Vettius Agorius Praetextatus
Vettius Agorius Praetextatus (c. 315 – 384) was a wealthy
Sources
His life is primarily known through the works of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and Ammianus Marcellinus, supplemented by some epigraphical records.
Symmachus (c. 345 – c. 402) was a leading member of the senatorial aristocracy of his time and the best orator of his age. Symmachus' letters, speeches and relations have been preserved and testify a sincere friendship between Symmachus and Praetextatus: according to Symmachus, Praetextatus was a good magistrate and a virtuous man.[1]
Ammianus Marcellinus, writing in the early 390s, tells about Praetextatus in three passages of his Res Gestae:[2] in all of them Ammianus shows appreciation of Praetextatus' actions, while the same author is usually critical about the members of the Senate; for this reason some historians think Ammianus and Praetextatus knew each other.[1]
Several inscriptions referring to Praetextatus have been preserved, and among them the most important is the one on the funerary monument to Praetextatus and his wife
A different kind of source is represented by the philosopher and writer
Finally, two later historians wrote about Praetextatus. The first is
Biography
Early life
Praetextatus' birthday is unknown, but the sources show he was born before Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and
As regards Praetextatus' family, sources are silent and only hypotheses can be drawn.
Nonetheless, we know that Praetextatus' family was ancient and noble, and therefore he possessed a network of relationships with other members of the senatorial aristocracy, a network that was used also to gain advantages. His acquaintances included Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, his father Lucius Aurelius Avianius Symmachus, Virius Nicomachus Flavianus and probably the senators Volusius Venustus and Minervius.[9] An example of this network of relationships is the very wedding between Praetextatus and his wife Aconia Fabia Paulina, celebrated around 344 (they had been married for 40 years in 384);[3] Paulina, in fact, was the daughter of Aconius Catullinus Philomatius, Praefectus urbi in 342–344 and Consul in 349.[13] They had at least one son, recalled in the funeral eulogy and the author of an inscription in honour of his father, dated to shortly after his death and found in their home on the Aventine.[14] Even if most historians identify the commissioner of the inscription with a son, this could be also a daughter, maybe the Praetextata cited by Jerome.[15] Finally, Vettius Agorius Basilius Mavortius, consul in 527 and with a similar interest in literature, could have been his great-grandson.[9]
Political and religious career
The tomb of Praetextatus and of his wife Aconia Fabia Paulina, conserved at the
Praetextatus held several religious positions: pontifex of
In 370, several senators were tried for alleged magic practices by prefect Maximinus; Praetextatus led a senatorial legation to emperor Valentinian I, including Volusius Venustus and Minervius, charged with asking Valentinian to forgo torture for those senators involved in trials; the three of them were allowed in the presence of the Emperor, who denied having given such a disposition, but, thanks to the influence of the quaestor Eupraxius, the rights of the senators were restored.[19]
While holding the office of praefectus urbi, he gave back to the Bishop of Rome,
After his death, the Emperor asked the
Support of traditional Roman religion
Praetextatus was one of the last political supporters of the
During his office as Proconsul of
In 367, during his tenure as
A few years before his death, while his friend Symmachus was praefectus urbi, Praetextatus held an important ceremony, a pagan ascent to the Capitolium, an event that is recorded by Jerome: Praetextatus ascended, preceded by the highest magistrates, in a ceremony that was not a triumph, but which was really close to a pagan triumphal ceremony.[33][34]
In 384, during his tenure as praetorian prefect, he obtained from Valentinian II an edict about the persecution of the crimes of demolition of pagan temples and the attribution of the related investigations to the praefectus urbi of Rome (who, at that time, was his friend Symmachus).[35] Praetextatus' policy of restoration of the ancient Roman religion hit the Christian members of the imperial court (at Milan) and possibly it was for this reason that Symmachus, as friend and ally of Praetextatus, was falsely accused of torturing Christian priests: Symmachus responded that he was authorised by Praetextatus on the basis of the imperial edict and even Damasus supported him.[33][35]
Praetextatus and Paulina had a palace located at the corner of
Literature
Praetextatus published the Latin version of the Analytics written by Aristotle, in the Greek version composed by the philosopher Themistius.[37][specify] It is possible that Praetextatus knew Themistius, either meeting him in Constantinople or when the philosopher visited Rome (in 357, when Themistius followed Emperor Constantius II as leader of the Senate of Constantinople, or in 376, when Themistius honoured Emperor Gratian with a speech in the Roman Senate),[38] and it is known he could read Greek, as he had been one of the quindecimvir sacri faciundi, who had to know Greek in order to read the Sybilline books.[38]
Praetextatus also collaborated with acquaintances of Symmachus and Nicomachus Flavianus in the emendation and transmission of texts of the traditional Roman culture.
