sulpicianus’ early career is unknown, but in around 170 he was appointed suffect consul. sometime during the 170s he was made a member of the arval brethren, and he was appointed the proconsular governor of asia in 186. he may have had some involvement in the plot to murder the emperor commodus at the end of 192, and by early 193 he was appointed "praefectus urbi" of rome as a result of his marital ties to the incoming emperor pertinax, who was married to his daughter, flavia titiana, as part of the emperor’s attempt to shore up his support among the senatorial aristocracy.