Saturninus was probably a Christian: it is known that he hosted a bishop, that he donated to a monastery and that he was in touch for a short time with Gregory of Nazianzus.
[1] Saturninus and Traianus blocked the Goths near the passes of the Haemus, building a line of fortifications that repulsed the Gothic attacks.
The two generals hoped to force the Goths to suffer through the cold winter and the scarcity of food in order to force them into submission; alternatively, the two generals planned to call back the sentinels, luring the Goths of Fritigern into an open-field battle in the plains between the Haemus and the Danube, where they were confident of winning.
Saturninus realised that he could no longer fight the enemy with his troops, lifted the block on the mountain passes, and retired.
In 400 Saturninus was serving under the Eastern Emperor Arcadius, when the magister militum Gainas deposed and exiled him.