The Prefect Was a Really, Really Powerful Guy

The sign e of the prefect was just as good as the signature of the emperor which meant that twice as much could now be done in the same amount of time. In the later part of his reign, diocletian even went so far as to issue an edict stating that judicial decisions issued by the prefect were no longer appealable to the mperor. The prefect was, in short, a really, really powerful guy, and not at all someone you wanted to mess with.