Gaius Sentius Saturninus (fl. late 1st century BC – 1st century AD) was a

Roman senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

and military officer who was appointed

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

in 19 BC. He served as the proconsular governor of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and later as imperial governor of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. He then served several times as a senior military officer working with the future emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

in campaigns against the

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. O ...

, gaining the distinction of being awarded triumphal ornaments. Later he campaigned in

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...

and

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

Biography

Gaius Sentius Saturninus was a ''

novus homo ''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' ( Latin for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. W ...

'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "new man"), the term used in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

or, more specifically, to be elected as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

. He could trace descent from a

senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

family from Atina. His father was a senator who supported

Sextus Pompey Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the las ...

, serving as an envoy on his behalf to

Marcus Antonius Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

in Greece in 40 BC, but at some point he switched allegiance to Octavian, who was later to become emperor as

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

. He served as a senior military officer, but details of his career are not known. In 19 BC he was elected

, the highest honour of the Roman state. By this period it was in the effective gift of Emperor Augustus and candidates were chosen carefully by him. Apparently Augustus intended to be the other consul, but he never took office and at some point through his term Saturninus was joined by

Quintus Lucretius Vespillo Quintus Lucretius Vespillo was a Roman senator and consul, whose career commenced during the late Roman Republic and concluded in the reign of emperor Augustus. Lucretius served as a soldier under Pompey in 48 BC. His father, an orator and juris ...

. Saturninus' period as a consul ended at some point between 1 August and 12 October and Marcus Vinicius served out the rest of the year. During his period in office Saturninus intervened to prevent the candidature of the

demagogue A demagogue (from Greek , a popular leader, a leader of a mob, from , people, populace, the commons + leading, leader) or rabble-rouser is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, ...

Marcus Egnatius Rufus, whom he imprisoned and then executed. As a member of the ''

Quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversa ...

'', one of the most prestigious colleges (''collegia'') of state high priests, Saturninus played a major role in the Saecular Games of 17 BC. In 14 or 13 BC, Saturninus was appointed the

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. This roughly corresponded with modern Tunisia and was an important post as the province was a major source of imported food for the city of Rome.

Syria

From 9 BC – 7 BC Saturninus served as ''

Legatus Augusti pro praetore A ''legatus Augusti pro praetore'' (literally: "envoy of the emperor – acting for the praetor") was the official title of the governor or general of some Imperial provincess of the Roman Empire during the Principate era, normally the larger ones ...

'' (imperial governor) of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

. During his time as governor of Syria, he was caught up in the intrigues of the Herodian family. Following instructions from

, he convened a council at

Berytus ) or Laodicea in Canaan (2nd century to 64 BCE) , image = St. George's Cathedral, Beirut.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Roman ruins of Berytus, in front of Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in moder ...

to rule on accusations of treason made by

Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...

against his sons Aristobulus and

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. Saturninus suggested a ruling of mercy, supported by his staff which included Saturninus' three sons, who were his legates. However, the

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...

, the chief financial officer of the province, along with the majority of the council, voted against Herod's sons, resulting in their condemnation and execution.

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

( 160 – 225 AD), the Christian law expert from Carthage in North Africa, wrote that

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

was born while Gaius Sentius Saturninus was legate of Syria. In combination with other sources this suggests Jesus was born in 8 or 7 BC. There was no Roman governor in Judaea at this time. Direct Roman rule came into force with the banishment of Herod's son,

Herod Archelaus Herod Archelaus (, ''Hērōidēs Archelaos''; 23 BC – ) was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for a period of nine years (). He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samar ...

in 6 AD. Most authorities, such as Syme, disagree with this date and favour a later date of 4 BC for the birth of Christ. This is considered unlikely by most experts, considering the date of King Herod's death (probably 4 BC) and the events which preceded it.

Germania

In AD 4 Saturninus replaced Marcus Vinicius in Germania, and for the next two years served under the command of Tiberius. During this time he was awarded the ''

ornamenta triumphalia The Roman triumph (') was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the success of a military commander who had led Roman forces to victory in the service of the state or in some historical tra ...

'', "triumphal ornaments" or an ovation; Augustus had restricted full triumphs to members of the imperial family. His final campaign in Germany was in AD 6, when he marched from Moguntiacum, and was meant to join up with Tiberius who was marching from Carnuntum, with the intent of crushing King

Maroboduus Maroboduus (d. AD 37) was a king of the Marcomanni, who were a Germanic Suebian people. He spent part of his youth in Rome, and returning, found his people under pressure from invasions by the Roman empire between the Rhine and Elbe. He led the ...

and the Marcomanni. However, the

Great Illyrian Revolt The (Latin for 'War of the Batos') was a military conflict fought in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples of the two regions of Illyricum, Dalmatia and Pannonia, revolted against the Roma ...

forced them to return, and Saturninus was replaced in Germania by

Publius Quinctilius Varus Publius Quinctilius Varus ( Cremona, 46 BC – Teutoburg Forest, AD 9) was a Roman general and politician under the first Roman emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribe ...

Personal life

Saturninus was a described as energetic and valorous by

Marcus Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; c. 19 BC – c. AD 31) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the per ...

. He had three sons, two of whom reached the consulate:

Gaius Sentius Saturninus Gaius Sentius Saturninus (fl. late 1st century BC – 1st century AD) was a Roman senator and military officer who was appointed Roman consul in 19 BC. He served as the proconsular governor of Africa, and later as imperial governor of Syria. He t ...

, consul in AD 4; Gnaeus Sentius Saturninus, consul for part of the same year; his third son was Lucius Sentius Saturninus, who disappears from the historical record after his father's governorship of Syria.Syme, pg. 426

Footnotes

References

* Graham, Daryn. "Luke's Census and Dating the Birth of Christ" in ''Archaeological Diggings'' Volume 20, #6-2013, Issue 119, December 2013-January 2014. * Mennen, Inge, ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193–284'' (2011) Leiden: Brill. *

, ''Against Marcion'', 4, 19 * Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol III (1986) *Syme, Ronald, ''The Augustan Aristocracy'' (1986).

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sentius Saturninus, Gaius 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Romans 1st-century BC Roman governors of Syria Senators of the Roman Empire Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Africa Roman governors of Syria Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Sentii