Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus (c. 35 – 93 AD) was a Roman

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

and a friend and follower of Thrasea Paetus, and like him an ardent admirer of Stoic philosophy. Arulenus Rusticus attained a suffect consulship in the ''

nundinium Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word ''nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. S ...

'' of September to December 92 with

Gaius Julius Silanus Gaius Julius Silanus was a Roman senator and general who held a series of offices in the emperor's service. He was suffect consul for the ''nundinium'' of January to April 92 as the colleague of Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus. Silanus is known so ...

as his colleague. He was one of a group of Stoics who opposed the perceived tyranny and autocratic tendencies of certain emperors, known today as the

Stoic Opposition The Stoic Opposition is the name given to a group of Stoic philosophers who actively opposed the autocratic rule of certain emperors in the 1st-century, particularly Nero and Domitian. Most prominent among them was Thrasea Paetus, an influential R ...

. His contemporaries referred to him in varying ways. The ''

Fasti In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for si ...

'' of Potentia and

Ostia Ostia may refer to: Places *Ostia (Rome), a municipio (also called ''Ostia Lido'' or ''Lido di Ostia'') of Rome *Ostia Antica, a township and port of ancient Rome *Ostia Antica (district), a district of the commune of Rome Arts and entertainment ...

call him Q. Arulenus Rusticus, while

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 ...

, Pliny the Younger, and Dio Cassius call him Arulenus Rusticus or Rusticus Arulenus, yet

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

calls him Junius Rusticus. That his brother was a friend of Pliny the Younger named

Junius Mauricus Junius often refers to: * Junius (writer), the pseudonym of an 18th-century British political writer of strongly Whig principles * The nomen of the ancient Roman * or , the month of June on the ancient Roman calendar * Rosa Luxemburg's '' Junius ...

, the senator Junius Rusticus (attested as alive in AD 29) is commonly identified as his father, and Quintus Junius Rusticus (suffect consul in 133 and ordinary consul in 162) as his grandson, only increases the perplexity. In his monograph on Roman naming practices, Olli Salomies attempted to determine to which

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

Arulenus Rusticus belonged—Aruleni or Junii—only to admit there is no better explanation than the suggestion of

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 Rom ...

that Arulenus "is either adoptive or maternal—and accorded preference to the indistinctive 'Iunius'".

Life

Arulenus Rusticus was

Tribune of the plebs 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 ...

in AD 66, in which year Thrasea was condemned to death by the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

; he would have placed his

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

upon the ''

senatus consultum A ''senatus consultum'' (Latin: decree of the senate, plural: ''senatus consulta'') is a text emanating from the senate in Ancient Rome. It is used in the modern phrase '' senatus consultum ultimum''. Translated into French as ''sénatus-consulte ...

'', had not Thrasea prevented him, as he would only have brought certain destruction upon himself without saving the life of the defendant. He was

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 vario ...

in the civil wars after the death of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unt ...

(69 AD), when as one of the senate's ambassadors to the Flavian armies he was wounded by the soldiers of Petilius Cerialis. Although Arulenus Rusticus attained a suffect consulship during the reign of

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 Flavi ...

, in the following year he was condemned to death because he wrote a

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...

to Thrasea.

When I was once lecturing in Rome, that famous Rusticus, whom Domitian later killed through envy at his repute, was among my hearers, and a soldier came through the audience and delivered to him a letter from the emperor. There was a silence and I, too, made a pause, that he might read his letter; but he refused and did not break the seal until I had finished my lecture and the audience had dispersed. Because of this incident everyone admired the dignity of the man.

attributes to him a panegyric on Helvidius Priscus, but the latter work was composed by Herennius Senecio, as we learn both from

and Pliny the Younger.

References

, ''Annals'', xvi. 26, ''Histories'', iii. 80, ''Agricola'', 2 *

, ''Domitian'', 10 * Dio Cassius, lxvii. 13 * Pliny, ''Epistles'', i. 5, 14; iii. 11 *

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 his ...

, ''de Curiositate'' 15 (''Moralia'' 822D–E) * ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani'' (2nd ed.) I 730 * R. Syme, 'A Political Group', Roman Papers VII, pp. 568–587 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Arulenus Rusticus, Lucius Arulenus Rusticus, Lucius 30s births Year of birth uncertain 93 deaths Ancient Roman politicians Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman-era Stoic philosophers Executed ancient Roman people People executed by the Roman Empire Philosophers of Roman Italy 1st-century Romans 1st-century philosophers 1st-century executions

Life

See also

References