He probably came from Aginnum (Agen), in the south of France, in the territory of the Nitiobriges, and received his education in the rhetorical school of Burdigala (Bordeaux).
He was the contemporary and intimate friend of Ausonius, who dedicated two of his minor works to Pacatus, and describes him as the greatest Latin poet after Virgil.
Nixon / Barbara Rodgers, In Praise of Later Roman Emperors, Berkeley 1994) delivered in the senate house at Rome (389) in honor of Theodosius I.
Though not altogether free from exaggeration and flattery, it is marked by considerable dignity and self-restraint, and is thus more important as a historical document than similar productions.
[1] The writer of the panegyric must be distinguished from Drepanius Florus, deacon of Lyons c. 850, author of some Christian poems and prose theological works.