The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313 · External witness
P. Vigellius Saturninus
proconsul of Africa AD 180 · Proconsul of Africa · Judge of the Scillitans · First persecutor of Africa · Carthage
External witness
Who P. Vigellius Saturninus was
The proconsul whose courtroom produced the earliest dated document of Latin Christianity — the Scillitan trial of 17 July 180 — and whom Tertullian names as the first to draw the sword on the African church, adding that he later lost his sight.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did P. Vigellius Saturninus live?
P. Vigellius Saturninus is dated proconsul of Africa AD 180 in the archive, which places P. Vigellius Saturninus in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313).
Which early sources mention P. Vigellius Saturninus?
P. Vigellius Saturninus is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Official court record and Tertullian. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was P. Vigellius Saturninus from?
The archive associates P. Vigellius Saturninus with Carthage.
Who were P. Vigellius Saturninus’ contemporaries?
The archive links P. Vigellius Saturninus to 3 other figures, including Speratus of Scillium, Donata of Scillium and Tertullian of Carthage. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs
c. AD 190Saturninus the proconsul read out the decree from the tablet: Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Donata, Vestia, Secunda, and the rest… I have ordered to be executed by the sword.Official court record · source text
To Scapula 3
c. AD 200Vigellius Saturninus, who first here used the sword against us, lost his eyesight.Tertullian · 3 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
- AD 144 · Marcion expelled at Rome, AD 144
- AD 156 · The New Prophecy erupts, AD 156
- AD 177 · Persecution at Lyon and Vienne, AD 177
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
- AD 190 · The Quartodeciman controversy, AD 190
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put P. Vigellius Saturninus.