Entry (Details):

Q. Aurelius Symmachus VI 1699 = D 2946, VIII 24584, Rossi I 395, 1835 (to be restored AE 1966, 518); Aurelius Symmachus VIII 5347, X 37; Flavius Symmachus PSI 698, SB 8624, P. Ross.-Georg. V 60; Symmachus elsewhere; signum VI 1699 = D 2946. His career is given on VI 1699 = D 2946 (erected by his son at Rome on the Caelian hill, where the Symmachi had their town-house; see below): V.C.iRole name: V.C.;^(a) QVAEST.iRole name: QVAEST.;^(b) PRAET.iRole name: PRAET.; ^(c) PONTIFICI MAIORIiRole name: PONTIFICI MAIORI;^(d) CORRECTORI LVCANIAE ET BRITTIORVMiRole name: CORRECTORI LVCANIAE ET BRITTIORVM;^(e) COMITI ORDINIS TERTII;^(f) PROCONS. AFRICAEiRole name: PROCONS. AFRICAE;^(g) PRAEF. VRB.;^(h) COS. ORDINARIO;⁽ⁱ⁾ ORATORI DISERTISSIMOiRole name: ORATORI DISERTISSIMO.^(j)

(a) Also Rossi I 395, 1821, 1835, VIII 24584, X 5646, Amb. Ep. 18; λαμπρότατος P. Ross.-Georg. V 60.

(b)-(c) Before 365.

(d) He apparently held this priesthood already by 365 (from its place in the cursus), and never held any other;| in Ep. I 49 he plans to summon his colleagues to discuss how to expiate an unfavourable omen (perhaps the battle of Adrianople a. 378); he complains of the difficulty of carrying out his priestly duties under Christian emperors Ep. I 51 (c. a. 383); in Ep. II 53 (before 394 Sept.) he suggests to Flavianus 15 that he ought not to leave his own religious duties to be done by Symmachus; he planned to attend a festival of Vesta in late 393 Ep. II 59; some time before 382 the priestly college (‘collegium nostrum’) convicted a Vestal, Primigenia, of immorality and condemned her to the traditional punishment Ep. IX 147, 148.

(e) 365 March 25 CTh VIII 5.25^α; during this office he wrote Ep. II 44 to Flavianus 15 (at that time consularis Siciliae), remarking that some palatini, ‘quos de Brittiis celsitudo tua praecepit exciri’, were also wanted by Symmachus’s father who was city-prefect at the time.

Symmachus was in Gaul with Valentinian in 369 and 370; as envoyiRole name: envoy he delivered the senate’s address on Valentinian’s quinquennalia Or. I and also recited a panegyric on Gratian Or. III.

(f) Also AE 1966, 518; he presumably received the status of comesiRole name: comes at this time, and he remained with Valentinian in Gaul until 370, delivering a panegyric on Valentinian’s assumption of his third consulship Or. II (370 Jan. 1); he and Ausonius 7 met at this time Symm. Ep. I 32.4 = Aus. Ep. II (Ausonius to Symmachus) et expertus es fidem meam mentis adque dictorum, dum in comitatu degimus ambo aevo dispari, ubi tu veteris militiae praemia tiro meruisti, ego tirocinium iam veteranus exercui, Symm. Ep. I 14.3 novi ego istum fluvium (i.e. the Moselle), cum aeternorum principum iam pridem signa comitarer.

(g) 373 Nov. 30 CTh XII 1.73^α; proconsule p.A.v.s.i. VIII 24584 Carthage; proconsulatu Aureli Summachi VIII 5347 = ILAlg. I 272 Calama (Proconsularis); procos. AE 1966, 518 near Thysdrus; his administration was praised by Theodosius 3 senior Symm. Ep. X 1.2-3 and he hoped that the province would honour him with a statue Ep. VIII 20, cf. Ep. VIII 5 meis apud Africam meritis ac laudibus, but was disappointed through a rival’s influence Ep. IX 115 (to an unknown correspondent) mones ut aequo animo feram vel aemulorum facta inproba vel ingratorum foeda decreta ... (later) in sola conscientia est fructus et ratio virtutis, nihil moror statuas et publica falsa titulorum; this office is also mentioned or alluded to in Ep. I 1, II 63, Rel. 2, and possibly in Amb. de exc. Sat. 32 cum a viro nobili revocareris (sc. Vranius Satyrus) Symmacho tuo parente quod ardere bello Italia diceretur (where the reference seems to be to an event during a visit by Satyrus to Africa).

