On the Magistrates of the Roman Republic

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...during the consulship of the distinguished Faustus the Younger The Latin abbreviation "VV. CC. Coss." refers to "Viri Clarissimi Consules," a title for the highest-ranking Roman senators serving as consuls., in the year 490 from the birth of Christ. His parents, as far as can be conjectured, were wealthy and noble among their fellow citizens. In the twenty-first year of his life, AD 511, during the consulship of Felix the Gaul and Flavius Secundianus (as it should perhaps be written instead of Secundinus in P. Reland’s Fasti, Utrecht, 1715, octavo, page 679, and likewise among others following him; certainly Lydus, in his work On the Magistracies original: "de Magistrat." book III, chapter 26, page 192, writes Secundianus original: "Σεκουνδιανοῦ"), he moved to Constantinople and began to serve among the Memoriales The Memoriales were imperial secretaries responsible for drafting legal documents and petitions. in the sacred palace. And (since he then had an abundance of leisure), he took as his teacher of philosophy Agapius of Athens, a disciple of Proclus; concerning whom see Suidas The Suda (or Suidas) is a massive 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia., Kuster's edition, volume 1, page 22.

However, he did not remain in this state for long. For around the same time, the Emperor Anastasius appointed Zoticus of Philadelphia as Praetorian Prefect; by whose persuasion and influence Lydus followed another path in public life. His beginnings were indeed so prosperous that, having been received into the cohort or Office of the Patron The "Officium" refers to the administrative staff of a high official. around the year 512 (as it seems), he quickly attained not only the rank of notary in the prefecture but also acquired very large sums of money. In the space of a single year, he amassed a thousand gold solidi The solidus was a high-purity gold coin; a thousand was an extraordinary sum, equivalent to roughly 14 pounds of gold. from his duties; and this he did justly and legally, as he himself asserts in book III, chapter 27, page 194. Nor did it fall less fortunately for him that...