Albinus, or Caecina Decius Faustus Albinus, (floruit

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

490-525) 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 Eusebius in 493. Albinus is best known for being identified with the senator

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...

 whom Boethius defended from accusations of treasonous correspondence with the Eastern Roman Empire by the referandarius

Referendary

Referendary is the English form or rendering of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organisations.-Secular:...

Cyprianus -- only to have Cyprianus then accuse Boethius of the same crime.

Albinus was son of Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius

Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius

Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius , was a Roman politician. He was the first consul appointed under Odoacer's rule , and afterwards was Praetorian prefect of Italy. He is best known for presiding over the papal election of Pope Felix III....

 (consul in 480), and brother of Avienus

Avienus (consul 501)

Flavius Avienus Iunior was a Roman politician during the reign of Theodoric the Great. He held the consulship with Pompeius as colleague in 501....

 (consul in 501), 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....

 (consul in 505) and Inportunus

Inportunus

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

. John Moorhead argues that the brothers were on different sides of the Laurentian schism, with Albinus and Avienus supporting Symmachus

Pope Symmachus

Saint Symmachus was pope from 498 to 514. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was legitimately elected pope by the citizens of Rome....

 and Theodore and Inportunus supporting Laurentius

Antipope Laurentius

Laurentius was an antipope of the Roman Catholic Church, from 498 to 506.-Biography:Archpriest of Santa Prassede, Laurentius was elected pope on 22 November 498, in opposition to Symmachus, by a dissenting faction...

. The Liber Pontificalis

Liber Pontificalis

The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...

reports that Albinus and his wife Glaphyra, during the pontificate of Symmachus, built a basilica dedicated to Saint Peter

Saint Peter

Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...

 on the Via Trebana at the 27th milepost, on the farm of Pacinianus.

In 523 or 524, the referandarius Cyprianus accused Albinus of treasonous correspondence before king Theodoric in his court at Verona. Boethius, who later explained himself as having "countless times interposed my authority to protect wretched men from danger when they were hounded by the endless false accusations of the barbarians in their continuous and unpunished lust for wealth", stepped up to shield Albinus. Cyprianus then accused Boethius of the same crime; Boethius was imprisoned, and eventually executed. In the words of Thomas Hodgkin

Thomas Hodgkin (historian)

Thomas Hodgkin , British historian, son of John Hodgkin , barrister and Quaker minister, and Elizabeth Howard ....

, "Albinus disappears from the narrative, but was probably condemned along with Boethius"