The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313 · External witness
Anullinus, Proconsul of Africa
fl. 304 (death unrecorded) · Proconsul · Judge of Crispina · Carthage / Theveste
External witness
Who Anullinus, Proconsul of Africa was
The proconsul of Africa who enforced Diocletian’s edicts and pronounced sentence on Crispina at Theveste — the courtroom voice preserved in her authentic Acts, pressing her to bow to the sacred rites and finally ordering the sword. A decade later a proconsul of the same name would forward Constantine’s first grants to the African church: the machinery of the state, persecuting and then patronizing, under a single family’s name.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When was Anullinus, Proconsul active?
Anullinus, Proconsul of Africa is dated fl. 304 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Anullinus, Proconsul in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313).
What did Anullinus, Proconsul write?
Anullinus, Proconsul of Africa has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Official reports to Constantine (preserved by Augustine).
Which early sources mention Anullinus, Proconsul?
Anullinus, Proconsul of Africa is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from The African court record and Proconsular court record. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Anullinus, Proconsul from?
The archive associates Anullinus, Proconsul of Africa with Carthage / Theveste.
Writings (1)
Official reports to Constantine (preserved by Augustine)
The proconsul's dispatches of 313 forwarding the Donatist petitions — the same Anullinus, now serving the new sovereign — quoted verbatim in the case file[His reports survive inside the Donatist dossier of Letter 88]Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Acta Felicis (the same proconsul sentences Felix of Thibiuca)
c. AD 303Acts of Crispina
c. AD 305Anullinus said, ‘Thou shalt lose thy head if thou wilt not obey the sacred edicts.’ Crispina said, ‘I would gladly lose my head for my God.’Proconsular court record · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
- AD 251 · The Novatianist schism, AD 251
- AD 257 · The Valerian persecution, AD 257
- AD 260 · Gallienus’ edict of toleration, AD 260
- AD 268 · Antioch deposes Paul of Samosata, AD 268
- AD 272 · Aurelian awards the Antioch church, AD 272
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Anullinus, Proconsul.