Flavius Paulinus (''floruit'' 498–511) was a Roman politician during the reign of
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...
, and was appointed
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
for the year 498.
Life
Paulinus was appointed consul in 498, sharing the office with the Eastern consul,
John the Hunchback. In 510 Paulinus became a ''
patricius''.
Between 507 and 511
Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus and
Rufius Postumius Festus
Rufius Postumius Festus ( 472–507) was a Roman aristocrat who lived during the Late Roman Empire. Festus was the last consul appointed by an Emperor in the West. The next consul appointed in the West was Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius, whom kin ...
brought a lawsuit against Paulinus at Rome, but the actual accusation is unknown.
[Cassiodorus, ''Variae'' I.23; translated by S.J.B. Barnish, ''Cassiodorus: Variae'' (Liverpool: University Press, 1992), p. 17]
Paulinus was a friend and a supporter of
Pope Felix III
Pope Felix III (died 1 March 492) was the bishop of Rome from 13 March 483 to his death. His repudiation of the '' Henotikon'' is considered the beginning of the Acacian schism. He is commemorated on March 1.
Family
Felix was born into a Roman ...
. King Theodoric of the
Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
gave him all the unused barns of Rome. Some scholars have identified Paulinus with the "ex-consul Paulinus" referred to by
Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the t ...
in his ''De consolatio phililosophiae'' (I.4.13), whose properties Boethius had defended from the avarice of certain courtiers. If so, then these unnamed courtiers would not have included Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, who was Boethius' father-in-law.
References
Further reading
* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Paulinus 11", ''
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , p. 847.
{{end
5th-century Italo-Roman people
6th-century Italo-Roman people
5th-century Roman consuls
Imperial Roman consuls
Patricii