Marcus Mettius Rufus

Marcus Mettius Rufus was a Roman eques who flourished during the reign of the emperors Domitian and Trajan. He was appointed to a series of imperial offices, including praefectus or governor of Roman Egypt.

Hans-Georg Pflaum first traced the rise of his family, the Mettii, identifying their origins in Petelia, a small Greek-speaking town in Bruttium, whence they emigrated to Arles when Julius Caesar settled one of their ancestors, a soldier or centurion of his Legio VI, there. Rufus' father was Marcus Mettius Modestus, procurator of Syria; he is known to have a brother, Mettius Modestus, suffect consul in 82. Two men have been identified as sons of Rufus: Gaius Trebonius Proculus Mettius Modestus, suffect consul in 103; and Marcus Mettius Rufus, who died before he could reach the consulate.