Saturninus

Saturninus (Lucius Appuleius Saturninus) , d. 100 BC, Roman statesman. He was quaestor in 104 BC and later tribune of the people. He was violently opposed to the senatorial party and allied himself with Marius to procure the banishment of Metellus Numidicus (see under Metellus , family), the passage of a grain law, and the establishment of new colonies in Sicily, Achaia, and Macedonia. With the demagogue Glaucia he instigated the murder of Caius Memmius, Glaucia's rival for the consulship; for this the senate proscribed them. He and Glaucia fled from the Forum to the Capitol, where they surrendered to Marius after the water supply was cut off. While they were being held for security, the mob stoned them to death with roofing tiles.

Saturninus, the emperor in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.

Saturninus (2nd cent.), Syrian Gnostic. He held that the origin of things was to be sought in a Father unknown to all, who created a series of angels and other supernatural beings who in turn created man. Man was a powerless entity who wriggled on the ground until a Divine spark set him on his feet. The God of the Jews was one of the creator angels, and the Supreme Father sent the Saviour to destroy this God and to redeem such as were endowed with the Divine spark.