Flavius Agapitus was a Roman politician during the reign of Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...

. He held the consulship

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 with Flavius Anastasius Paulus Probus Sabinianus Pompeius Anastasius as his colleague in 505.

In 523, Agapitus was part of the entourage of Pope John I

Pope John I

Pope Saint John I was Pope from 523 to 526. He was a native of Siena or the Castello di Serena, near Chiusdino. He is the first pope known to have visited Constantinople while in office....

, who had been ordered by king Theodoric to proceed to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 and obtain a moderation of Emperor Justin

Justin I

Justin I was Byzantine Emperor from 518 to 527. He rose through the ranks of the army and ultimately became its Emperor, in spite of the fact he was illiterate and almost 70 years old at the time of accession...

's decree of 523 against the Arians

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

. Theodoric threatened that if John should fail in his mission, there would be reprisals against the orthodox Catholics in the West. Other Senators

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 accompanying Pope John included Inportunus

Inportunus

Inportunus was a Roman politician during the reign of Theodoric the Great. He held the consulship without colleague in 509....

, Theodorus

Theodorus (consul 505)

Theodorus was a Roman politician during the reign of Theodoric the Great. He held the consulship with Flavius Sabinianus as his colleague in 505....

, and the patrician Agapitus.