[3] Paul Gallivan, in his study of the suffect consuls of the reign of Claudius, reasoned from those dates that "Rufinus must have assumed the consulship between 39 and 42", for which only 40 and 41 have vacancies in August.
While the 21 years between consulship and being appointed governor of Germania Superior might present an objection to this earlier date, Syme observes that "C. Vibius Marsus (suff.
[6] Pliny the Elder mentions Rufinus as the author of a work in six books on trees, herbs, and flowers.
Syme interprets Ovid's poems to indicate Rufinus had been active in the Batonian War, which transpired from AD 6 to the year 9.
If so, his role in that conflict is unclear: in different papers Syme speculated that Rufinus had been a military tribune,[7] a quaestor or a legate of quaestorian rank.