Rufus of Perinthus was a Greek rhetorician and sophist of the 2nd century CE, active during the period of the Second Sophistic. A native of Perinthus in Thrace, he is known primarily for his celebrated and bitter feud with the renowned sophist Herodes Atticus, a defining rivalry reported by Philostratus in his Lives of the Sophists.

Only one work is definitively attributed to Rufus: an oration against Herodes Atticus, which is now lost. His historical significance lies in illustrating the intensely competitive nature of sophistic intellectual life. His documented conflict with one of the era's most powerful figures provides a clear example of the personal and professional dynamics central to the Second Sophistic's public culture.