Virius Nicomachus Flavianus - Pagan Circle of Flavianus

Pagan Circle of Flavianus

Flavianus belonged to the pagan circle which included also Vettius Agorius Praetextatus and Quintus Aurelius Symmachus. This circle was at the centre of the pagan movement of the late 4th century and, in particular through the work of the Nicomachi and Symmachi families, has the merit of the preservation into modern times of the works of several pagan authors, among which Livy, Martial and Apuleius.

The relationship between the Nicomachi and the Symmachi was strengthened through weddings: in 393/394 the son of Flavianus, Nicomachus Flavianus, married Galla, the daughter of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, whose son, Quintus Fabius Memmius Symmachus, married in 401 a daughter or a nephew of Flavianus. The bond between the two families was celebrated, either in occasion of one of the two weddings or at the time of a joint endorsement of religious offices, with the issue of a diptych, whose valves are entitled one Nicomachorum and the other Symmachorum.

Praetextatus, Symmachus and Flavianus are the main characters of Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius' Saturnalia, written in the 5th century but set in the summer holidays of 384; the author describes the leaders of the pagan movement that host in turn different pagan intellectual to discuss philosophical and religious matters.