Quintus Aemilius Saturninus (died AD 200) was an ancient Roman member of the

equites The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Descript ...

class, who held several positions under the

emperors The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rule ...

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 ...

and

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

. These included

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

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, ...

(197–200), and

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 ...

(200). As governor of Egypt his primary concern was to safeguard the harvest and delivery of grain to the populace of Rome, but surviving documents from his administration show his responsibilities extended further. Several are a series of petitions from Gemellus Horion, a resident of

Karanis Karanis (), located in what is now Kom Aushim, was an agricultural town in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt located in the northeast corner of the Faiyum Oasis. It was roughly 60 hectares in size and its peak population is estimated to be 4000 people, al ...

, dated to 197 wherein he complains that two brothers Julius and Sotas prevented him from harvesting land he had inherited from his sister; their efforts included breaking all of the doors of Gemellus' house. Saturninus had a violent end to his life. The contemporary praetorian prefect,

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus Gaius or Lucius Fulvius Plautianus (c. 150 – 22 January 205) was a member of the Roman ''gens'' Fulvia. As head of the Praetorian Guard, he was very influential in the administration of state affairs, and clashed with Julia Domna, the wife of ...

, took exception to having a colleague and not long after Aemilius Saturninus was appointed, Plautianus had him killed.

Anthony Birley Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic. He was one of the leaders of excavations at of the Roman fortress at Vindolanda and also published several books on Roman ...

, ''Septimius Severus, The African Emperor'', revised edition (New Haven: Yale University, 1988), p. 137

References

2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans 2nd-century Roman governors of Egypt Roman governors of Egypt Praetorian prefects Saturnius, Quintus 2nd-century births 200 deaths Year of birth unknown Assassinated ancient Roman politicians {{Roman-Egypt-bio-stub