Publius Plautius Rufus flourished during the first century, during the Principate of Augustus.
Biography Possibly the son of twice-praetor Gaius Plautius Rufus,Prosopographia Imperii Romani. p.516 Publius Plautius Rufus is mentioned in connection with two conspiracies in the ancient histories.
In the year AD 6, Cassius Dio writes that, due to the discontent of the people due to fire, famine and the new military tax, a pamphletting campaign was launched in the city. This was traceable to 'Publius Rufus,' though it was soon found that others were using his name falsely and seditiously, and Plautius was found to be not guilty of the crime.Dio, Roman History, Book 55, ch 27.Peter Michael Swan, The Augustan Succession: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History, p. 184. Then, in the year AD 8, Suetonius writes of a further, non-specific conspiracy which was said to involve 'Plautius Rufus' and Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 1), husband of Augustus' granddaughter, Julia the Younger. Plautius Rufus' name is thus restored by combining these two mentions.Oxford commentary to Suetonius' Life of the Divus Augustus, 2014, p164.Peter Michael Swan, The Augustan Succession: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History, p. 184.
However, there is no scholarly agreement that these two incidents, nor these two names, are related. Alternative theories have been posited: it is possible that his name should be rendered Plotius Rufus, the triumvir monetalis in BC 16-15Prosopographia Imperii Romani, p.516 or that these two incidents may refer to two different men.Oxford commentary to Suetonius' Life of the Divus Augustus, 2014, p164.Peter Michael Swan, The Augustan Succession: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History, p. 184. The modern historian Birch speculates that Plautius Rufus may have been closely linked with Agrippa Postumus and may have been the man who was deprived of a consulship in AD 5 due to his links with Julia the Younger.R.A Birch, Classical Quarterly, Vol31, 1981.
References
Sources Suetonius, Life of Divus Augustus. Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 55. Prosopographia Imperii Romani, p. 516. The Augustan Succession: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History, Peter Michael Swan, 2004. Oxford commentary to Suetonius' Life of the Divus Augustus, 2014. Birch,The Settlement of 26 June a.d. 4 and Its Aftermath. Classical Quarterly, 1981, Vol 2.