Paulus was the name of an imperial notary, or senior civil servant, whose cruelty was infamous throughout the Roman and medieval world. He was despatched to Roman Britain by the Emperor Constantius II to control subversive elements in AD 353. So harsh were his measures that he earned the nickname Catena meaning 'The Chain'. His acts in Britain are recorded in Ammianus XIV v. 6-9. Notary can refer to either of the following two professions: Notary public. ... Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain is the term applied to the historical period when Britain was under Roman rule, usually considered AD 44 to 410. ... emperor Constantius II Constantius II, Roman Emperor ( 7 August 317 - 3 November 361, reigned 337 - 361), was the middle of the three sons of Constantine I the Great and Fausta. ... Events Battle of Mons Seleucus - Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius. ... Ammianus Marcellinus, thought by some to be the last Roman historian of worth, was born about A.D. 325‑330 likely at Antioch (the likelihood hingeing on whether he was the recipient of a surviving letter to a Marcellinus from a fellow citizen of Antioch). ...

His brief in Britain was to hunt down known supporters of the recently-defeated usurper emperor Magnentius in the army garrisons in Britain. Once arrived however, he widened his remit and began arresting other figures, often on apparently trumped-up charges and without evidence. Magnentius (ruled AD January 18, 350–August 11, 353), was a Roman usurper. ...

Constantine appears to have tacitly approved of the purges initiated by Paulus and no effort was made to rein in his campaign of arrest, conviction and punishment of leading figures in the Romano-British administration. The rebel Magnentius had counted on British support for the previous three and a half years and it is likely that few in positions of power in the province could have convincingly argued that they had not sided with the usurper. Similar witch hunts were taking place in Gaul at this time for the same reasons. The term Romano-British describes the Romanised culture of Britain under the rule of the Roman Empire, when Roman and Christian culture had extensively entered into the life of the native Brythonic, Pictish and perhaps Gaelic -speaking peoples of Britain. ... Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Latin name for the region of Western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ...

Paulus' methods were so extreme and the injustices he committed so great however that eventually the vicarius of Britain, Flavius Martinus, although a loyal supporter of Constantine, felt obliged to end them. He tried to persuade Paulus to release the innocent prisoners he had taken using the threat of his own resignation as leverage. Paulus refused however and turned on Martinus, falsely accusing him and other senior officers in Britain of treason. Under the Roman Empire, a vicarius was the deputy prefect of a diocese or group of provinces. ... Flavius Martinus was a vicarius of Roman Britain c. ... In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation. ...

In desperation, Martinus attacked Paulus with a sword, the attack failed however and the vicarius committed suicide. Paulus' ruthless destruction of so much of the Romano-British ruling class may be one of the reasons for the eventual breakdown of Roman rule in the province over the succeeding decades.

The emperor then sent him to Egypt with the excuse that the consultations to and responses from the oracle of Besa had displeased him. Paulus set up a kangaroo court and with near full imperial power delegated to him, he began summarily passing judgement on suspected traitors. An Oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... A Czech ZB 1937 machine gun made by BSA. A 7. ... A kangaroo court (also known as a kangaroo trial or a Drumhead trial) is a sham legal proceeding or court. ...

His convictions were numerous and his punishments and methods of torture cruel. He summoned cartloads of shackled prisoners from all over the eastern empire. Some had their property confiscated and were exiled, while others were placed on racks and turned on wheels before being mutilated and executed. The rack is a torture device. ... The breaking wheel (originally, the whele) was a torture and capital punishment device of the Middle Ages and early modern times. ...

Paulus was burnt alive for his crimes under Constantine's later successor, Julian around AD 362. For other meanings of Julian, see Julian (disambiguation). ... Events February 21 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria. ...