Vettius Agorius Praetextatus
Vettius Agorius Praetextatus (* around 320, † 384 ) was a late ancient Roman senator and, together with Symmachus and Virius Nicomachus Flavianus, one of the leading personalities of the pagan- urban Roman senate aristocracy in the late 4th century.
Life
Praetextatus, whose ancestors had held high public offices at least since the time of Constantine , was perhaps born in Rome . He was a vehement advocate of the traditional gods cults against Christianity and particularly advocated the Eastern mystery cults. He was privy to several of them, which is again explicitly emphasized in his epitaph. Nevertheless, after he was proconsul of Achaia from 362 to 364 , he was appointed city prefect of Rome in 367 by Emperor Valentinian I , who was already tolerant in religious matters . In this function, he settled the dispute between Damasus and Ursinus , which had been going on since 366 over the Roman bishopric , in which there had been regular street fights, in favor of Damasus and thus ended the unrest in the city. Otherwise he expressed himself quite disparagingly towards the Christians and tended to overemphasize pagan cults.
Praetextatus was highly educated and translated Greek texts into Latin. He also pursued a lively building policy in Rome and renewed pagan temples. For example, he had the Porticus Deorum Consentium restored on the forum. Ammianus Marcellinus reports full of admiration about the praetextatus' administration of the praetextatus, which he believes is impeccable; his friend Symmachus also praised him in the highest tones.
384 became Praetextatus praefectus praetorio Italiae, Illyrici et Africae , with which he held one of the highest civil posts in the late Roman Empire. The following year he was supposed to hold the consulate , but he died at the end of 384. In his place the army master Bauto became consul. Praetextatus' wife, Fabia Aconia Paulina, with whom he was married for 40 years, died in 385. The name of her child is unknown, but an inscription was made on it.
Praetextatus was one of the most important senators of his time and one of the most important representatives of the pagan-Roman senate opposition to the Christian emperors. He was also a member of the so-called Symmachuskreis, which is mainly expressed in the Saturnalia of Macrobius (Macrobius lets the action take place partly in the house of Praetextatus), and enjoyed an enormous reputation, so that after his death a memorial statue in his honor Forum Romanum was built - a very rare honor for senators.
literature
Overview representations
- Maijastina Kahlos: Praetextatus (Vettius Agorius). In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 5, Part 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-271-07399-0 , pp. 1506-1508
- Wolfgang Kuhoff : Vettius Agorius Praetextatus. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 12, Bautz, Herzberg 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 1297-1309.
- Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Vettius Agorius Praetextatus 1. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , pp. 722-724.
Investigations
- Herbert Bloch : The Pagan Revival in the West at the End of the Fourth Century . In: Arnaldo Momigliano (Ed.): The Conflict Between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century . Oxford 1963, pp. 193-218.
- Alan Cameron : The Last Pagans of Rome. Oxford University Press, New York et al. 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-974727-6 .
- Maijastina Kahlos: Vettius Agorius Praetextatus. A senatorial life in between (= Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae 26). Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, Rome 2002, ISBN 952-532305-6 ( online ).
Web links
Remarks
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Praetextatus, Vettius Agorius |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, Marcus; Praetextatus, Marcus Vettius Agorius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | pagan Roman senator of late antiquity |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 320 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 384 |