In the years in which Agatha lived, in the middle of the third century, the Roman Empire had already reached its maximum territorial extension. Its borders ranged from the Iberian Peninsula to Mesopotamia, from Britain to Egypt, embracing peoples, languages, religions and customs very different from each other. The central government had been concerned to give uniformity to the conquered lands by imposing on everyone the Latin language, the laws of Rome and their religion, but it was not able to administer and control them directly.
For this reason he had entrusted each province to a proconsul or governor, officials who enjoyed both civil and military powers: they imposed and collected taxes. They administered justice, they commanded the army. At the time of Emperor Decius, Catania was a rich and flourishing city, which also enjoyed an excellent geographical position.
Its large port, in the heart of the Mediterranean, was one of the liveliest points of trade and cultural exchange of the time.
Historical sources say that it was administered by the proconsul Quinziano, a rude man, overbearing and superb. With his wife and family, a large court, the imperial guards and a host of servants, he stayed in the rich praetorian palace, a huge complex of buildings with adjoining courtrooms and prisons, where all the public activities of the city took place.