Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/687

RUFUS. to risk a battle. But his orders were disregarded. The master of the horse straightway commenced an offensive system, and was fortunate enough to obtain a victory over a considerable division of Hannibal's troops. This success gained Rufus such popularity at Rome, that a bill was passed, on the proposition of the tribune Metilius, giving the master of the horse equal military power with the dictator. In consequence of this the Roman army was divided, and each portion encamped separately under its own general. Anxious for distinction, Rufus eagerly accepted a battle which was offered him by Hannibal, but was defeated, and his troops ■were only saved from total destruction by the timely arrival of Fabius, with all his forces. There- upon Rufus generously acknowledged his error, gave up his separate command, and placed himself again under the authority of the dictator. He fell at the battle of Cannae in the following year. (Polyb. iii. 87, 89, 94, 101—105 ; Liv. xxii. 8, 12—30, 49 ; Plut. Fah. Max. 4—13 ; Appian, Bell. Hannih. 12, &c. ; Val. Max. v. 2. § 4.) 2. Q. Mmircius C. f. C. n. Rufus, plebeian aedile b. c. 201, and praetor B. c. 200, obtained in the latter year Bruttii as his province. Here he carried on an investigation respecting the robbery of the temple of Proserpine at Locri, and likewise discovered a conspiracy that had been formed in that part of Italy ; and as he had not completed his inquiries at the end of the year, his imperium was prolonged for another year. In B.C. 197 he was consul with C. Cornelius Cethegus, and carried on war against the Boii with success ; but as the senate refused him the honour of a triumph, he celebrated one on the Alban Mount. In b. c. 189 he was one of the ten commissioners sent into Asia after the conquest of Antiochus the Great ; and his name occurs in the Senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus (b. c. 186), as one of the senators present at the time it was written out. In B. c. 183 he was one of the three ambassadors sent into Gaul, and this is the last time that his name is mentioned. (Liv. xxxi. 4, 6, 12, 13, xxxii. 1, 27 — 31, xxxiii. 22, 23 ; Zonar. ix. 16 ; Cic. Brut. 18 ; Liv. xxxvii. 55, xxxix. 54.) 3. M. MiNucius Rufus, praetor B.C. 197, obtained the peregrina jurisdictio. At the end of B.C. 194 he was one of the three commissioners appointed, with an imperium for three years, for the purpose of founding a Latin colony at Vibo, among the Bruttii. This colony was not founded till B. c. 192 ; and in the previous year, b. c. 193, Rufus was one of the ambassadors sent to Carthage. (Liv. xxxii. 27, 28, xxxiv. 53, xxxv. 40, xxxiv. 62.) 3. T. MiNucius Rufus, served in the campaign against Perseus, king of Macedonia, in B. c. 171. (Liv. xlii. 54.) 4. M. MiNUCius Q. F. Rufus, tribune of the plebs, B. c. 121, brought forward a bill to repeal the laws of C. Gracchus. This bill was opposed by C. Gracchus, in a speech which was extant in later times, and is quoted by Festus, under the title of De Lege Minucia (Flor. iii. 15 ; Aurel. Vict, de Vir. III. 65 ; Festus, s. v. Osi su?it, p. 201, ed. Miiller ; Meyer, Fragm. Oral. Rom. p. 244, 2nd ed.). This Marcus Rufus and his brother Quintus are mentioned as arbiters between the inhabitants of Genua and the Viturii, in a very interesting in- scription, which was discovered in the year 1506, about ten miles from the modem city of Geno?. RUFUS. 675 This inscription has been frequently printed. It is given by Orelli {Inscr. No. 3121), and has been also published by Rudorff, with important eluci- dations, under the title of " Q. et M. Minuciorum Sententia inter Genuates et Viturios dicta, ed. et illustr. A. A. F. Rudorff," Berol. 1842, 4to. 5. Q. MiNucius Q. F. Rufus, consul b. c. 110, with Sp. Postumius Albinus, obtained Macedonia as his province. He carried on war with success against the barbarians in Thrace, and on his return to Rome in the following year, obtained a triumph for his victories over the Scordisci and Triballi (Sail. Jug. 35, where his praenomen is Marcus ; Liv. Epit. <o5 ; Eutrop. iv. 27 ; Flor. iii. 4. § 5 ; Frontin. Strat. ii. 4. § 3 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 8). He perpetuated the memory of his triumph by building the Por- ticus Minucia, near the Circus Flaminius. In the Notitia we have mention of a Minucia Veins et Frumentaria, whence it is doubtful whether two different porticus or only one is intended. It ap- * pears that the tesserae, or tickets, which entitled persons to a share in the public distributions of corn, were given to the citizens in the Portus Mi- nucia. Hence it has been conjectured that the Porticus built by the consul originally served for that purpose, but that afterwards a new Porticus Frumentaria was erected, and that accordingly the name of Vetus was given to the other one. In an inscription we read oi ?i Procurator Mhmciae. (Veil. Pat. /. c. ,• Cic. Phil. ii. 34 ; Lamprid. Commod. 16 ; Appul. de Mund. p. 74. 14, Elm. ; Gruter, ccccii. 4 ; Becker, Romisch. AUertli. vol. i. p. 621.) 6. MiNucius Rufus, one of the commanders of the Roman fleet in the war against Mithridates. (Appian, Mithr. 17.) 7. Q. MiNucius Rufus, a Roman eques of high character, who lived at Syracuse, and, on more than one occasion, offered opposition to Verres. At the trial of the latter he appeared as one of the witnesses against him. (Cic. Verr. ii. 28, 30, 33, iii. 64, iv. 27, 31.) 8. MiNucius Rufus, espoused the side of Pompey in the civil war, and commanded, along with Lucretius Vespillo, a squadron of eighteen ships, at Oricum, in a. c. 48 (Caes. B. C. iii. 7 ; Appian, B. C. ii. 54). He is probably the same as the Minucius who was at Tarentum in b. c. 49, and of whom Cicero speaks (ad Att. xi. 14, 15, ad Q. Fr. iii. 1. § 6). He may also be the same as the Mi- nucius who was praetor in B. c. 43, and was one of the victims of the proscription in that year. (Ap- pian, B. C. iv. 17.) 9. Q. MiNucius Rufus, whose name occurs on the following coin, cannot be identified with cer- tainty with any of the above-mentioned persons. He may perhaps be the same as No. 2. On the obverse is the head of Pallas, with rvf, on the reverse the Dioscuri, with Q. minv., and under- neath ROMA. (Eckhel, voh v. p. 225.) COIN of Q. MINUCIUS RUFUS. X X 2