326 Lozovsky
and his son-in-law Boethius, Faustus Niger and his son Avienus, and also
Barbara and Stephania, Faustus’ sisters.41
Symmachus, as well as Boethius, his son-in-law, appear to have been among
those aristocratic intellectuals who preferred not to associate too closely with
the Ostrogothic court.42 A member of an old senatorial family, Quintus Aurelius
Memmius Symmachus had a distinguished political career: son of a consul,
he himself held that position together with Odovacer in 485. Cassiodorus por-
trayed him as an ideal Roman aristocrat endowed with both traditional Roman
and Christian virtues: “Symmachus, patricius and consul ordinarius, a man of
philosophy, was the newest imitator of the ancient Cato and surpassed the vir-
tues of the ancients by the most holy piety.”43
“Most learned in both languages”, that is in Latin and Greek,44 Symmachus
was involved in many intellectual enterprises, from rhetoric to philosophy.
Thus he was an authority and a valuable patron for Priscian, who dedicated
to him three works on Latin rhetoric. Boethius, who grew up in Symmachus’
household and later married his daughter, turned to Symmachus for advice:
in his preface to De institutione arithmetica, Boethius asked Symmachus to
evaluate the quality of his translation and he dedicated one of his opuscula
sacra to Symmachus, again asking for his expert opinion. Ennodius also sent
Symmachus copies of his writings.45
Faustus Niger, whom Ennodius recommended as an example for the
young Ambrosius and Beatus, also belonged to a distinguished family. Son of
a consul and a former consul himself, Faustus occupied important positions
in Ostrogothic administration. He was related to Ennodius by marriage and
his son Avienus was a one-time student of Ennodius. Ennodius cultivated
this important connection in many letters addressed to Faustus, in which he
asked for advice and recommended some of his young protégés. According to
Ennodius, Faustus composed poetry and owned many Latin and Greek books
on various subjects.46
41 Ennodius, Opusc. 6.20–25, pp. 314–15.
42 Matthews, “Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius”, pp. 26–31; Chadwick, Boethius, pp. 5–16;
Moorhead, Theoderic, pp. 158–61.
43 Ordo generis Cassiodorum, p. 260: “Symmachus patricius et consul ordinarius, vir philos-
ophus, qui antiqui Catonis fuit novellus imitator, sed virtutes veterum sanctissima reli-
gione transcendit.” Cf. Boethius, Consolatio Prosa 1.4.40.
44 Boethius, De institutione arithmetica, Praef., p. 4: “utrarum peritissimus litterarum.”
45 Boethius, De institutione arithmetica, Praef., p. 5; Boethius, De Trinitate, dedication;
Martindale, Prosopography, pp. 1045–6, Chadwick, Boethius, pp. 6–16.
46 Poetry: Ennodius, Opusc. 10 (Ep. 1.6), p. 15–16; books: id., Opusc. 70 (Carm. 2.3), p. 80;
Martindale, Prosopography, pp. 454–5; Everett, Literacy, p. 27.