Editing Pope Symmachus (section)

===Roman Synod I===

Symmachus proceeded to call a synod, to be held at Rome on 1 March 499, which was attended by 72 bishops and all of the Roman clergy. Laurentius attended this synod. Afterwards he was assigned the [[Diocese of Nocera de' Pagani#Bishops of Nuceria|diocesis of Nuceria]] in [[Campania]]. According to the account in the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'', Symmachus bestowed the See on Laurentius "guided by sympathy", but the "Laurentian Fragment" states that Laurentius "was severely threatened and cajoled, and forcibly despatched" to Nuceria (now [[Nocera Inferiore]], in the [[Province of Salerno]]).{{sfnm|Davis|2000|1pp=44, 97|2a1=Mansi|2a2=Labbe|2a3=Martin|2y=1762|2p=204|Hefele|1895|3p=59|ps=:  Nuceria had been destroyed, probably by the Visigoths, at the beginning of the fifth century.  Laurentius was being sent to a ruin, to care for refugees.}} The synod also ordained that any cleric who sought to gain votes for a successor to the papacy during the lifetime of the pope, or who called conferences and held consultations for that purpose, should be deposed and excommunicated.{{sfn|Mansi|Labbe|Martin|1762|p=231|ps=: …''si presbyter, aut diaconus, aut clericus, papa incolumi, et eo inconsulto, aut subscriptionem pro Romano pontificatu commodare, aut pitacia promittere, aut sacramentum praebere tentaverit, aut aliquod certe suffragium pollicere,  vel de hac causa privatis conventiculis factis deliberare atque decernere, loci sui dignitate atque communione privetur''}}