Vulcacius Rufinus (died 368) 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 lett ...

politician, related to the

Constantinian dynasty The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great, who became the sole rul ...

Biography

A pagan, Rufinus was the brother of

Neratius Cerealis Neratius (or Naeratius) Cerealis ( 328–358) was a Roman senator and politician, ''Praefectus urbi'' and Consul. Biography He was the brother of Galla, wife of Julius Constantius, and half-brother of Vulcacius Rufinus, and probably had a s ...

, Galla (the mother of

Constantius Gallus Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326–354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as ''Caesar'' under emperor Constantius II (), his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius Chlorus () and ...

), and the mother of

Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman h ...

. He was '' pontifex maximus'', ''

consularis ''Consularis'' is a Latin adjective indicating something pertaining to the position or rank of consul. In Ancient Rome it was also used as a noun (plural ''consulares'') to designate those senators who had held the office of consul or attained co ...

'' for

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

, ''comes ordinis primi intra

consistorium The ''sacrum consistorium'' or ''sacrum auditorium'' (from la, consistere, "discuss a topic"; gr, θεῖον συνέδριον, theion synedrion, "sacred assembly") was the highest political council of the Roman Empire from the time of Constant ...

'' under the Emperor

Constans I Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), sometimes called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of ''caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. After his father's death, he was mad ...

or his brother

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic ...

, ''comes per Orientem, Aegypti et Mesopotamiae per easdem vice sacra iudicans'' from 5 April 342,

praetorian prefect of Italy The praetorian prefecture of Italy ( la, Praefectura praetorio Italiae, in its full form (until 356) ) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. It comprised the Italian peninsula, the Western Balkans, ...

from 344 to 347 (between the prefectures of Fulvius Placidus and

Ulpius Limenius Ulpius Limenius (died 8 April AD 349) was a Roman politician who was appointed consul in AD 349. Biography Presumably a member of the Nobiles and a member of the eastern Senate, Limenius was appointed Proconsul of Constantinople in AD 342. He wa ...

), ''consul ordinarius prior'' in 347 with Flavius Eusebius, praetorian prefect of Illyricum between 347 and 352. While he was prefect, he was sent as an envoy by the usurper

Magnentius Magnus Magnentius ( 303 – 11 August 353) was a Roman general and usurper against Constantius II from 350 to 353. Of Germanic descent, Magnentius served with distinction in Gaul under the Western emperor Constans. On 18 January 350 Magnentius ...

, who had ousted Constans, to Constantius II, along with Marcellinus, Maximus and Nunechius. Rufinus was not arrested, unlike his companions, and kept the prefecture of Illyricum under Constantius. In 354, after the fall of Magnentius, he was praetorian prefect of Gaul, living in the capital Trier, but was replaced by

Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus Lampadius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius P ...

. Rufinus may have lost his post because his relative Constantius Gallus had fallen into disgrace with the Emperor. Between 365 and 368 he was the praetorian prefect for Italy and Africa, succeeding Claudius Mamertinus and of Gaul from 366 to 368. He died in service.

Bibliography

* John Morris, Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Robert Martindale, ''The Prosopography of the later Roman Empire'', Cambridge University Press, 1992. pp. 782–783 {{Authority control 368 deaths 4th-century Romans Ancient Roman governors Imperial Roman consuls Praetorian prefects of Gaul Praetorian prefects of the Illyricum Praetorian prefects of Italy Rufinus Year of birth unknown