Rutilius Numatianus, Claudius>
a Roman poet, and a native of Gaul, lived at the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian aera. He resided at Rome a considerable time, where he attained the high dignity of praefectus urbi, probably about A. D. 413 or 414. He returned, however, to his native country after it had been laid waste by the barbarians of the north, and appears to have passed there the remainder of his life in peace.
Work
Itinerarium or De Reditu
Rutilius described his return to Gaul in an elegiac poem, which bears the title of Itinerarium, or De Reditu, but which Wernsdorf thinks may have been entitled originally Rutilii de Reditu suo Itinerarium. Of this poem the first book, consisting of 644 lines, and a small portion of the second, have come down to us. It appears from internal evidence (1.133) that it was composed in A. D. 417, in the reign of Honorius. It is superior both in poetical colouring and purity of language to most of the productions of the age; and the passage in which he celebrates the praises of Rome is not unworthy of the pen of Claudian. Rutilius was a heathen, and attacks the Jews and monks with no small severity.
Editions
The editio princeps of the poem was printed at Bologna (Bononia) in 1520, 4to., with a dedication to Leo X. The work has since been frequently reprinted, and it appears in its best form in the edition of A. W. Zumpt, Berlin, 1840. The other editions most worthy of mention are by Kappius, Erlan. 1786; by Gruber, Nürnberg, 1804; and in the Poetae Latini Minores, edited by Burmann, vol. ii.; and by Wernsdorf, vol. v. pt. 1.
Further Information
Wernsdorf, in his Prolegomena, discusses at great length every point respecting the life and poem of Rutilius.
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.