Paulus Catena

Paulus Catena ('the Chain' or 'the Fetter'; fl. 350s; d. 361/2refn group=note PLRE gives 361 or 362, Seeck gives 362, Smith 361. He is principally known through the writings of Ammianus Marcellinus, though he is also present in the works of Libanius and Julian the Apostate. Marcellinus describes him as infamously cruel, and a skilled fabricator of false accusations.

Biography

Background, reputation, and general character Little is known of Paulus' personal life or background. He was a native of Spain and Marcellinus reports that he had a "smooth countenance." Before obtaining his position as an imperial aid, he was a steward of the emperor's table. The exact office he held while in the emperor's service is unclear: Modern sources follow Marcellinus in calling him a notarius (notary) but Philostorgius calls him a clerk, and Marcellinus also alludes to him at one point holding a "receivership" in the provinces. Libanius also accuses him of prosecuting false charges, and says that "In Europe and in Asia he deserved to die thousands of times, so that those who knew the fellow were aggrieved that they could not put him to death over and over again." Marcellinus' account is particularly disparaging throughout. It is also the only source which mentions Paulus' cognomen 'Catena,' offering two accounts of how Paulus earned the name: in the first, Paulus is said to have earned the name on account of his skill in complex interrogations; in the second, on account of his skill in creating calumnies.

Activities

In 353 he was dispatched to Britain by Constantius to arrest certain former supporters of the usurper Magnentius, who had been defeated earlier in the year. According to Marcellinus, once Paulus arrived, he widened his remit and began arresting other figures on entirely trumped-up charges. Marcellinus reports that Paulus' methods were so extreme and so unjust that eventually the vicarius of Britain, Flavius Martinus, although a loyal supporter of Constantius, intervened. Threatening to resign, he attempted to persuade Paulus to release the innocent prisoners he had taken, or at least to slow down his inquisitorial activity. Paulus refused. He turned on Martinus, falsely and publicly accusing him and other senior officers in Britain of treason and threatening to take them to the emperor's court in chains. In either desperation or rage, Martinus attacked Paulus with a sword. However, the attack failed and the vicarius committed suicide.

Paulus seems to have been involved in the fall of Constantius Gallus in 354, or perhaps merely in the trials that followed.

Following Marcellinus' account, Paulus was in Gaul in 355, rooting out supporters of the usurper Silvanus. He reportedly had several counts killed, and tortured at least one individual almost to death.

In the years between 355 and 359 Paulus' movements are not known. However, modern scholars argue that it is likely Paulus spent all or some of this time in Julian's court. 2. In 358 Libanius wrote to Paulus, thanking him for urging Julian to write to him.

In 359, Paulus (accompanied by the comes Oreientis Modestus) was sent to the Roman East with general instructions to root out traitors and broad authority to conduct trials. In any case, Paulus set up a court at Scythopolis and tried several people. He tried and convicted Aristophanes of Corinth (a friend of Libanius') of certain fiscal crimes. After Julian's ascension in 361, Libanius appealed to the emperor on behalf of Aristophanes. Julian granted a pardon to the man, clearing Aristophanes of, in Julian's words, all "the malicious charges of Paul."

In late 361 or early 362, upon the ascent of Julian to the emperorship, Paulus was condemned to death by the Chalcedon tribunal. He was burned alive. It is possible that in prescribing this sentence (or perhaps in convicting Paulus at all), the commission was acting on Julian's explicit orders: Philostorgius reports that "[Julian sent Paulus] to Chalcedon, where he exacted satisfaction from [him]."

Legacy Paulus remains a minor character in the history of the Constantinian dynasty. Many scholars, including Gibbon, see him as an exemplification of Constantius' paranoid reign, and contend that Constantius bears the ultimate responsibility for Paulus' perversions of justice. Peter Crawford acknowledged that the emperor’s employment of officials like Paulus was "unscrupulous." Though few historical events can be definitively classified as results of Paulus' actions, Thomas Wright asserts that Paulus' destabilization of the Roman administration in Britain allowed the hostile Picts and Scots to invade and pillage Roman settlements.