| Sidonius Apollinaris |
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| 430 births | |
| 5th century deaths | |
| ancient gauls | |
| late antique latin authors | |
| late antique writers | |
| latin letter writers | |
| ancient roman soldiers | |
| ancient roman christians | |
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He was born in Lugdunum ( Lyons ). Belonging to a Gallo-Roman noble family, he was educated under the best masters, and particularly excelled in poetry and polite literature. His life and friendships put him in the center of 5th century Roman affairs. He married (about 452 ) Papianilla, the daughter of Avitus , who was consul and afterwards emperor. But Majorianus, in the year 457 , having deprived Avitus of the empire and taken the city of Lyons, Apollinaris fell into the hands of the enemy. The reputation of his learning led Majorianus to treat him with the greatest respect. In return Apollinaris composed a panegyric in his honour (as he had previously done for Avitus), which won for him a statue at Rome and the title of count. In 467 the emperor Anthemius rewarded him for the panegyric which he had written in honour of him by raising him to the post of Urban Prefect of Rome , and afterwards to the dignity of patrician and senator. In 472, more for his political than for his theological abilities, he was chosen to succeed Eparchius in the bishopric of Auvergne ( Clermont , now Clermont-Ferrand ). Most of the previous holders of the benefice have been made saints in the Roman Catholic Church, including his recent predecessor, Saint Namatius (bishop 446-62), who laid the foundations of a proper cathedral. Sidonius Apollinaris was not a religious man; his election was probably due more to his influential contacts, and his tireless efforts on preserving his corner of Gaul for the Roman Empire . On the capture of that city by the Goths in 474 he was imprisoned, as he had taken an active part in its defence; but he was afterwards restored by Euric , king of the Goths, and continued to govern his bishopric as before until his death. His extant works are his '' Panegyric s'' on different emperors (in which he draws largely upon Statius, Ausonius and Claudian ), which document several important political events. Carmen 7 is a panegyric to his father-in-law Avitus on his inauguration as emperor. Carmen 5 is a panegyric to Majorian , which offers evidence that Sidonius was able to overcome the natural suspicion and hostility towards the man who was responsible for the death of his father-in-law. Carmen 2 is a panegyric to the emperor Anthemius , part of Sidonius' efforts to be appointed Urban Prefect of Rome; and nine books of ''Letters'' and ''Poems'', whose chief value consists in the light they shed on the political and literary history of the 5th century. The ''Letters'', which are very stilted, also reveal Apollinaris as a man of genial temper, fond of good living and of pleasure. A letter of Sidonius's addressed to Riothamus , "King of the Brittones" (c. 460 ) is of particular interest, since it provides evidence that a king or military leader with ties to Britain lived around the time frame of King Arthur . The best edition is that in the '' Monumenta Germaniae Historica '' (Berlin, 1887), which gives a survey of the manuscripts. Sidonius' relations have been traced over several generations, from his paternal grandfather's time in the narrative of a family's fortunes from prominence in late Roman time into subsequent decline in the 6th Century under the Franks . REFERENCES Apollinaris Sidonius (the names are commonly inverted by the French) is the subject of numerous monographs, historical and literary. See A. Molinier , ''Sources de l'histoire de France'', no. 136 (vol. i.). Samuel Dill , ''Roman Society in the Fifth Century'', and Thomas Hodgkin , ''Italy and her Invaders'' (vol. vii.), contain interesting sections on Apollinaris. See also Teuffel and Ebert's histories of Latin literature. EXTERNAL LINKS
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