Marcus Aurelius Papirius Dionysius (died c. 190) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

'' eques'' and jurist who held a number of military and civilian positions during the reign of the Emperors

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

and his son

Commodus Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

, including ''

praefectus annonae The ("prefect of the provisions"), also called the ("prefect of the grain supply"), was a Roman official charged with the supervision of the grain supply to the city of Rome. Under the Republic, the job was usually done by an aedile. However, ...

'', or overseer of the grain rations for Rome. The career of Papirius Dionysius is partially documented in an incomplete inscription recovered from

Antium Antium was an Ancient history, ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), then it was the main stronghold of the Volsci people unti ...

. It attests several positions he held: ''prefectus vehiculorum'', or director of the public post; ''sacerdos confarreationum et diffarreationum'', or official responsible for conducting the ancient form of

Roman marriage Marriage in ancient Rome () was a fundamental institution of society and was used by Romans primarily as a tool for interfamilial alliances. The institution of Roman marriage was a practice of marital monogamy: Roman citizens could have only one ...

; and member the advisory board (''consilium principis'') to the emperor as legal adviser (''centenario consiliario Augusti''). Due to the incomplete nature of the text, we cannot be certain of the order or date of these positions, except that they were earlier in his career than the major one he held -- ''praefectus annonae''. It was in this office that he intrigued to bring the downfall of the ''

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...

Marcus Aurelius Cleander Marcus Aurelius Cleander (; died 19 April 190), commonly known as Cleander, was a Roman freedman who gained extraordinary power as chamberlain and favourite of the emperor Commodus, rising to command the Praetorian Guard and bringing the princi ...

. Dionysius abused his office to artifice an impending famine in Rome by deliberately withholding the grain reserves. This led to a revolt in the

Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian language, Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot racing, chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine Hill, Avent ...

during a horse race, when the crowd was convinced that Cleander was responsible for the lack of food, who then marched to where the emperor Commodus was. To appease the crowd, he had Cleander and his son executed. However, Dionysius did not enjoy his success for very long, as the emperor Commodus later ordered his death. While some authorities believe he was also prefect or governor of

Roman Egypt Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...

, it is unclear whether Papirius Dionysius actually held the office: while Guido Bastianini includes Dionysius in his list of prefects, dating his tenure to around 188, in a footnote he admits that his prefecture "has not been attested by any papyrological or epigraphic source in Egypt", while noting that "Dionysius, slandered by Cleander, was dismissed before he even reached Alexandria; see the case of Sutorius Macro, in 38".

Guido Bastianini Guido Bastianini (born September 10, 1945 in Florence) is an Italian papyrologist and palaeographer. Bastianini completed his papyrological studies in Florence 1970. He took part in various archaeological missions in Egypt organized by the Istit ...

a al 299^p"">"Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30^a al 299^p"
''

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik The (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as "the world's leading and certainly most prolific ...

'', 17 (1975), p. 302 and note

References

Further reading