Iulius Exuperantius is the author of a short epitome of the civil war between Marius and Sulla (Opusculum).  Internal evidence - such as the work’s language, style, and intertextual references - reveals that its author lived in the 4^th c. AD (Zorzetti).  This dating is confirmed by the diffusion of the cognomen ‘Exuperantius’ in the 4^th and 5^th c. (Galdi).  Rutilius Namatianus (1.213-6) also speaks of an ‘Exuperantius’.  There are not any features that can identify the individual mentioned in the De reditu suo with absolute certainty.  The few verses dedicated to him reveal that he was the father of a youth named Palladius, who was a relative of Rutilius, though the precise nature of their kinship is unclear.  We know that Palladius left Gaul in order to study at Rome; his father, meanwhile, held high offices in the Gauls and distinguished himself by quelling riots in Armorica.  There have been attempts to identify the Exuperantius of Rutilius as the author of the Opusculum (Vessereau-Préchac), but this identification tends to be doubted by scholars of both Julius Exuperantius and Rutilius Namatianus (Zorzetti, Fo).  [S. Musso; tr. C. L. Caterine].