SYMMACHUS, Pope, Saint. - He is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 19 July, introduced by Usuard, but it is not established that he had a cult in antiquity. Sardinian by origin, he was the son of a certain Fortunatus; he went to Rome where he was baptized and entered the clergy.
On the death of Anastasius II he was elected pope by the majority of the clergy and consecrated in the Lateran Basilica (22 Nov. 498), while a minority, supported by the Senate, elected the archpriest Lawrence, who was consecrated in the basilica of St. Mary Major. Disorders and riots then broke out, fomented by the senators Festus and Probinus, so much so that Theodoric decided to summon the two competitors to Ravenna. S. was easily recognized and returned to Rome, where in March 499 he held a Synod in which it was established that no one could legitimately concern himself with the election of the pontiff while the latter was still alive, nor could form a party. Lawrence also took part in the Synod, subscribing himself as archpriest of St. Praxedes, and, shortly afterwards, he was appointed bishop of Nocera. Meanwhile the enemies of S. did not disarm, and being unable any longer to contest his election they resorted to accusations and calumnies; a libel was sent to Theodoric accusing the Pope of having squandered ecclesiastical property, of living disorderly, and of having violated the canon of Nicaea concerning the celebration of Easter. S. was summoned to Ravenna, but while he was at Rimini he learned the true aims of his accusers. He therefore returned secretly to Rome and shut himself up in St. Peter's. Theodoric was badly impressed by this and sent to Rome an apostolic visitor, who celebrated the feast of Easter anew and occupied all the churches and ecclesiastical property. The situation became ever more tragic; to restore tranquillity a synod was convened to judge the conduct of the Pope. It opened in May 501 and S. consented to submit to its judgment but requested that in the meantime the apostolic visitor be removed from Rome. The second session was to be held in Santa Croce, but while the Pope was going there from St. Peter's, he was attacked by a group of ruffians and some clerics of his retinue were killed and wounded. He then withdrew again to St. Peter's and refused to leave it any more despite the pressure brought to bear on him. The Synod meanwhile held other meetings and at the last (Oct. 501) decreed that the Pope could not be judged by a earthly tribunal and that therefore he must be considered the legitimate pastor to whom all must obey. The synodal decisions pleased neither Theodoric nor the Laurentian party, and the two ringleader senators, Festus and Probinus, worked so hard that they obtained the return of Lawrence to Rome. For four years the city was the theater of riots, slaughters, and massacres. Meanwhile the two parties were not idle, and while on the schismatic side a libel was published against the decisions of the Synod of 501, on the Symmachian side a series of writings known by the name of Symmachian Apocrypha was concocted to justify, by (invented) historical precedents, the work of the Pontiff.
He himself then in Nov. 502 held a Synod in St. Peter's in which, together with the Roman priests, many bishops of Italy took part. In it the decree of 483 concerning the alienation of ecclesiastical property, which had been the means of struggle of his enemies, was annulled, and Lawrence and the apostolic visitor Peter of Altino were condemned.
Finally in 507 the Alexandrian deacon Dioscorus (v.) succeeded in persuading Theodoric to put an end to the schism; the senator Festus was ordered to cease his opposition to S.; Lawrence was forced to surrender all the churches and property he had occupied and retired to a private villa, and S. was universally recognized as the sole and legitimate pastor.
The last years of his pontificate passed in tranquillity and he was able to devote himself to works of piety and of moral and material restoration. He built several churches in Rome and adorned others: the oratory of Sts. Cosmas and Damian near St. Mary Major, the oratory of St. Andrew near St. Peter's, Sts. Sylvester and Martin, St. Agatha and St. Pancras on the Aurelia; he restored St. Agnes; especially St. Peter's; he drove out the Manichaeans, whose writings he had burned in the public square; he helped the bishops exiled or taken prisoner by the Vandals in Africa and Sardinia; he ransomed many prisoners in Liguria and Lombardy; he established that the Gloria be sung at the Masses of Sundays and the feasts of martyrs. He died on 19 July 514 and was buried in St. Peter's.
Bibliography10 works
Agostino Amore