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31 Chapter 2 The Rise and Fall of an Urban Prefect: The Relationes In late spring of 384,1 Symmachus was appointed to the praefectura urbis, the highest office in a senatorial career.2 His term of office began under the best auspices: the new urban prefect could count on the support at court of the praetorian prefect, his good friend Vettius Agorius Praetextatus. But the tenure proved to be a very difficult one, and Praetextatus’ untimely death prompted Symmachus to resign from his post less than a year after his appointment. However short, the urban prefecture is Symmachus’ best documented term of office on account of the forty-nine Relationes that he wrote to the emperors in the eight months of his mandate (at a rate of more than one relatio per week). Symmachus’ Relationes provide precious information about the administrative and legal responsibilities of the praefectus urbanus . Moreover, Symmachus’ fama as the best orator of his own time is based to a large extent on his famous relatio concerning the Altar of Victory, a speech in the form of a letter addressed to the imperial court in Milan. Although Symmachus’ rhetoric failed to persuade the young emperor Valentinian, it won high praise from his Christian opponents, both present and future. The following chapter is entirely devoted to a detailed analysis of the evidence provided by the Relationes. The first half of the chapter outlines the history of the transmission of the text and discusses the importance of Symmachus’ Relationes for illustrating the legal and administrative duties of the urban prefect. The second half of the chapter examines the specific experience of Symmachus and his short tenure of office and offers a reconstruction of Symmachus’ mandate within its political and historical context . Three phases can be identified: the first phase, characterized by great “reforming” energy, includes Symmachus’ attempted collaboration with the court and his efforts to overturn Gratian’s policy; the second phase is marked by the failure of his plans and increasing difficulties owing to his 32 / Q. Aurelius Symmachus friction with colleagues and subordinates; and the third phase ends with Praetextatus’s death and Symmachus’ premature retirement. The Text of the Relationes and Its Transmission Symmachus’ Relationes are the only surviving documents of their kind and occupy a special place in his rhetorical production. Pliny’s correspondence with the emperor Trajan at the time of his mandate as governor in the provinces of Pontus and Bithynia constitutes a tempting but ultimately inaccurate parallel. Besides the obvious differences in the nature of the offices held by Pliny and Symmachus and the great lapse of time that divides the two senators, there is an even more obvious difference in the very title of the correspondence . Whereas Pliny addresses to Trajan epistulae, Symmachus’ letters to the emperor are known by the technical term of relationes.3 The word relatio specifically indicates an official report.4 For the classical period, the procedure of referre ad senatum, whereby a magistrate convoked the senate and made a report to the gathered senators about the matter to be discussed and voted on, is well documented.5 In the civil procedure of the later Empire, the word relatio became the technical term used for the detailed report addressed to the emperor by a judge whose decision was subject to an appeal to the imperial court.6 The emperor decided the case on the basis of the written material submitted to him and expressed his point of view in a rescript sent to the judge, who then notified the parties.7 Given the jurisdictional powers of the urban prefect, it is not difficult to imagine why Symmachus’ letters to the emperor are called relationes, and many of his reports do, in fact, concern legal matters that had to be addressed to the emperor. At the same time, Symmachus’ relationes, even the ones concerned with strictly legal or administrative matters, are never simple reports. The Roman senator does not miss any opportunity to show off his learning by frequently referring to historical exempla that betray both his veneration for antiquity and tradition (vetustas) and a genuinely Roman pride.8 The preoccupation with style that characterizes Symmachus’ “private” correspondence is also present in his official letters. Nevertheless, Symmachus’ activity as prefect supplies the content for the Relationes, and their very nature as public documents forces the author to make more apparent the historical context in which they were created. The audience to which they are addressed also plays...

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