Antonius Rufus was a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...

who was quoted by the rhetorician

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

and the grammarian

Velius Longus Velius Longus (fl. 2nd century AD), Latin grammarian during the reign of Trajan (or Hadrian), author of an extant treatise on orthography ( Heinrich Keil, ''Grammatici Latini'', vii). He is mentioned by Macrobius''Saturnalia'', iii.6.6 and Servius ...

. The

scholiast Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient au ...

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

who was historically called Cruquianus speaks of an Antonius Rufus who wrote plays both ''praetextatae'' and ''togatae'', but whether he is the same as the grammarian is uncertain. This reference is considered by some scholars altogether unreliable. The humanist

Johann Glandorp Johann Glandorp (August 1, 1501 in Münster - February 22, 1564 in Herford) was a German humanist, educator, poet, theologian, and reformer. Life Glandorp was born in Münster, the son of a tailor, he was educated at the Gymnasium Paulinum in his ...

, in his ''Onomasticon'', states on the authority of

Helenius Acron Helenius Acron (or Acro) was a Roman commentator and grammarian, probably of the 3rd century AD, but whose precise date is not known. Helenius Acron is known to have written on Terence ('' Adelphi'' and '' Eunuchus'' at least) and Horace. These c ...

, the grammarian and commenter on Horace, that Antonius Rufus translated both

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

and

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

, but there is no passage in Acron in which the name of Antonius Rufus occurs. Glandorp probably had in his mind the statement Cruquianus already referred to, and connected it with a line in

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

, in which Rufus is spoken of as a lyric poet; but who this Rufus was, whether the same as Antonius Rufus or not, cannot be determined.

Johann Christian Wernsdorf Johann Christian Wernsdorf I (6 November 1723 in Wittenberg – 25 August 1793 in Helmstedt) was a German writer, poet, and rhetorician. Life Born the son of Gottlieb Wernsdorf the Elder and his wife Magaretha Katharina (nee Nitsch), he lost his ...

, '' Poetae Latini Minores'' vol. iii. p. 30, vol. iv. p. 585

Notes

Grammarians of Latin Ancient Roman writers

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''wikt:rufus, rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Marcus Caelius Rufus, (28 May 82 BC – after 48 ...

1st-century Romans 1st-century writers in Latin {{AncientRome-writer-stub