Notes
- ^ a b Kahlos (2002), Introduction.
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, 22.7.6; 27.9.8–10; 28.1.24.
- ^ a b c d CIL VI, 1779
- ^ Number xxiii and xxxix.
- ^ Jerome, letter xxiii.
- ^ a b Kahlos (2002), Chapter 5.1.
- ^ Zosimus, Historia Nova, IV 3 3.
- ^ a b Joannes Laurentius Lydus, De mensibus, 4.2.
- ^ a b c d e Kahlos (2002), Chapter 1.2.
- ^ CIL VI, 1778
- ^ CIL X, 5061
- ^ PLRE I, "Vettius Rufinus 24", pp. 781–782.
- ^ PLRE I, Catullinus 3, pp. 187–188.
- ^ CIL VI, 1777
- ^ Jerome, letter cvii,5.
- ^ CIL VI, 31929
- ^ He was in office at least since May 21 (Codex Theodosianus VI.5.2a) to at least September 9 (Codex Theodosianus I.54.5a).
- ^ The inscription talks about two prefectures, but modern historians believe this is a mistake in the inscription (Jones).
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, xxviii.1.24–25.
- basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore; during the fights between supporters of Damasus and Ursicinius, the formers killed 137 supporters of the latter (Jerome, Chronicon, cited in Edward Gibbon, The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 25.
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, 27.9.9.
- ^ Collectio Avellana, 7; Sozomen, vi.23.
- ^ Collectio Avellana, 5.
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, 27.9.10.
- ^ a b The inscription on the monument(CIL VI, 102) reads: "[Deorum c]onsentium sacrosancta simulacra cum omni lo[ci totius adornatio]ne cultu in [formam antiquam restituto] / [V]ettius Praetextatus, v(ir) c(larissimus), pra[efectus u]rbi [reposuit] / curante Longeio [— v(ir) (clarissimus, c]onsul[ari]".
- ^ Symmachus, Relationes 24.
- ^ Symmachus, Relationes 12.2.
- ^ a b Lanciani.
- ^ Symmachus, Epistulae, I.44–55.
- ^ Jerome, Contra Johannem Hierosolymitanum, 8.
- ^ Zosimus, iv.3.2–3; Valentinian's law has been preserved in the Codex Theodosianus, (ix.16.7).
- ^ Martianus Capella, De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, 1,42.
- ^ a b c d Kahlos (1995).
- ^ Jerome, letter 23 2–3 ad Marcellam de exitu Leae.
- ^ a b Symmachus, Relationes 21,3–5.
- ^ Musei Capitolini Archived December 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Boethius, In Peri Hermeneias Aristotelis, II,3,7.
- ^ a b Kahlos (2002), Chapter 3.2.
- ^ Carmina Latina Epigraphica, 111.8–12.
- ^ L. Cracco-Rugini, "Il paganesimo romano tra religione e politica (384-394 d.C.): per una reinterpretazione del 'Carmen contra paganos'", Rome, 1979 = Memorie dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di Scienze morali, storiche e filologiche, Ser. VIII, 23/1, pp. 1-144; see also Cameron 2011, 273-319.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- CIL VI, 102; CIL VI, 1777; CIL VI, 1778; CIL VI, 1779
- Collectio Avellana
- Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae Libri XXXI
- Jerome, letters
- Joannes Laurentius Lydus, De mensibus
- Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica
- Zosimus Historia Nova
Secondary sources
- Cameron, Alan. The Last Pagans of Rome. Oxford University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-974727-6.
- Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, ISBN 0-521-07233-6.
- Kahlos, Maijastina, "The Restoration Policy of Praetextatus", Arctos 29 (1995), pp. 39–47.
- Kahlos, Maijastina, Vettius Agorius Praetextatus. A senatorial life in between, Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, Roma, 2002, ISBN 952-5323-05-6(Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae, 26).
- Lanciani, Rodolfo, Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries, Houghton & Mifflin, Boston and New York, 1898, pp. 169–170. On-line at LacusCurtius