Marcus Cluvius Rufus was a Roman consul, senator, governor, and historian who was mentioned on several occasions by
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
,
Suetonius,
Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
,
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
and
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
.
Career
Cluvius was
consul ''suffectus'' prior to AD 65; from how those Roman historians mention him he could have held the fasces during the reign of
Claudius, but Paul Gallivan believes that in "all probability Cluvius' consular date should be Neronian." He had been involved in the conspiracy to assassinate
Caligula, but it is not known to what degree.
As an ex-consul during the early part of
Nero's reign, Cluvius knew many members of the emperor's inner circle, He appeared as the emperor's herald at the games in which Nero made his appearance.
During the
year of the four emperors
The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the ...
, Cluvius was governor of
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...
. Tacitus said "Spain was under the government of Cluvius Rufus, an eloquent man, who had all the accomplishments of civil life, but who was without experience in war." Nobody had been endangered by his actions during Nero's reign. On the death of Galba, Cluvius first swore allegiance to
Otho
Marcus Otho (; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was the seventh Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors.
A member of a noble Etr ...
, but soon afterwards he became a partisan of
Vitellius
Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...
. Hilarius, a freedman of Vitellius, accused him of aspiring to obtain the government of Hispania independent of the emperor, but Cluvius went to Vitellius, who was then in Gaul, and succeeded in clearing his name. Cluvius is said to have pushed senators to demand more power from the emperor during the reign of
Vitellius
Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...
.
[Plutarch ''The Parallel Lives'', Life of Otho 3]
Historian
Cluvius Rufus was an important historian whose writing and testimony, though now lost, certainly shaped modern understanding of first century Rome. He was a contemporary of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, but little is known of the extent of his work except that it related to events during the reign of these emperors. Cluvius was one of the primary sources for Tacitus' ''
Annals
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between ann ...
'' and ''
Histories'', Suetonius' ''
The Lives of Twelve Caesars'',
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
' ''
Antiquities of the Jews'',
Plutarch's
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ...
''
Parallel Lives'' and probably for later historians.
See also
*
Cluvia (gens)
Notes
Sources
Cluvius Rufus is mentioned in:
* Josephus ''Antiquities of the Jews'' XIX.1.13;
* Suetonius ''The Lives of Twelve Caesars'', Life of Nero 21;
* Pliny the Younger, Epistulae IX.19;
* Plutarch ''The Parallel Lives'', Life of Otho 3;
* Tacitus ''Annals'', XII.20 and XIV.2;
* Tacitus ''Histories'', I.8, II.58, II.65, III.65, IV.39 and IV.43
* Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', LXIII.14;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cluvius Rufus, Marcus
1st-century Romans
1st-century historians
Latin historians
Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome
Rufus, Marcus Cluvius