Venantius Opilio

Venantius Opilio (floruit 500–534) was a Roman politician during the reign of Theodoric the Great. Although he was consul as the junior colleague of emperor Justin I in 524, Opilio is best known as one of the three men whom Boethius claimed in his De consolatione philosophiae provided evidence of his treason against king Theodoric, an act which led to Boethius' imprisonment and death.

Life According to one of the letters written by Cassiodorus, Opilio was the brother of Cyprianus, and brother-in-law to Basilius; this Basilius is commonly identified with the Basilius who appears in two of Cassiodorus' letters as accused of practicing black magic. Cyprianus was the referandarius who accused Boethius of treasonous correspondence with the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, while Boethius names Basilius as another of the three witnesses against him. and in 534 he was included among the addressees of a circular on christology distributed by Pope John II. The last item Moorhead provides is an inscription from Padua suggesting Opilio had constructed a number of churches. "We may," observes Moorhead, "therefore say that Opilio lived the life of a typical Roman noble and was accepted as such by Ennodius, Faustus, Liberius, Pope John II and the Ostrogothic government."

His life following his diplomatic mission to the Imperial court is unknown.