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Rufinus (Byzantine official)

 

 
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Rufinus (Byzantine official)
 
 
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Flavius Rufinus (ca. 335 – November 27, 395
395

Sorry, no overview for this topic
) was a fourth century Eastern Roman
Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
 statesman of Gaulish extraction who served as the Praetorian Prefect for the emperors Theodosius I
Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
 and Arcadius
Arcadius

Flavius Arcadius was Roman Emperors in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from 395 until his death.Arcadius was born in Spain, the elder son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Flavius Augustus Honorius, who would become a Western Roman Emperor....
.

Rufinus served as consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 in 392 before becoming Praetorian Prefect
Praetorian prefecture of the East

The praetorian prefecture of the East or of Oriens was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided....
 at Constantinople. During the period immediately after Theodosius' death in January 395 Rufinus was virtually the ruler of the Eastern Roman empire, since he exercised great influence over the young and weak-willed Emperor Arcadius.






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Flavius Rufinus (ca. 335 – November 27, 395
395

Sorry, no overview for this topic
) was a fourth century Eastern Roman
Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
 statesman of Gaulish extraction who served as the Praetorian Prefect for the emperors Theodosius I
Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
 and Arcadius
Arcadius

Flavius Arcadius was Roman Emperors in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from 395 until his death.Arcadius was born in Spain, the elder son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Flavius Augustus Honorius, who would become a Western Roman Emperor....
.

Rufinus served as consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 in 392 before becoming Praetorian Prefect
Praetorian prefecture of the East

The praetorian prefecture of the East or of Oriens was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided....
 at Constantinople. During the period immediately after Theodosius' death in January 395 Rufinus was virtually the ruler of the Eastern Roman empire, since he exercised great influence over the young and weak-willed Emperor Arcadius. He attempted to further join himself to Arcadius by marrying his daughter to the young emperor, however this plan was stymied by another of the imperial ministers, Eutropius
Eutropius (Byzantine official)

Eutropius was a fourth century Byzantine Empire official.He began his career as a eunuch in the palace of Theodosius I. After Theodosius' death in 395 he successfully arranged the marriage of the new emperor, Arcadius, to Aelia Eudoxia, having blocked an attempt by Arcadius' chief minister, Rufinus , to marry the young and weak-willed emp...
. Outwardly loyal, he was a traitor. In early 395 he had a secret meeting with Alaric
Alaric

Alaric is a Germanic name.Alaric may also refer to:In history:* Alaric I king of Visigoths / Barbarian general in the Roman army. Sacked Rome in 410 CE...
 outside Constantinople
Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
. Shortly afterward, Alaric and his Visigoths ravaged Thrace
Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
, but spared the holdings of Rufinus. Probably under orders, the military in the area did not oppose Alaric, who then moved his forces west (395). Rufinus' negative influence over the Eastern Empire came to a violent end on 27 November 395 when he was assassinated by Gothic mercenaries under Gainas
Gainas

Gainas was an ambitious Goths leader who served the Eastern Roman Empire during the reigns of Theodosius I and Arcadius.Gainas began his military career as a common foot-soldier, but later commanded the barbarian contingent of Theodosius' army against the usurper Eugenius in 394....
. Rufinus had hated the western magister militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
 Stilicho
Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of barbarian birth....
, and his influence over Arcadius
Arcadius

Flavius Arcadius was Roman Emperors in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from 395 until his death.Arcadius was born in Spain, the elder son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Flavius Augustus Honorius, who would become a Western Roman Emperor....
 prevented Stilicho from crushing Alaric when the Roman general had the chance. Stilicho had trapped Alaric and the Visigoths in Greece (395), but was commanded by Arcadius (Rufinus) to vacate eastern territory. Stilicho loyally obeyed the order and returned his forces west across the border.

Rufinus had a sister, Silvania, who wrote a pair of hymns and a short account of a journey to the East which were discovered at Arezzo
Arezzo

Arezzo or Arretium is a city in central Italy, capital of Province of Arezzo, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km south-east of Florence, at an elevation of 296 meters above sea level....
 in 1895.