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Marcus Caelius Rufus (died 48 BC) was anorator andpolitician in the lateRoman Republic. He was born into a wealthyequestrian family fromInteramnia Praetuttiorum, on the central east coast of Italy. He is best known for his prosecution ofGaius Antonius Hybrida in 59 BC. He was also known for his trial for public violence (de vi publica) in March 56 BC, whenCicero defended him in the extant speechPro Caelio, and as both recipient and author of some of the best-written letters in thead Familiares corpus of Cicero's extant correspondence (Book 8).[1] He may be the Rufus named in the poems ofCatullus.
In his twenties, Caelius became associated withCrassus and Cicero,[2] while he was also briefly connected toCatiline andhis conspiracy. Caelius first achieved fame through his successful prosecution in 59 BC ofGaius Antonius Hybrida for corruption. Antonius Hybrida had served as consul with Cicero for the year 63 BC, and his prosecution was a sign of the negative political atmosphere towards Cicero at the time. A year later, in 58 BC, Cicero was exiled, through the efforts of his political enemyPublius Clodius Pulcher. Cicero was recalled from exile in 57 BC with the help of his allyTitus Annius Milo, who wastribune at the time.
Sometime around 57 BC, Caelius andClodia are believed to have had an affair which ended acrimoniously. In 56 BC, Caelius was prosecuted forvis (violence), specifically for murdering an ambassador. He was successfully defended by Crassus and, more famously, Cicero, whose speechPro Caelio argued that the prosecutor, Atratinus, was being manipulated by Clodia to get revenge on Caelius for an affair gone wrong.
Caelius wastribune of theplebs in 52 BC[3] andcurule aedile in 50 BC.[4] During this period, he wrote a series of witty and informative letters to Cicero, who was serving asproconsul ofCilicia at the time. After much hesitation, Caelius sided withJulius Caesar againstPompey in thecivil war, warning Cicero accordingly not to align his fortunes with Pompey:[5] in 48 BC, he was rewarded with the office ofpraetor peregrinus (“judge of suits involving foreigners”). However, when his proposed program ofdebt relief was opposed by theSenate and he was suspended from office, he joined in a rebellion against Caesar which was quickly crushed. It was during this rebellion that Caelius was killed.[6]
Caelius may appear in the poetry ofCatullus under hiscognomenRufus as well as his nomenCaelius. Rufus in Carmen 69 and 77 is suggested by Riese to be Caelius, but this is rejected byRobinson Ellis.[7] Catullus writes about a former friend named Rufus who betrayed him in an unspecified way, perhaps referring to the affair with Clodia (usually identified with the loved then reviled "Lesbia" of Catullus's poetry), the alleged attempt of Caelius to poison her, or subsequent attacks on her through Cicero (seepro Caelio).[8] Catullus lambasts this Rufus in anepigram that ends:
You ripped it away, alas, alas cruel poison of our life
alas, alas destroyer of our friendship.[9]
In Carmen 58, Catullus seems to expect a sympathetic ear from Caelius as he bewails Lesbia's sexual profligacy. In Carmen 69, Catullus mocks a certain Rufus for his body odour. None of these identifications are conclusive, although the identification in Carmen 58 is more likely than the others.
A flamboyant, witty, ambitious and quarrelsome character,[10] Caelius attracted much attention from the minor historianVelleius Paterculus in the following century.[11]
-pro Sex. Roscio Amerino (pp. 1–58)
-de imperio Cn. Pompei ad Quirites (pp. 59–90)
-pro A. Cluentio (pp. 91–184)
-In L. Catilinam (orationes IV) (pp. 185–242)
-- I.oratio qua L. Catilinam emisit, in Senatu habita
-- II.oratio secunda, habita ad populum
-- III.oratio tertia, habita ad populum
-- IV.oratio quarta, habita in Senatu
-pro L. Murenam (pp. 243–292)
-pro M. Caelio (pp. 293–333)
- Introduction with bibliography (i-xxxii)
- Latin text (1-39)
- Commentary (40-143)
- Appendices and Addenda (144-175)
- Indices (176-180)
