Aemilius Papinianus

Aemilius Papinianus
Born	142 Emesa, Syria Palaestina
Died	212 (aged 69–70) Rome
Allegiance	Roman Empire
Years of service	205–212
Rank	Praetorian prefect
Unit	Praetorian Guard

Aemilius Papinianus (Greek: Αιμίλιος Παπινιανός) (142–212), also known as Papinian, was a celebrated Roman jurist, magister libellorum, attorney general (advocatus fisci) and, after the death of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus in 205, praetorian prefect.

Papinianus was one of the most revered jurists in the antiquity, as third year law students were given the title "Papinianistae" (meaning "they that are worthy to study Papinian"). In his time, he had been called "the Asylum of Right and Treasurer of the Laws". Along with Gaius, Paulus, Modestinus and Ulpian, he was made one of the five jurists whose recorded views were considered decisive by the Law of Citations of 426; their views would later be considered the only suitable ones to be cited as primary sources for the Codex Theodosianus and the Corpus iuris civilis, provided that Papinian's views prevailed whenever those of the four other jurists were not congruent. French jurist Jacques Cujas later wrote that "there was never such a great lawyer before, nor ever will be after him".

Little is known about Papinianus. He was of Syrian birth and a native of Emesa, for he is said to have been a kinsman of Septimius Severus' second wife, Julia Domna, who was a member of the royal family of Emesa.

One source shows him as a follower of the casuistry of Quintus Cervidius Scaevola, another shows him to have been his pupil. A concurring (but dubious) passage in the Augustan History claims that he studied law with Severus under Scaevola.

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