Laurentius (possibly Caelius) was an antipope of the Roman Catholic Church, from 498 to 506. Archpriest of Santa Prassede, Laurentius was elected pope on 22 November 498, against Symmachus, by a dissenting faction with Byzantine sympathies. Laurentius was, in fact, supported by Emperor Anastasius. With the support of Gothic King Theodoric the Great, he was installed in the Lateran Palace as a Pope, starting a schism, called the Laurentian schism, that lasted four years.