PRETEXTATUS, VETTIUS AGORIUS (Vettius Agorius Praetextatus). - A characteristic representative of the religious syncretism among the cultured classes in the 4th century, he was, together with Nicomachus Flavianus and Symmachus, one of the most tenacious defenders of paganism in Rome. Proconsul of Achaia in 362, Prefect of Rome in 367, and Praetorian Prefect in 384, he died that same year while designated as consul.
Initiated into several mystery cults, he was also a pontifex of Vesta, whose worship he zealously promoted to the point of earning a statue in the atrium of the goddess’s temple. He obtained from Valentinian the suspension of the decree that forbade nocturnal sacrifices. He took an interest in philological criticism and the revision of Greek and Latin texts. He was in contact with Pope Damasus, who vainly sought to convert him to Christianity, and as Prefect of Rome, he intervened in the disturbances stirred up by Ursinus over the election of that Pontiff. A laudatory epitaph, composed by his wife shortly after his death, still survives.