Flavius Afranius Syagrius


Flavius Afranius Syagrius was a Roman politician and administrator.

Life

Afranius was a member of the Roman aristocratic family of the Syagrii, which originated in Lyon. In the same years in which Afranius lived, another Syagrius is attested, but it is not always possible to distinguish the career of the two Syagrii.
In 369 he is attested as notarius; in that year the Roman Emperor Valentinian I removed him from his office after a failed military operation, and Afranius dedicated himself to private life.
He continued his career under Emperor Gratian, possibly because of his friendship with the poet Ausonius. Afranius was magister memoriae in 379, when some Theodorus succeeded him. Between June 18, 380, and August of 382 he is attested as Praetorian prefect of Italy. In 381 he was also praefectus urbi of Rome and Consul in 382.
Through a direct paternal line, he is an ancestor of Charlemagne.