Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus
| Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Western Roman Consul | |
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In office 485–485 |
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| Monarch | Theodoric |
| Preceded by | Decius Marius Venantius Basilius |
| Succeeded by | Caecina Mavortius Basilius Decius |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 526 |
| Nationality | Roman |
| Relations | Symmachi |
| Children | Rusticiana, Galla, and Proba |
| Parents | Quintus Aurelius Symmachus |
| Profession | Historian, patron |
| Religion | Christianity |
Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus (died 526) was a 6th-century Roman aristocrat, a historian, and a supporter of Nicene orthodoxy. He was a patron of secular learning, and became the consul for the year 485. He supported Pope Symmachus in the schism over the Popes' election, and was executed with his son-in-law Boethius after being charged with treason.
He belonged to the Symmachi, one of the richest and most influential senatorial families in Rome; his father, Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, had been consul in 446. Memmius Symmachus had three daughters (Rusticiana, Galla and Proba) and adopted the young Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius when his father died; later Boethius married Rusticiana, and the couple had two sons, Symmachus and Boethius, both consuls in 522. Memmius Symmachus' civil offices included being appointed sole consul for 485, the third known member of his family to hold this office.
Although Symmachus was the head of a family with a long connection with Pagan tradition—his grandfather Quintus Aurelius Symmachus delivered a famous speech urging the return of the Altar of Victory to the Roman Senate House -- he was an ardent Christian, interested both in theological disputes and, more prosaically, in the struggles for the control of the Pope; during and after the disputed election of Pope Symmachus, he and Anicius Probus Faustus Niger were the only two Senators known to support the pope against his more popular rival, Laurentius.
Symmachus cultivated the ancient Roman culture, writing a Roman history in seven volumes; this work has been lost except for a section quoted by Jordanes in his Getica. Symmachus' wealth enabled his patronage: he was involved in publication of the Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis by Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, and there is even a copy of the work corrected by his hand.
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