Early 2nd century Roman senator and suffect consul
Acilius Rufus is the name of a Roman senator, who was suffect consul in the nundinium of March to April 107; it unclear which consul ordinarius of the year Rufus replaced, Lucius Licinius Sura or Quintus Sosius Senecio.[1] The expert consensus agrees that Rufus should be identified with the Acilius Rufus whom Pliny the Younger mentions in his letters on the trial of Varenus Rufus who was prosecuted for malfeasance while governor of Bithynia and Pontus.[2]
There is disagreement over identifying Acilius Rufus the consul with one Lucius Acilius Rufus, a senator known from an inscription from Thermae Himeraeae.[3] This inscription attests that this Acilius Rufus held the traditional republican magistracies of quaestor of Sicilia, plebeian tribune, praetor, and prefect of the frumenti dandi ex senatus consultum. Although there appears to be no reason not to identify this person with the consul, Ronald Syme objects arguing that the first suffect consul of a year was a very prestigious post, and that having been quaestor of Sicilia and prefect of the frumenti dandi, Acilius Rufus lacked sufficient esteem for him to achieve that prestigious rank of suffect consuls.[4] As a result, he notes the existence of one Marcus Acilius Rufus of Saguntum who was an imperial procurator, and proposes that a hypothetical descendant of this procurator was suffect consul for this nundinium of 107.[5]
Despite his proven discernment for the evidence, Syme appears to depend too heavily on an argument from silence—especially as we know so little about many consuls of this time—to not allow for the vagaries of life. In this case, Licinius Sura vanishes from the record after his consulate, so it is possible he died unexpectedly in March 107 and the consular Acilius Rufus, who is attested as replacing a single consul, may have been selected at the last moment to complete the nundinium. In any case, lack of evidence prevents more than guesses.
^Alison E. Cooley, The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy (Cambridge: University Press, 2012), p. 468
^Epistulae, V.20; VI.13
^CIL X, 7334
^Syme, "Superior Suffect Consuls", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 58 (1985), pp. 239f
year Rufus replaced, Lucius Licinius Sura or Quintus Sosius Senecio. The expert consensus agrees that Rufus should be identified with the AciliusRufus whom...
filiation. Lucius Acilius, grandfather of the consul of 191 BC. Gaius Acilius L. f., father of the consul of 191 BC. Manius Acilius C. f. L. n. Glabrio...
ordinary consul AciliusRufus replaced. Fasti ostienses reads ...] Rufu[s]; Attilo Degrassi and Vidman restore this name as "L. AciliusRufus", while Ronald...
name elements "Acilius Priscus" were long suspected as coming from adoption; the discovery in 1938 of the base of a statue of Marcus Acilius Priscus, another...
military tribune on behalf of a relative of Pliny's friend Gaius Calvisius Rufus. Plutarch also dedicated several of his Parallel Lives (Theseus 1, Demosthenes...
Granianus Quadronius Proculus Consul of the Roman Empire 107 with Quintus Sosius Senecio II Succeeded by Quintus Sosius Senecio II, and AciliusRufus...
second letter petitions him to appoint the son of Pliny's friend Asinius Rufus to serve as Fundanus' quaestor for Fundanus' upcoming consulate; Syme dates...
97. Gaius Pomponius Pius, consul suffectus in AD 98. Gaius Pomponius RufusAcilius Priscus Coelius Sparsus, consul suffectus in AD 98 and proconsul of...
some accounts the emperor himself. Sempronius Rufus, a friend of the younger Pliny. Titus Sempronius Rufus, consul suffectus in AD 113. Lucius Sempronius...
in during the period of classical antiquity. Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 67 BC) Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC) Titus Aebutius Elva Aegidius...
land of Colchis. The Gospel of John is drafted (possible date). Manius Acilius Glabrio and Marcus Ulpius Traianus become Roman Consuls. Pliny the Younger...
could trace a connection with the Senatorial Acilii Glabriones: Manius Acilius Glabrio, consul in 91, had married Arria L.f. Plaria Vera Priscilla, another...
inscriptions from Ephesus and Neapolis, Lucius Stertinius C.f. Maec. Quintilianus Acilius Strabo Gaius Curiatius Maternus Clodius Nummus. The inscription at Ephesus...
Quintus Petillius Cerialis AD 71–73: Aulus Marius Celsus AD 73–78: Lucius Acilius Strabo AD 78: Gaius Rutilius Gallicus AD 78–80: Decimus Iunius Novius...
[...] [...] [C. Vettius Rufus] M. Porcius Cato T. Sextius African. A. Egrilius Rufus Q. Fabius Longus [II] A. Egrilius Rufus [f.?] in locum A. Egrili...
names: c. 21: Acilius Aviola 66-69 Junius Blaesus 78-80: Titus Tettienus Serenus 80-83: Gaius Cornelius Gallicanus 83-87: Lucius Minicius Rufus Between 123...
Piety at Rome was solemnly vowed by the plebeian consul and new man Manius Acilius Glabrio at the Battle of Thermopylae in 191 BCE, where he defeated the...
of Hadrian. He was ordinary consul in AD 122 as the colleague of Manius Acilius Aviola. Other than holding the office of consul, Pansa is only known for...
Marcus Asinius Marcellus was consul in 54 as the colleague of Manius Acilius Aviola; it was the same year the Emperor Claudius died. According to Paul...
Manius Acilius Glabrio Gnaeus Cornelius Severus, and Titus Sextius Lateranus; senior eques such as the former praetorian prefect Marcus Bassaeus Rufus, the...
to Domitian, as had a number of other senators such as Quintus Corellius Rufus. One more office can be deduced for Postumus: legatus legionis or commander...
Cornelius Rarus Sextius Naso (108/109) Quintus Pomponius Rufus (110/111) Gaius Pomponius RufusAcilius Priscus Coelius Sparsus (112/113) Aulus Caecilius Faustinus...
Ahenobarbus, Consul 191 Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, Consul Manius Acilius Glabrio, Consul 190 Scipio Asiaticus, Consul Gaius Laelius, Consul 189...
an affair with Paris. Epaphroditus, a freedman of the emperor. Manius Acilius Glabrio, aristocrat. Gaius Helvidius Lupus, his friend. Martial, a famous...
Bradua Regillus Atticus Roman consul 186 with Marcus Acilius Glabrio II Succeeded by L. Novius Rufus, L. Annius Ravus as suffect consuls Preceded by Domitius...
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