Anonymus 245 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | M VIII |
| Dates | 752 (taq) / 752 (tpq) |
| Variant Names | Optatus |
| Religion | Christian |
| Locations | St Benedict (Monastery of, Monte Cassino) (residence); St Benedict (Monastery of, Monte Cassino); Rome; Ravenna |
| Occupation | Hegoumenos |
| Titles | Abbot, St Benedict (Monte Cassino) (office) |
| Textual Sources | Liber Pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne, Le liber pontificalis. Texte, introduction et commentaire, 2 vols. (Paris, 1886-92); re-issued with 3rd vol. by C. Vogel, (Paris, 1955-57) (chronicle) |
Anonymus 245 was the abbot of the monastery of St Benedict (Monte Cassino); probably in late 752 he was sent with the unnamed abbot of the monastery of St Vincent (near the Volturnum) (Anonymus 244) to the Lombard king Aistulf 1 by pope Stephen III (II) (Stephanos 8) to try to end the bloodshed and to make peace between their two peoples; the attempt failed, Aistulf 1 treated them with contempt and ordered them to return straight to their monasteries, without returning to Rome to report to the pope: Lib. Pont. 94. 7. Raymond Davies, in his translation of the Liber Pontificalis gives his name as Optatus, but we cannot find any authority for this. Anonymus 245 is not in Paul the Deacon's Historia Langobardorum. Cf. Azzo 1 and Optatos 2.
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