[1] The year Festus was appointed consul (472), the emperor Anthemius was deposed by the powerful magister militum Ricimer after an armed struggle in the city of Rome that started at the beginning of the year,[2] and ended with Anthemius' death on 11 July.
If Theodore Lector can be trusted, Festus had travelled to Constantinople where he secretly promised the Eastern emperor Zeno that Anastasius would approve the Henotikon; upon returning from Constantinople Festus discovered that Anastasius had died 19 November 498.
By 22 November, Festus had picked Laurentius as a candidate for Anastasius' successor.
[4] Although arbitration by the Ostrogothic king Theoderic awarded the papal throne to Symmachus, Laurentius' supporters effectively ruled as pope until 506.
[5] Between 507 and 511 Festus and Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus brought a lawsuit against the ex-consul Paulinus at Rome, but the actual accusation is unknown.