Career
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.
A concurring (but dubious) passage in the Augustan History claims that he studied law with Severus under Scaevola. Papinianus was an intimate friend of the emperor Severus and accompanied him to Britain during 207,where he served in "the forum of York" in response to an uprising by Scottish Highlanders.
He was at some time made an attorney general (advocatus fisci), master of petitions (requests), magister libellorum, by Severus.
He also served as Treasurer and Captain of the Guard for the Emperor. Papinian trying to keep peace between the brothers, only proved to encourage the hatred of Caracalla, consequently passing an order to have the lawyer beheaded (Spartianus, Caracalla), and his body dragged through the streets of Rome. His death was following the 212 fratricide of Geta, amongst the general slaughter of his friends and those perceived associated with him, according to one source estimated as 20,000 persons.
The author of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article though states that the details of Papinianus" death "are variously related, and have undergone legendary embellishment.".