On 376 Jan. 1 he read to the senate the speech in which Gratian announced his policy Symm. Ep. I 13, X 2; on 376 Jan. 9 he delivered to the senate his speech pro Trygetio in which he thanked the senate for recalling his father (after his expulsion from Rome by the mob) Symm. Ep. I 44, Or. V. Later in 376 he delivered in the senate his speech pro patre giving thanks for his father’s nomination as consul designate Or. IV. He suffered from illness in 377/8 Symm. Ep. I 20, 85, II 49 (a. 378 or ?382/3), III 47. In 379 he read to the senate a report from the emperors announcing their victories over various barbarian tribes Symm. Ep. I 95, III 18. In 382 he was sent as envoy by the pagans in the senate to ask Gratian to restore the Altar of Victory to the Senate House, but Gratian refused to receive him Symm. Rel. 3.1.20, cf. Amb. Ep. 17.10 for the date. In 382/3 he fell ill again Symm. Ep. II 22, 49 (a. 378 or ? 382/3).

(h) PVRiRole name: PVR 384 Summer-385 Jan./Feb.: his predecessor Aventius was in office still on 384 June 11; Symmachus himself must have entered office soon afterwards, since the disappearance of Auxentius 5, which occurred after he took office, was before midsummer (‘sub ipso aestatis exordio’) Symm. Rel. 25.3; he was in office 384 Nov. 29 CTh IV 17.4^α + XI 30.44^α and 384 Dec. 28 CJ IX 29.2^α (= CTh I 6.9 ad Symmachum praepositum (sic), dated 385 April 27 MSS); Symm. Rel. 7 and 15 belong to late December 384; after the death of Praetextatus 1 (384 November/early December) Symmachus asked to be relieved of his office Rel. 10-12, 24 and his successor Pinianus 1 was in office by 385 Feb. 24 Coll. Avell. 4. Symmachus seems to have been in office by 384 July 29 Rel. 23 s(cripta) s(unt) IIII Kl. Aug. During his prefecture he appointed Augustine as teacher of rhetoric at Milan Aug. Conf. V 13 (23) (‘praefectus tunc Symmachus’); he sent a plea to the emperor Valentinian II asking for the restoration of the Altar of Victory to the Senate House Rel. 3 which was answered in detail by Ambrose Amb. Ep. 18, cf. Amb. Ep. 57.2 retulerat vir amplissimus Symmachus, cum esset praefectus urbis, ad Valentinianum augustae memoriae imperatorem iuniorem, ut templis, quae sublata fuerant, reddi iuberet, also Quodvultdeus, lib. de prom.; he is called ἀπὸ ἐπάρχου P. Ross.-Georg. V 60, ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων P. Lips. I 14 (both from his consulship, see below); cf. also Prud. c. Symm. I 622-3 and Lib. Ep. 1004 (see below). In his private correspondence Symmachus mentions his prefecture in Ep. II 36 (to Flavianus 15) and III 28 (to Marinianus 2), where he complains that the office is a burden, and in Ep. II 55 (to Flavianus 15), where he criticises the policies of his successor. His official reports to the emperors on the day-to-day business of the office are assembled in book X of his letters Rel. 1-49.

He attended the inauguration at Milan of the consuls of 387 Ep. III 52, 63.

During the reign of the usurper Maximus Symmachus composed and delivered a panegyric to him, for which after Maximus’s defeat he was in disgrace and in some danger until he delivered a speech of apology and a panegyric before Theodosius and obtained pardon Symm. Ep. II 13 (‘cum civiles et bellicas laudes domini nostri Theodosii stili honore percurrerem’), II 28, 30, 31 (‘in panegyrici defensione’), 32, VIII 69 (‘post amaros casus orationum mearum’), Soc. V 14.6 (he sought asylum in a church and the charges against him were dropped on the intercession of Leontius, the Novatian bishop of Rome), Lib. Ep. 1004.8 (dated a. 391; Symmachus has just weathered a crisis), Joh. Ant. fr. 186. 3, Suid. s.v. καθοσίωσις.

(i) CONSVL posterioriRole name: CONSVL posterior a. 391 with Tatianus 5 (PPO Orientis): Fasti, Rossi I 391-8, CIL VI 32018, X 37, X 5646, P. Lips. I 14, P. Ross.-Georg. V 60, SB 8624 = P. Strassb. 142, PSI 698; ἀπὸ ὑπάτων Soc. V 14.6; cf. Prud. c. Symm. I 622-5 ipse (sc. the emperor) magistratum tibi consulis, ipse tribunal (i.e. as PVR) contulit, auratumque togae donavit amictum, cuius religio tibi displicet, o pereuntum adsertor divum, and Symm. Ep. II 62-4, V 15, IX 149 (all concerned with preparations for the consulship), IX 153 (gift of the sportula consulatus, to an unnamed correspondent).

He apparently became princeps senatus Soc. V 14.6 πρῶτος...τῆς ἐν Ῥώμῃ συγκλήτου, and probably as such in 395 he arbitrated in a dispute over the membership of an embassy from the senate Symm. Ep. VI 22.

He suffered from illness in 396/7 Ep. III 38, 39, IV 54, V 58, 67, VI 7, 16, 19, 28, 29 (it was gout), 41, 47 (gout), 73, 76, 77, VII 28, 32, 39, 43, 71, 73, 74, 77, 78, VIII 11, 18, 33, 46, 54, 58, IX 127, 128.

In 398 he had to leave Rome in face of the angry populace (the reason is obscure), but later was recalled by the people gathered in the theatre Symm. Ep. VI 66, VIII 64, 65, IX 81.

He was ill again in c. 400 III 11 and in 402 IV 13, IV 56, V 96 and seems to have died c. 402.

(j) He was noted for his eloquence Prud. c. Symm. I 632-4 ο linguam miro verborum fonte fluentem, Romani decus eloquii, cui cedat et ipse Tullius; Quodvultdeus, lib. deprom. Symmachus ille, mirabili eloquio et scientia praeditus; Macr. Sat. V 1.7 pingue et floridum (sc. genus dicendi), in quo Plinius Secundus quondam et nunc nullo veterum minor noster Symmachus luxuriatur; Amb. Ep. 18.2, Sid. Ap. Ep. I 1 Quinti Symmachi rotunditatem.

He was trained in rhetoric by a teacher from Bordeaux Symm. Ep. IX 88.3-4 praecepta rhetoricae pectori meo senex olim Garumnae alumnus inmulsit (possibly Tiberius Victor Minervius 4 Aus. Prof. II, Jer. Chron. s.a. 352).

He encouraged education Lib. Ep. 1004 (a. 391) κεχαρίσθαι ἐν τούτῳ σε τοῖς λογίοις θεοῖς ἐγείραντα τοὺς νέους ἐπὶ τοὺς λόγους, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὴν ἄρχουσαν εὖ πεποίηκας πόλιν τοὺς ἀρχομένους ἐφ’ ἃ δεῖ παρακαλῶν (the reference is presumably to his urban prefecture), cf. Soc. V 14.6 ἐθαυμάζετο δὲ ἐπί παιδεύσει λόγων Ῥωμαϊκῶν.

He was one of the leaders of the pagan aristocrats at Rome Prud. c. Symm. passim, Quodvultdeus, lib. de prom., Macr. Sat. passim (he is one of the principal characters in this), Amb. Ep. 18, 57, Lib. Ep. 1004, Symm. Ep. I 49, 51, ΙΙ 7, 50, 53, 59, IX 147, 148, Rel. 3 (and see above).

His father was L. Aurelius Avianius Symmachus 3 Symm. Ep. II 44, Lib. Ep. 1004; he had a sister Symm. Ep. VII 49 and three brothers, Celsinus Titianus 5 (died a. 380) Symm. Ep. Ι 100, 101, 103, ΙΙΙ 6, 21, IX 113 and two whose names are uncertain who died before Titianus Symm. Ep. III 6 tertius hic mihi de optimis fratribus luctus est (perhaps Avianius Valentinus 7 and Avianius Vindicianus 4); his wife was Rusticiana, a daughter of Memmius Vitrasius Orfitus 3 (PVR 353-5, 357-9) Symm. Rel. 34. 12, Sid. Ap. Ep. II 10.5 (she helped him in his literary work); his son was Q. Fabius Memmius Symmachus (Vol. II) VI 1699 = D 2946, whose education Symmachus undertook himself Ep. V 5, VI 61; in 393 Symmachus was busied in preparations for his son’s quaestorian games Symm. Ep. II 46, 76-8, V 20-2, 59, VII 76, IX 117, 119-20 and in 399-400 for his praetorian games Symm. Ep. IV 7, 8, 12, 58, 59, 60, 63, V 56, 82, 83, VI 34, 35, 38, 42, 43, VII 48, 82, 97, 105, 106, 110, 121, 122, IX 6, 13, 15, 16, 132, 135, 137, 141, 142, 144, 151, Olymp. fr. 44 (see below). See stemmata 16 and 27.

He had a daughter, whose name is not known Symm. Ep. VI 12, 67, 79; he was related to Valentinus and Proserius (Vol. II) Symm. Ep. IX 133 (dated 401, ‘propinquus meus Valentinus’; ‘frater eius Proserius’), and also to Satyrus the brother of Ambrose Amb. de exc. Sat. 32(‘Symmacho tuo parente’); unknown female relatives are mentioned Symm. Ep. III 45 (died c. 380), V 25; a diptych found near Troyes links the Symmachi with the Nicomachi XIII 1003213, the families probably being united by marriages between Symmachus’s son, Q. Fabius Memmius Symmachus, and a grand-daughter of Nicomachus Flavianus 15, and between Flavianus 14 and Symmachus’s daughter.

He owned considerable estates in Africa Symm. Ep. VII 66, VIII 20; in Sicily IX 52; in Apulia VI 12; as well as properties throughout Campania Symm. Ep. I 1 (Bauli), 5 (‘res familiaris’, in Campania), 8 (Lucrina, Baiae, Puteoli, Bauli, Cora, Formiae), 10(Capua), II 3 (Cora, Terracina, Formiae), 60 (Naples), VI 9 (Baiae), 66 (Puteoli), VII 69 (Formiae), VIII 46 (‘visis, quae in proximo possidemus, reditum maturabo’, sc. from Campania), IX 83 (Praeneste); at Ostia Symm. Ep. I 6 (‘Ostiense praedium’), II 52 (‘Ostiense praedium nostrum’), VI 8 (‘cum in Ostiensis viae septimo degeremus’), VI 72 (‘Ostiense praedium nostrum’); near the via Appia II 59; and in or near Rome itself II 57 (‘in suburbano, cui Arabianae nomen est’), III 1 (‘urbanam sedem’), 12 (‘Caelium nostrum’, i.e. his house on mons Caelius, where VI 1699 = D 2946 was found), V 18 (‘praedium nostrum’, at Rome), VI 32 (a suburban villa), VI 60 (‘in Arabiana’), VI 70 (‘domus’, at Rome); other references to his properties V 87, VI 81, IX 10, 30, 140. He is said to have spent 2,000 lb. of gold on his son’s praetorship, and is classed among senators of only moderate means Olymp. fr. 44 Σύμμαχος δὲ ὁ λογογράφος, συγκλητικὸς ὢν τῶν μετρίων, πρὶν ἢ τὴν Ῥώμην ἁλῶναι τοῦ παιδὸς Συμμάχου πραιτοῦραν τελοῦντος, κ’ κεντηνάρια ἐδοπάνησε. Through his marriage with a daughter of Orfitus he incurred liability for debts allegedly due to the arca vinaria as a result of mismanagement during Orfitus’s prefecture, but he protested that nothing was in fact owing Symm. Ep. IΧ 150, Rel. 34.

He was ranked high as a poetiRole name: poet by Sidonius Sid. Ap. carm. IX 302-4, who quotes an epigram by him not found among his extant works Sid. Ap. Ep. VIII 10.1.

He was distinguished for his learning Macr. Sat. I 2.15, 5.17, 12.1, II 7.1, V 1.7. Mentioned by Arusianus Messius Gramm. Lat. VII 458.11, 489.28. He describes himself as a man fond of peace and quietness Symm. Ep. VII 27 nam, ut scis, amo otium, pascor quiete, cf. Ep. II 36, III 28.