Marcus Junius Rufus 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 ...

eques Eques, ''horseman'' or ''rider'' in Latin, may refer to: * Equites, a member of the Roman Equestrian order * the Latin word for a knight in chess * '' Eques'', a small genus of fishes in the drum family Sciaenidae Sciaenidae is a family (biolo ...

'' who lived in the 1st century. A member of the ancient

gens Junia The gens Junia or Iunia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutus was the nephew of Lucius Tarq ...

, is best known for being

praefectus ''Praefectus'', often with a further qualification, was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person (as it was with elected Magistrates) b ...

or governor of

Roman Egypt Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...

from 94 to 98. This was an important post, for Egypt supplied a large share of the grain needs of Rome. Rufus showed himself a capable governor, for he held his appointment over the reigns of three Emperors. Although it can be assumed Rufus passed through the ''

tres militiae The ''tres militiae'' ("three military posts") was a career progression of the Roman Imperial army for men of the equestrian order. It developed as an alternative to the ''cursus honorum'' of the senatorial order for enabling the social mobility ...

'', the normal beginning of careers for ''equites'', the only office attested for him is his governorship. While governor, he married

Claudia Capitolina Claudia Capitolina (; died after 92) was an Egyptian Greek woman who lived in the Roman Empire, in the 1st century and possibly in the 2nd century. She was a Princess of Commagene by marriage to Gaius Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes. Life ...

, the daughter of

Tiberius Claudius Balbilus Tiberius Claudius Balbillus Modestus (died June AD 79), more commonly known as Tiberius Claudius Balbilus, was a distinguished Ancient Roman scholar, politician and a court astrologer to the Roman emperors Claudius, Nero, and Vespasian.Holde ...

, who had been governor of Egypt a generation before. He was Capitolina's second husband; her first husband was the prince of

Commagene Commagene () was an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom ruled by a Hellenized branch of the Orontid dynasty, Orontids, a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian origin, that had ruled over the Satrapy of Armenia. The kingdom was located in and around the ...

Gaius Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes Gaius Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes, also known as Julius Archelaus Epiphanes; Epiphanes; Gaius Julius Antiochus Epiphanes or simply known as Gaius (Greek: Γάιος Ἰούλιος Ἀρχέλαος Ἀντίοχος Ἐπιφανής, 38 ...

who had died in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in 92. In his monograph on polyonymous names of the first centuries of the Roman Empire, Olli Salomies notes that while some have suggested that Rufus had

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

the consul of 128, Marcus Junius Mettius Rufus, he points out that the

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

"Rufus" goes with the nomen "Mettius" and concludes "there need not be a connection between the prefect and the consul."Salomies, ''Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire'', (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 97 After Junius Rufus stepped down from his appointment in Egypt, his life is a blank.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Rufus, Marcus Ancient Roman politicians 1st-century Romans 1st-century Roman governors of Egypt Roman governors of Egypt 1st-century Egyptian people Rufus, Marcus Junius Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown