View source for Marcus Rutilius Lupus

{{Short description|2nd century Roman eques, official and governor of Egypt}}
'''Marcus Rutilius Lupus''' was a [[Roman empire|Roman]] ''[[Eques (ancient Rome)|eques]]'' who was active during the reign of emperor [[Trajan]]. He was appointed to a series of imperial offices, the most important of which was ''[[praefectus]]'' or governor of [[Roman Egypt]]. It was while he was governor of Egypt that a Jewish uprising known as the [[Kitos War]] began. Although Lupus successfully contained the initial revolt in [[Alexandria]], he had to call for reinforcements from the central authorities for assistance, and the revolt was eventually crushed with enormous loss of life and property. Lupus also extended his protection to non-rebellious Jewish residents of Alexandria.<ref>cf. Salo Wittmayer Baron, ''A social and religious history of the Jews'', pp.&nbsp;94–95</ref>

It is thought that Lupus came from Beneventum (modern [[Benevento]]), home of a number of Rutilii Lupi. One member of this family is named in the ''Tabula alimentaria Ligurum Baebianorum'' as an [[absentee landlord]] owning property in at least two ''[[pagus|pagi]]'', where he was represented by a ''[[vilicus]]''.<ref>{{CIL|9|1455}} = ILS&nbsp;6509</ref> [[Theodor Mommsen|Mommsen]] first suggested that the landowner was the same person as the ''eques'', an identification that [[Arthur Stein (historian)|Arthur Stein]] first disagreed with, but came to accept.<ref name=d'Escurac-336>[[Henriette Pavis d'Escurac]], [https://www.persee.fr/doc/befar_0257-4101_1976_mon_226_1 ''La préfecture de l'annone, service administratif impérial d'Auguste à Constantin''] (Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome, 226) (Rome: Ecole française de Rome, 1976), p. 336</ref>

==Career==
Lupus is known to have been the ''[[Praefectus annonae]]'', or overseer of the public dole of bread to the citizens of Rome; a bronze weight found in [[Ostia Antica]] during the excavations of the House of the Hunting Mosaic (''Casa del mosaico dela caccia'') bears his name.<ref name=d'Escurac-336/> Based on this artifact, his tenure has been dated as running from around AD 107 to 111.<ref>d'Escurac, ''La préfecture de l'annone'', p.&nbsp;336; however [[Ronald Syme]] ([http://www.jstor.org/stable/299556 "Guard Prefects of Trajan and Hadrian"], ''[[Journal of Roman Studies]]'', 70 (1980), p.&nbsp;68 n. 41) dates his tenure more broadly, from 103 to 111.</ref> This prefecture was the [[Equestrian order#Equestrian public careers|second highest position]] for Roman ''[[equites]]''.

His next appointment was Prefect of Egypt, which he is attested as holding from 113 to 117.<ref>[[Guido Bastianini]], [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20180880 "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30<sup>a</sup> al 299<sup>p</sup>"], ''[[Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik]]'', 17 (1975), p. 282</ref> Although his primary concern as governor was to safeguard the harvest and delivery of grain to the populace of Rome, while prefect Lupus also oversaw several architectural projects in the province, including a new [[portico]] in the [[Oasis]] of [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] that was dedicated to [[Isis]] and [[Serapis]]. The portico was constructed in the same style as the temple at [[Panopolis]] in the [[Thebaid]], built under his predecessor [[Servius Sulpicius Similis]].<ref>Samuel Sharpe, ''History of Egypt'', Moxon 1859, vol. 2, p. 157</ref> The portico displayed the following inscription:<blockquote>For the fortune of the Lord Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajanus, the best, Augustus, Germanicus, Dacicus, under Marcus Rutilius Lupus, praefect of Egypt. To Sarapis and Isis, the most great gods, the inhabitants of Cysis, having decreed the building of the pylon, did it in token of their piety. In the year 19 of the Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajanus, the best, Augustus, Germanicus, Dacicus, the first of Pachon.<ref>from Sir John Gardener Wilkinson book on Egypt, p.&nbsp;370</ref></blockquote>

==Role in the brick industry==
According to  research by Bloch, Stienby and Setälä, Marcus Rutilius Lupus was one of the most important persons in the history of the Roman [[brick]] industry,<ref>John Bodel, "Speaking signa and the Brickstamps of M. Rutilius Lupus", ''Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae'', 32 (2005), p.&nbsp;61</ref> and is credited with the introduction of consular dating to the urban stamps in 110. During the first decade of the second century,  Rutilius, being a landowner and already a brick producer in Rome, started exploiting clay deposits near present-day [[Holy See|Vatican]] known as ''figlinae Brutianae''. Production continued there until his death, perhaps around 123.<ref name=Bodel-23>Bodel, ''Roman brick stamps in the [[Kelsey Museum of Archeology|Kelsey Museum]]'', [[University of Michigan Press]], 1983, p. 23</ref> Bricks from his workshops were used in the construction of the ''[[horrea]]'' or warehouses where the imported grain was stored.<ref>d'Escurac, ''La préfecture de l'annone'', p.&nbsp;336 n.&nbsp;8</ref>

He also acquired other clay-lands, respectively ''figlinae Naevianae'' and ''figlinae Narnienses''.<ref name=Bodel-23/>

==Sources==
* P.A. Brunt, "The Administrators of Roman Egypt", ''[[Journal of Roman Studies]]'', 65 (1975), pp.&nbsp;124–147.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* "[https://www.livius.org/articles/concept/roman-jewish-wars/roman-jewish-wars-7/ The revolt against Trajan]", from [http://livius.org livius.org]

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{{succession box |
 before=[[Servius Sulpicius Similis]] |
 title=[[List of governors of Roman Egypt|Prefect of Egypt]] |
 years=113&ndash;117 |
 after= [[Quintus Rammius Martialis]] |
}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutilius Lupus, Marcus}}
[[Category:Roman governors of Egypt]]
[[Category:Praefecti annonae]]
[[Category:2nd-century Romans]]
[[Category:2nd-century Roman governors of Egypt]]
[[Category:Jewish–Roman wars]]
[[Category:Rutilii|Lupus, Marcus Rutilius]]