Rufus, Bassaeus
praefectus praetorii under the emperor M. Aurelius, was raised to this dignity on account of his virtues, though he had received no education in consequence of his rustic origin. (D. C. 71.5.) He is alluded to in a letter of Avidius Cassius, preserved by Vulcatius Gallicanus ("audisti praefectum praetorii nostri philosophi, ante triduum quam fieret, mendicum et pauperem, sed subito divitem factum," 100.14). The name of Bassaeus Rufus occurs in inscriptions. (See Reimarus, ad Dion. Cass. 71.3.25, p. 1179.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.