The struggle between the two papal factions has been carried out on two fronts.

One, vividly described in the Liber Pontificali, is through mob violence committed by supporters of each religious camp.

The other is through diplomacy, which produces a sheaf of forged documents, the so-called "Symmachean forgeries", of judgments in ecclesiastical law to support Symmachus' claim that as pope he could not be called to account.

A more productive achievement on the diplomatic front is to persuade King Theodoric to intervene, conducted chiefly by two non-Roman supporters, the Milanese deacon Ennodius and the exiled deacon Dioscorus.

At last, Theodoric withdraws his support of Laurentius in 506, instructing Festus to hand over the Roman churches to Symmachus.

Once news of Theodoric's decision reaches Rome, Laurentius retires from the city to one of Festus's estates, according to the "Laurentian Fragment", because "he did not want the city to be troubled by daily strife", where he fasts constantly until his death.