Marcus Aponius Saturninus was a

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

Imperial Rome The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Romans conquered most of this during the Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of effective sole rule in 27 BC ...

, active in the latter half of the first century AD. His parents, also of senatorial rank, were wealthy and owned property in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He appears in the '' Acta Arvalia'' in the year 57 AD; classicist

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

suggests that he was made a member of the

Arval Brethren In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren (, "Brothers of the Fields") or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide evidence of their oaths, r ...

due to the influence of Annaeus Seneca. Saturninus is mentioned as being present in 66 for sacrifices on the Capitol with the emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

calls him a consul, but the date of his office is uncertain. He may have been consul in 55; Classical scholar Paul Gallivan at the University of Tasmania has argued that Saturninus was suffect consul between 63 and 66, by which time he was recorded as becoming ''promagister''. Saturninus served as the governor of

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

in 69, which may have been an appointment of

Galba Galba ( ; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was Roman emperor, ruling for 7 months from 8 June AD 68 to 15 January 69. He was the first emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors and assumed the throne follow ...

. He repulsed the

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

, who had invaded the province, and was in consequence rewarded by a triumphal statue at the commencement of

Otho Otho ( ; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. A member of a noble Etruscan civilization, ...

's reign.

In the Year of the Four Emperors

During the

Year of the Four Emperors The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the change from the ...

, Saturninus and his relative Gaius Dillius Aponianus initially supported

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius ( ; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius became emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil wa ...

, to whom Saturninus wrote a letter reporting on the fomenting rebellion. Later Saturninus switched his allegiance to

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, and crossed the Alps to join

Marcus Antonius Primus Marcus Antonius Primus (born between 20 AD and 35 AD – died after 81 AD) was a senator and general of the Roman Empire. Biography Early life Primus was born at Tolosa (Toulouse) in Gaul. Possibly he was descended from Gauls who had been enfranc ...

in northern Italy. There, he tried to use the civil war as a pretext for killing a personal rival, his fellow officer Tettius Julianus. Julianus was well-liked by the soldiers, a partisan of Vespasian, and brother-in-law of Vespasian's finance minister, but nonetheless Saturninus accused him of secretly supporting Vitellius. Primus, who was anxious to obtain the supreme command, excited a mutiny of the soldiers against Saturninus, who before his change of allegiance had attempted to assassinate pro-Vespasian factions in his legion. Saturninus was compelled to flee the camp. Saturninus' fate afterwards is uncertain. He is known to have been proconsul of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and some sources date this appointment to 73/74, but Syme has pointed out some weaknesses in that argument and argued instead for a date of 67/68. Based on Syme's proposed earlier date, and the fact he last appears in the records of the Arval Brethren January 69, it is possible Saturninus died not long after taking flight.

Saturninus and Caligula

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

tells the story of a man named "Aponius Saturninus" during the reign of the emperor

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

, who may be the same as this Aponius Saturninus. In this tale, Aponius became drowsy at an auction of imperial property. Caligula maliciously told the auctioneer to consider Aponius's nods of the head as bidding signals, causing the sleeping man to inadvertently purchase 13 gladiators for the astronomical sum of 9 million

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (: ''sestertii'') or sesterce (: sesterces) was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The name ''sester ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aponius Saturninus, Marcus 1st-century Romans Saturninus, Marcus Roman governors of Asia Roman governors of Moesia Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome