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Q. AURELIUS SYMMACHUS
Q. AURELIUS SYMMACHUS
A Political Biography
Cristiana Sogno
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS
Ann Arbor
Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2006
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Published in the United States of America by
The University of Michigan Press
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Printed on acid-free paper
2009 2008 2007 2006 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sogno, Cristiana, 1969–
Q. Aurelius Symmachus : a political biography / Cristiana Sogno.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-472-11529-7 (cloth : acid-free paper)
ISBN-10: 0-472-11529-4 (cloth : acid-free paper)
1. Symmachus, Quintus Aurelius, d. 405. 2. Symmachus, Quintus Aurelius,
d. 405—Correspondence. 3. Speeches, addresses, etc., Latin—History and criticism.
4. Rome—History—Valentinian I, 364–375—Biography. 5. Rome—History—
Theodosians, 379–455—Biography. 6. Rome—Politics and government—284-476.
7. Latin letters—History and criticism. 8. Legislators—Rome—Biography.
9. Orators—Rome—Biography. I. Title.
PA6704.S9S64 2006
937'.08'092—dc22 2005024420
ISBN13 978-0-472-02562-6 (electronic)
parentibus optimis
Preface
This book offers a reconstruction of the political career of the Late Roman
senator Q. Aurelius Symmachus (ca. 340–402) through close analysis of
his massive body of writings. Symmachus is perceived and presented here as
an important senator in fourth-century Rome, rather than as a wealthy
landowner with literary pretensions, or as one of the last great pagans—a
label both generic and misleading, but fi rmly attached to Symmachus since
antiquity. Notwithstanding the validity of the point of view that religion in
general should not be treated as a quarantined area separated from litera-
ture, politics, or war, 1 in Symmachus’ case a revaluation of the political
career independent from his paganism seems necessary in order to provide
a more accurate and balanced account.
Q. Aurelius Symmachus occupies a peculiar position among Latin
authors. His impressive body of writings, which survives almost entirely and
comprises over nine hundred letters, forty-nine offi cial reports addressed to
the emperor (r elationes ), and substantial fragments of eight speeches, is well
known to the specialists of the period but virtually ignored by the majority
of students of classics and ancient history. 2 The reason for this relative lack
of critical attention may be attributed to the fact that there is no complete
translation of the Symmachan corpus into any modern language. Greater
focus has been devoted to the E pistulae , 3 and the series of historical com-
mentaries published in Italy under the supervision of Lellia Cracco Ruggini is
almost complete. 4 And very recently the last volume of the French transla-
tion of the E pistulae has fi nally been published. 5 But Symmachus’ Relationes ,
together with the fragments of letters preserved in book 10 of the correspon-
dence, are available only in the Italian translation with commentary by
Domenico Vera, 6 and the fragments of the O rationes, by far the least known
of Symmachus’ works, have been edited and translated only in German with
a historical introduction. 7 Therefore, for the historian or Latinist interested
viii / Preface
in Symmachus, the nineteenth-century e dition of Otto Seeck with its exhaus-
tive introduction in Latin remains the standard text. 8
In addition to the lack of a complete translation into a modern lan-
guage, the negative judgment on the Symmachan corpus by its own editor
still weighs heavily upon the Roman senator and can explain the scarce—or,
at least, unenthusiastic—interest in his writings. Seeck brands Symmachus
as a man of very limited intellectual capabilities and a parvenu, unbearable
for bragging unceasingly about his social standing. 9 Because of their brevity,
the Epistulae are considered vapid and uninteresting, 10 and both E pistulae
and Relationes are frustrating to historians for their lack of reference to
important contemporary events, their vague complaints about unnamed
enemies, and their hard-to-decipher allusions to people and facts. 11 Not-
withstanding Symmachus’ reputation as one of the greatest Roman orators,
his speeches have been, and still are, ignored by most classical scholars with
only a few sporadic exceptions. 12
Amid the general lack of interest in Symmachus’ writings, the so-called
relatio de Ara Victoriae has attracted unlimited attention. 13 Even among
contemporary opponents of Symmachus, the third relatio achieved remark-
able popularity, 14 and his well-constructed protest against the legislation
imposed by the Emperor Gratian has been interpreted as the symbol of
pagan (or polytheistic) tolerance in contrast with Christian (or monotheistic)
intolerance. Moreover, although religious issues are rarely discussed in his
writings, Symmachus has been labeled as one of the last great pagan sena-
tors of Rome and as one of the protagonists of a pagan revival in the fourth
century. 15 The idea of a pagan revival has been successfully challenged by
Cameron in a series of articles, 16 but Symmachus’ paganism nonetheless has
remained at the center of scholarly attention. The reason for this state of
affairs lies in the fact that studies about the Late Roman aristocracy focus
on the question of the Christianization of the senatorial aristocracy that
took place in the course of the fourth century. 17 However important, the
study of this phenomenon can produce a distorted image of the historical
reality and create the illusion of a Christian and a pagan aristocracy rigidly
separated from each other and different in tastes, career, and mentality. But
an attentive study of the evidence, free from the prejudice of a dichotomy
between Christian and pagan senators,18 shows that confl ict and competi-
tion among aristocrats are independent from differences of religion,19 and
that the mentality and attitudes of the senatorial aristocracy, whether Chris-
tian or pagan, show a remarkable similarity and continuity, particularly
with the old republican tradition. 20
Preface / ix
Symmachus’ works provide the main evidence for the reconstruction of his
political career. Thus, the order followed in the chapters is both chrono-
logical and thematic. Special attention is devoted to Symmachus’ role as
mediator between the Roman senate and the imperial court, which is both
the starting point of my approach and a recurring theme throughout the
book. Chapter 1 is devoted to a close reading and analysis of the Orationes,
a work usually neglected even by scholars of Symmachus, who prefer to
focus their attention on the letters mainly for their prosopographical inter-
est. The fi rst three speeches of the collection, the panegyrics in honor of
Valentinian I and Gratian, document Symmachus’ fi rst trip to the court of
Trier and mark the beginning of his career, as well as of his friendship with
some of the most prominent fi gures of his time, which are documented in
the letters. The rest of the speeches were pronounced in the senate and pro-
vide interesting insight not only into the workings of the institution but also
into the attitudes and mentality of its members. Chapter 2 focuses on the
Relationes both as a source for the legal and administrative duties of the
prefect and as a source documenting the diffi culties and obstacles encoun-
tered by Symmachus in the exercise of that offi ce. Finally, chapter 3 pre-
sents a selection of the Epistulae chosen to illustrate Symmachus’ activities
after his retirement from offi ce and his ability in creating over the years
a far-reaching web of connections and in using it to his and his family’s
advantage.
This monograph does not purport to be the defi nitive or even compre-
hesive work on Symmachus. Rather, by portraying the individual experience
of one important and prolifi c Roman senator of the fourth century, it pro-
poses a new approach for studying the political aspirations, mentality, and
attitudes of Roman senators—an approach that considers the workings of
Late Antique politics in terms of political affi nities rather than religious dif-
ferences. Symmachus’ career and writings show that, notwithstanding the
short and restricted tenures of offi ce, Late Roman senators were actively
involved in politics and, whether Christians or pagans, they remained as
competitive and prone to intrigue as their Republican predecessors.
