Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus (c. 35 – 93 AD) 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 ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Senator and a friend and follower of

Thrasea Paetus Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus (died AD 66), Roman senator, who lived in the 1st century AD. Notable for his principled opposition to the emperor Nero and his interest in Stoicism, he was the husband of Arria, who was the daughter of A. Caecina ...

, and like him an ardent admirer of

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy * STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain * ...

philosophy. Arulenus Rusticus attained a suffect consulship in the '' nundinium'' 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 ...

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. 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 simil ...

'' of Potentia and Ostia 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 calls him Junius Rusticus. That his brother was a friend of Pliny the Younger named Junius Mauricus, 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 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 Roman ...

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-consult ...

'', 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 vari ...

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 unti ...

(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 Fl ...

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

Suetonius attributes to him a panegyric on

Helvidius Priscus Helvidius Priscus, Stoic philosopher and statesman, lived during the reigns of Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian. Biography Helvidius came from town of Cluviae, and his father had been the senior centurion of a legion. From early y ...

, but the latter work was composed by

Herennius Senecio Herennius Senecio (d. 93 AD) was among the Stoic Opposition to the emperor Domitian, under whose rule he was executed. He was from Baetica in Roman Spain. He was the author of a laudatory biography of the Stoic martyr Helvidius Priscus. In 93 AD ...

, as we learn both from

and Pliny the Younger.

References

, ''Annals'', xvi. 26, ''Histories'', iii. 80, ''Agricola'', 2 * Suetonius, ''Domitian'', 10 * Dio Cassius, lxvii. 13 *

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

, ''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 hi ...

, ''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