Vettius Agorius Praetextatus
Roman senator and governor (320-384)
Vettius Agorius Praetextatus (c. 315 – 384) was a wealthy pagan aristocrat in the 4th-century Roman Empire, and a high priest in the cults of numerous gods. He served as the praetorian prefect at the court of Emperor Valentinian II in 384 until his death that same year.
Sources
His life is primarily known through the works of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and Ammianus Marcellinus, supplemented by some epigraphical records.
Symmachus (c. 345 – c. 402) was a leading member of the senatorial aristocracy of his time and the best orator of his age. Symmachus' letters, speeches and relations have been preserved and testify a sincere friendship between Symmachus and Praetextatus: according to Symmachus, Praetextatus was a good magistrate and a virtuous man.
Ammianus Marcellinus, writing in the early 390s, tells about Praetextatus in three passages of his Res Gestae: in all of them Ammianus shows appreciation of Praetextatus' actions, while the same author is usually critical about the members of the Senate; for this reason some historians think Ammianus and Praetextatus knew each other.
Several inscriptions referring to Praetextatus have been preserved, and among them the most important is the one on the funerary monument to Praetextatus and his wife Aconia Fabia Paulina; other information is provided in some laws addressed to Praetextatus as praefectus urbi and praetorian prefect, and preserved in the Theodosian Code; in addition, there are some letters addressed to him by Emperor Valentinian III about a religious dispute and preserved in the Collectio Avellana.
The public source identifies “Vettius Agorius Praetextatus” as roman senator and governor (320-384). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Vettius, Agorius and Praetextatus.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Vettius Agorius Praetextatus”, the useful work is to connect “roman senator and governor (320-384)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q541861. VIAF identifies the subject as 76289244. The Library of Congress control number is nb2001013525. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Vettius Agorius Praetextatus”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Vettius Agorius Praetextatus primary sources, Vettius Agorius Praetextatus archive and Vettius research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Vettius Agorius Praetextatus”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Vettius Agorius Praetextatus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.