Julius Saturninus (died 280/281 AD) was a
Roman usurper
Roman usurpers were individuals or groups of individuals who obtained or tried to obtain power by force and without legitimate legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during the Roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third centu ...
against Emperor
Probus Probus may refer to:
People
* Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian
* Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228
* Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282)
* Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...
.
[Vagi, p. 375][PLRE I]
Saturninus 12
He was probably the same man as Gaius Julius Sallustius Saturninus Fortunatianus,
legate
Legate may refer to: People
* Bartholomew Legate (1575–1611), English martyr
* Julie Anne Legate (born 1972), Canadian linguistics professor
* William LeGate (born 1994), American entrepreneur
Political and religious offices
*Legatus, a hig ...
in
Numidia
Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...
under
Gallienus
Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He ...
and
suffect consul
The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...
around 260 AD.
[Craven]
"Saturninus II"
/ref>
Saturninus was an African by birth (others have him as a Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
, probably a mistake), and studied rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
in Africa and Rome. He was a friend of Probus, who appointed him governor of Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
around 279. After Probus had left Syria for the Rhine
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
in 280, unruly soldiers and the people of Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
pressured a reluctant Saturninus to accept imperial office. Having fled from Egypt, he changed his mind in Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
and proclaimed himself emperor. Ancient sources conflict on what happened next: the Historia Augusta states that Probus sent men to kill the usurper, while according to an account by Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to:
People
*
* Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints
* Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy
* Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...
, before Probus could respond to the threat, Saturninus was dead, killed by his own troops.[Zosimus, Ch 32-33]
Notes
References
*
*
280 deaths
3rd-century Roman usurpers
3rd-century Roman governors of Syria
3rd-century Gallo-Roman people
3rd-century murdered monarchs
Crisis of the Third Century
Year of birth unknown
Saturninus, Sextus
Roman governors of Syria
{{AncientRome-bio-stub