Quintus Aurelius Symmachus signo Eusebius[1][2] (/ˈsɪməkəs/, Classical Latin: [ˈsʏmmakʰʊs]; c. 345 – 402) was a Roman statesman, orator, and man of letters.

Symmachus sought to preserve the traditional religions of Rome at a time when the aristocracy was converting to Christianity, and led an unsuccessful delegation of protest against Emperor Gratian's order to remove the Altar of Victory from the curia, the principal meeting place of the Roman Senate in the Forum Romanum.

As a representative of the political cursus honorum, Symmachus sought to preserve the ancient religion of Rome at a time when the senatorial aristocracy was converting to Christianity.

In 382, the Emperor Gratian, a Christian, ordered the Altar of Victory removed from the Curia, the Roman Senate house in the Forum, and curtailed the sums annually allowed for the maintenance of the Vestal Virgins, and for the public celebration of sacred rites.

In an age when all religious communities credited the divine power with direct involvement in human affairs, Symmachus argues that the removal of the altar had caused a famine and its restoration would be beneficial in other ways.

When Maximus was threatening to invade Italy in 387, his cause was openly advocated by Symmachus, who upon the arrival of Theodosius I was impeached for treason, and forced to take refuge in a sanctuary.

Having been pardoned through the intervention of numerous and powerful friends, he expressed his contrition and gratitude in an apologetic address to Theodosius, by whom he was not only forgiven, but was received into favour and elevated to the consulship in 391.

52 5th-century monk Gerontius of Jerusalem, cited Olimpiodorus when he wrote, "The orator Symmachus...had relatively but a modest income, possessed three magnificent palaces in Rome, as well as fifteen villas to which he could betake himself whenever he needed change.

"[9][10] Symmachus, and his real-life associates Vettius Agorius Praetextatus and Virius Nicomachus Flavianus, are the main characters of the Saturnalia of Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, which was written in the 5th century but set in 384.

Symmachus married Rusticiana, whose parents were Memmius Vitrasius Orfitus, twice urban prefect of Rome (353-355; 357-359) and Constantia, possibly the daughter of Constantina and Hannibalianus.