Flavius Rufinus (; – 27 November 395) was a 4th-century Eastern Roman statesman of

Aquitani The Aquitani were a tribe that lived in the region between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Garonne, in present-day southwestern France in the 1st century BC. The Romans dubbed this region '' Gallia Aquitania''. Classical authors suc ...

an extraction who served as

Praetorian prefect of the East The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat was at Constantinop ...

for the emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

, as well as for his son

Arcadius Arcadius ( ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to his death in 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the eastern half of ...

, under whom Rufinus exercised significant influence in the state affairs. He was the subject of the verse invective ''In Rufinum'' by the western court poet

Claudian Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian (Greek: Κλαυδιανός; ), was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almo ...

Life

Rufinus is described as tall, always in movement, acute, ambitious, greedy, and without principles, although a rigorous Christian. His difficulty with the Greek language is recorded by the sources, as well as his

Aquitania Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquit ...

n origin. In 388 he was appointed ''

magister officiorum The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...

''. In 392 he served as

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

and in that same year he was appointed as

. Upon his appointment, he retained the responsibilities of the ''magister officiorum''. In order to become prefect, Rufinus is said to have persuaded the emperor that Eutolmius Tatianus, the current occupant of the position, and his son

Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...

, the prefect of Constantinople, committed corruption. Proclus was executed while his father was banished. Emperor Theodosius trusted Rufinus, and he used this influence to fight his opponents at the court. He came into conflict with Promotus and Timasius, respectively Theodosius' ''

magister equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be n ...

'' and '' magister peditum''. During a meeting of the council, Rufinus insulted Promotus, who slapped him; Rufinus went to Theodosius to report the affront, and Theodosius replied that if nothing changed he would have Rufinus appointed co-emperor. Taking advantage of the imperial support, Rufinus suggested Theodosius send Promotus to Thrace, where he would be entrusted with the training of the troops. Some barbarians followed Promotus in his journey, but, having an agreement with Rufinus, they suddenly attacked and killed Promotus (September 392). During the period immediately after Theodosius' death, in January 395, Rufinus was virtually the ruler of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, since he exercised great influence over the young Emperor

. An account by the Roman poet Claudian stated that he attempted to further join himself to Arcadius by marrying his daughter to the young emperor. This plan was stymied by another of the imperial ministers, Eutropius. This official, who held the position of chamberlain, arranged instead a marriage with

Aelia Eudoxia Aelia Eudoxia (; ; died 6 October 404) was Eastern Roman empress by marriage to the Roman emperor Arcadius. The marriage was arranged by Eutropius, one of the eunuch court officials, who was attempting to expand his influence. As Empress, sh ...

, who was a child of one of Rufinus' opponents. Rufinus hated the western ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...

'' Flavius Stilicho. During the

Revolt of Alaric I The revolt of Alaric I was a military conflict between the Roman Empire and a rebel army, probably composed mainly of Goths. This war consisted a number of armed conflicts in the period between 395 and 398, interspersed with periods of negotiation ...

Rufinus had opposite interests and opposed him. Stilicho claimed that Theodosius ordered that Stilicho would be given guardianship over both Arcadius and the western Emperor

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

. Rufinus disputed his power, and maintained strong influence over Arcadius. Rufinus's influence over

prevented Stilicho from crushing Alaric when he had the chance. Stilicho had trapped Alaric and the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

in Greece (395), but his Eastern troops were commanded by Arcadius, who, at Rufinus' suggestion, recalled them, so that Stilicho was forced to withdraw his forces west across the border. However, under

Gainas Gainas (Greek: Γαϊνάς) was a Gothic leader who served the Eastern Roman Empire as ''magister militum'' during the reigns of Theodosius I and Arcadius. He played an important role in the events in the eastern part of the empire by the end ...

, the same Gothic mercenaries he had recalled killed Rufinus on 27 November 395. Rufinus had a sister, Silvia, a devout pilgrim recorded in Palladius' ''

Lausiac History The ''Lausiac History'' () is a seminal work archiving the Desert Fathers (early Christian monks who lived in the Egyptian desert) written in 419–420 AD by Palladius of Galatia, at the request of Lausus (eunuch), Lausus, chamberlain at the cour ...

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Notes

Sources

* John Bagnell Bury, '' History of the Later Roman Empire'', Chapter 5. {{Authority control 330s births 395 deaths 4th-century Byzantine people 4th-century Christians 4th-century Roman consuls Assassinated ancient Roman politicians People from Roman Gaul Praetorian prefects of the East Year of birth uncertain