Germanic descent, Magnentius served with distinction in Gaul, where the army chose him as a replacement for the unpopular emperor Constans. Ac ...

overthrew Constans. The usurper sent Rufinus, along with Marcellinus, Maximus and Nunechius, as envoys to Constantius II. Constantius had the other three men arrested, but Rufinus retained his liberty and his office. In 354, after the fall of Magnentius, he was

praetorian prefect of Gaul The Praetorian Prefecture of Gaul () was one of four large praetorian prefecture, prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided in the 4th century. History The prefecture was established after the death of Constantine I in 337, whe ...

, living in the capital

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, but was replaced by Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus Lampadius. Rufinus may have lost his post because his relative Constantius Gallus had fallen into disgrace with the Emperor. Between 365 and 368 he was the praetorian prefect for Italy and Africa, succeeding Claudius Mamertinus, and of Gaul from 366 to 368. He died in service.

Bibliography

* John Morris, Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Robert Martindale, ''The Prosopography of the later Roman Empire'', Cambridge University Press, 1992. pp. 782–783 {{Authority control 368 deaths Ancient Roman governors 4th-century Roman consuls Praetorian prefects of Gaul Praetorian prefects of the Illyricum Praetorian prefects of Italy Rufinus Year of birth unknown