Rufinus is described as tall, always in movement, acute, ambitious, greedy, and without principles, although a rigorous Christian. His difficulty with the Greek language is recorded by the sources, as well as his
Aquitanian origin. In 388 he was appointed
magister officiorum. In 392 he served as
Roman consul and in that same year he was appointed as
Praetorian prefect of the East. Upon his appointment, he retained the responsibilities of the
magister officiorum. In order to become prefect, Rufinus is said to have persuaded the emperor that
Eutolmius Tatianus, the current occupant of the position, and his son
Proclus, the prefect of Constantinople, committed corruption. Proclus was executed while his father was banished. 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 Emperor
Arcadius. An account by the Roman poet Claudian stated that he attempted to further join himself to Arcadius by marrying his daughter to the young emperor. This plan was stymied by another of the imperial ministers,
Eutropius. This official, who held the position of
chamberlain, arranged instead a marriage with
Aelia Eudoxia, who was a child of one of Rufinus' opponents. Rufinus hated the western
magister militum Flavius Stilicho. During the
Revolt of Alaric I Rufinus had opposite interests and opposed him. Stilicho claimed that Theodosius ordered that Stilicho would be given guardianship over both Arcadius and the western Emperor
Honorius. Rufinus disputed his power, and maintained strong influence over Arcadius. However, under
Gainas, the same Gothic mercenaries he had recalled killed Rufinus on 27 November 395. Rufinus had a sister,
Silvia, a devout pilgrim recorded in
Palladius'
Lausiac History. == Notes ==