Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, c. 340–c. 402, held the offices of proconsul of Africa in 373, urban Prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and consul in 391. Events Constantine II attacks his brother Constans near Aquileia, aiming for sole control of the western half of the Roman Empire, but is defeated. ... Events Stilicho recalls troops from the frontiers of the Roman Empire to defend Italy against the Visigoths. ... Events The Battle of the Tanais River near the Don where the Huns defeat the Alans. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... Events Forum of Theodosius built in Constantinople. ... Events February 11 - Oldest Pope elected: Siricius, bishop of Tarragona. ... For modern diplomatic consuls, see Consulate general. ... Events All non-Christian temples in the Roman Empire are closed Quintus Aurelius Symmachus is urban prefect in Rome, and petitions Theodosius I to re-open the pagan temples. ...

A prominent pagan, Symmachus was an opponent of Ambrosius, archbishop of Milan. His Relationes against the removal of the altar of Victory from the Senate House survive because they have been appended to Ambrosius' Christian answer; Symmachus perhaps won the altar's reinstatement, very temporarily, not long before his death. In an age when all religious communities credited the divine power with direct involvement in human affairs, Symmachus argues that the removal of the altar had caused a famine and its restoration would be beneficial in other ways. Subtly he pleads for tolerance for traditional cult practices and beliefs that Christianity was poised to suppress in the Theodosian edicts of 391. Within a Christian context, paganism (from Latin paganus) and heathenry are catch-all terms which have come to connote a broad set of spiritual/religious beliefs and practices of a natural religion, as opposed to the Abrahamic religions based on scriptures. ... Saint Ambrose, mosaic in church St. ... The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... On the reverse of this coin minted under Valentinian II, both Valentinian and Theodosius are depicted with halos, holding a globus cruciger. ...

He was also engaged in the preparation of an edition of Livy's Ab Urbe Condita. This edition is the source of a series of subscriptions with his name found in some of the surviving texts of the first Decade — and is thought to be the ancestor of one manuscript tradition of Livy's text. Bust of Livy Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab urbe condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ...

After the model of the Younger Pliny, the letters he had written to his numerous influential friends were collected in ten books, which form a valuable source of historical information for the Roman Empire in the later fourth century. This collection inspired Sidonius Apollinaris to create a similar collection. Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (63-ca. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine Empire. ... Gaius Sollius Modestus Sidonius Apollinaris (c. ...

External links

• Medieval Sourcebook: Symmachus' memorial on behalf the Senate, petitioning the three emperors
• Ambrose, Epistle xvii and xviii