The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313 · External witness
Perennis
praetorian prefect AD 182–185; executed 185 · Praetorian prefect · Judge of Apollonius · Rome
External witness
Who Perennis was
Praetorian prefect under Commodus, and the judge who condemned the senator Apollonius. The Acts record him pressing the accused to reconsider and allowing him to speak at length before the Senate before sentencing him under the old law. The Armenian recension of the Acts names the judge Tarruntenus instead and moves the hearing to Asia — a real textual disagreement, recorded here and not resolved. Perennis was himself killed by mutinous troops in 185.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Perennis live?
Perennis is dated praetorian prefect AD 182–185; executed 185 in the archive, which places Perennis in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313).
Which early sources mention Perennis?
Perennis is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Acta Apollonii and Eusebius of Caesarea. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Perennis from?
The archive associates Perennis with Rome.
Who were Perennis’ contemporaries?
The archive links Perennis to 2 other figures, including Apollonius the Martyr and Emperor Commodus. 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.
The Acts of Apollonius — the trial before the prefect
c. AD 200[The prefect urges Apollonius to change his mind, hears him out, and then sentences him under the senatus consultum.]Acta Apollonii · Acta Apollonii · source text
Ecclesiastical History V.21 (the martyrdom of Apollonius at Rome)
c. AD 325[Eusebius records that Apollonius made his defence before the judge and was beheaded by sentence of the Senate.]Eusebius of Caesarea · Ecclesiastical History V.21 · source text
Names proposed by later tradition
Tarruntenus, in Asia
The Armenian recension of the Acts names a different judge and relocates the trial. A genuine textual disagreement between the surviving versions; the archive records both.
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- 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
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Perennis.
- 1Rome