Pope Saint Symmachus was pope from 498 to 514. He was born on Sardinia, the son of Fortunatus. He was baptized in Rome, where he became archdeacon of the Church under Pope Anastasius II. Symmachus was elected pope on November 22, 498. The archpriest of Santa Prassede, Laurentius, was elected pope, that same day, by a dissenting minority faction with Byzantine sympathies. Laurentius was supported by Emperor Anastasius, but the Gothic King Theodoric the Great, in the end, ruled against him and in favor of Symmachus.