Quintus Fabius Memmius Symmachus (383/384 - after 402) was a politician of the Roman empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, member of the influential family of the Symmachi

Symmachi

The Symmachi were an aristocratic family of the late Roman Empire.The family received its first offices at the beginning of the 3rd century, under emperor Septimius Severus, then it increased its prestige, reaching its peaks in the 4th and 5th centuries...

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Biography

He was son of the orator and politician Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus was a Roman statesman, orator, and man of letters. He held the offices of governor of Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and consul in 391...

 and of Rusticiana; he was born in 383/384. Memmius had an elder sister, Galla, who married Nicomachus Flavianus

Nicomachus Flavianus (son)

Nicomachus Flavianus , sometimes referred to as Flavianus the younger, was a grammarian and a politician of the Roman Empire. He was the son of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus...

, son of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus

Virius Nicomachus Flavianus

Virius Nicomachus Flavianus was a grammarian, a historian and a politician of the Roman Empire.A pagan and close friend of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, he was Praetorian prefect of Italy in 390–392 and, under usurper Eugenius , again praetorian prefect and consul...

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At the age of ten, he become quaestor

Quaestor

A Quaestor was a type of public official in the "Cursus honorum" system who supervised financial affairs. In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official whereas, with the autocratic government of the Roman Empire, quaestors were simply appointed....

, celebrating the public games connected with his office in December 393. Memmius was well educated, and studied Greek language

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

; his father approved his style in writing letters and, in 401

401

Year 401 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vincentius and Fravitus...

, he studied with a Gallic rhethor as his tutor. The year 401 marked several important events in Memmius' life: he married the granddaughter of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus; he also celebrated the games connected with the second step in his cursus honorum

Cursus honorum

The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had a minimum...

, the office of praetor

Praetor

Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...

 (these games were postponed from 400 in order to let Aurelius Symmachus to be present and cost 2000 pounds of gold).

It was probably Memmius who, belonging to a pagan family, built a temple devoted to Flora

Flora (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime...

 in Rome; he is also the author of a dedicatory inscription in honour of his father-in-law Flavianus (CIL

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum

The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...

, VI, 1782). After Aurelius Symmachus' death, Memmius edited his correspondence.