Editing Sidonius Apollinaris (section)

== Life ==
[[File:Lac_Aydat_2001-06-23.jpg|thumb|[[Lac d'Aydat]], site of Sidonius' villa, Avitacum.]]
[[File:Solidus_Avitus_Arles_(obverse).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]] depicting [[Avitus]] (r. 455), father-in-law of Sidonius.]]
[[File:Solidus of Anthemius.png|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]] depicting Anthemius (r. 467-472).]]
Sidonius was born in [[Lugdunum]] (modern [[Lyon]]). His father, whose name is unknown, was [[Prefect]] of [[Gaul]] under [[Valentinian III]] (Sidonius recalls with pride being present with his father at the installation of [[Astyrius]] as [[Roman consul|consul]] for the year 449.<ref>''Epistulae'', VIII.6.5; translated by W.B. Anderson, ''Sidonius: Poems and Letters'' (Harvard: Loeb Classical Library, 1965), vol. 2 p. 423</ref>) Sidonius' grandfather, [[Apollinaris (praefect)|Apollinaris]], was [[Praetorian Prefect]] of [[Gaul]] from May 408 or earlier until 409, when he was succeeded by his friend [[Decimus Rusticus]].<ref>Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, {{ISBN|0-521-20159-4}}, p. 113</ref> Sidonius may be a descendant of another Apollinaris who was Prefect of Gaul under [[Constantine II (emperor)|Constantine II]] between 337 and 340.

Sidonius married [[Papianilla, Wife of Sidonius Apollinaris|Papianilla]], the daughter of Emperor [[Avitus]], around 452.<ref>Gregory of Tours, ''History of the Franks'', 2.21. This is confirmed by the otherwise oblique allusion in Sidonius' own ''Epistuale'' 2.2.3.</ref> This union produced one son, [[Apollinaris of Clermont|Apollinaris]], and at least two daughters, Severina and Roscia, whom Sidonius mentions in his letters. A daughter Alcima is mentioned much later by [[Gregory of Tours]], and [[Theodor Mommsen]] speculated that Alcima may be another name for one of his daughters.<ref>Severina, ''Epistulae'' II.12.2; Roscia, ''Epistulae'' V.16.5; Alcima, Gregory of Tours ''Decem Libri Historiarum'', III.2</ref> As part of Papianilla's dowry, Sidonius received a summer villa on [[Lac d'Aydat]], named Avitacum.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=249-253}} He describes the villa in detail in his letters, as an L-shaped villa with three baths, located on a hill overlooking the lake, but the description draws heavily on [[Pliny the Younger]]'s depiction of his own villas and is carefully crafted to present his cultural identity.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=249-253}}

===Gallo-Roman aristocrat===
Sidonius' letters reveal him to have been part of a wide-reaching network of Roman aristocrats in Gaul.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=218}} His correspondence focused on his own region of [[Auvergne]], where his main interlocutors were based in Clairmont (like him) and the provincial capital of Lyon. Other key contacts were the aristocrats of [[Narbonne]] and [[Bordeaux]], but some of his letters are addressed as far afield as [[Ravenna]], [[Rome]], and [[Hispania]].{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=217-218, 221}} Notable acquaintances include bishop [[Faustus of Riez]] and his theological adversary [[Claudianus Mamertus]]. He was recognised in life for his literary accomplishments; in 456 his bronze portrait was added to the gallery of writers in the libraries of [[Trajan's Forum]], the last statue to be erected there.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=214}}

Sidonius spent time in the court of [[Theodoric II]], king of the [[Visigoths]], in 455 or 456, and wrote a letter about the experience to his brother-in-law [[Agricola (vir inlustris)|Agricola]]. This letter, placed first in Sidonius's anthology of his correspondence, praises Theodoric as an ideal king.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=214}}

Sidonius's father-in-law, Avitus became emperor in 455 and Sidonius wrote a panegyric for him. In 457 [[Majorian]] deprived Avitus of the empire and seized the city of Lyons; Sidonius fell into his hands. However, the reputation of Sidonius's learning led Majorian to treat him with the greatest respect.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In return Sidonius 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 ''[[comes]]''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In 468 the emperor [[Anthemius]] appointed him [[Praefectus urbi|Urban Prefect of Rome]], a post he held until 469. Sidonius presents this as a reward for his literary ability and especially the panegyric which he had written in honour of Anthemius, but the appointment was probably also part of Anthemius' efforts to win the support of the Roman aristocrats in Gaul.{{Sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=220}} Afterwards, Anthemius made him a [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Patrician]] and [[Roman Senator|Senator]].

===Bishop===
[[File:Gaule_en_475.png|thumb|left|upright=1.125|Map of Gaul in 475, on the eve of [[Euric]]'s conquest of Clermont. Yellow: [[Visigothic kingdom]]; Orange: [[Western Roman Empire]]; Green: [[Burgundian kingdom]].]]
In 469, Sidonius was elected to succeed [[Eparchius (bishop)|Eparchius]], a relative of his wife, as [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Clermont|Bishop of Averna (Clermont)]]. He says little about this in his writing and it appears that he had not desired the role.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=220}} Writing to the former praetorian prefect [[Tonantius Ferreolus (prefect)|Tonantius Ferreolus]], he encourages him to exchange his secular life "among [[Valentinian III|Valentinian's]] prefects" for a religious life "among Christ's perfected men".{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=223}} Gregory of Tours speaks of Sidonius as a man who could celebrate [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] from memory (without a [[sacramentary]]) and give spontaneous speeches without any hesitation.<ref>Gregory of Tours, 2.22</ref> He writes in praise of the aristocrats who supported the Church, ascetics, and authors of theological works, including those who incorporated pagan philosophy.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=224}} On becoming a bishop, he publicly declared that he would give up pagan poetry, as incompatible with a religious life, but he continued to write and exchange poetry privately.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=225}}

For three years, from 473 to 475, Sidonius and his brother-in-law Ecdicus led the defense of Clermont, which was attacked annually by the [[Visigoths]] under king [[Euric]].{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=230}} He compared the conflict to the [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] capture of [[Capua]] during the [[Second Punic War]], casting Euric in the role of [[Hannibal]] and himself as Decius Magius, loyally defending the city on behalf of Rome.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=239}} When the city was finally conquered, he was imprisoned and exiled to Liviana, but Euric allowed him to return and resume his office as bishop in 476 or 477, following an intervention by the king's advisor Leo.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=230 & 246}} Sidonius maintained connections with Euric's court thereafter.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=230}} Euric favoured [[Arianism]] over [[Catholicism]] and Sidonius maintained contacts with Catholic clergy throughout Gaul and beyond, in order to support them in legal disputes and with recommendations.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=222}}

Sidonius accepted a degree of collaboration with Euric's court as necessary to maintain the unity of the Roman aristocracy in Gaul,{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=230}} but he was hostile to the Goths, writing to a senator "You shun barbarians because they have a bad reputation; I avoid them, even when they have a good one."{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=232}} He mocks the literary pretensions of Euric's court, which was known as the ''Athenaeum'', and presents the Visigothic conquest as responsible for a reversal of the social order, which had placed the uneducated in power over the educated.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=233-234}} He was involved in legal disputes with a Gothic noble who had seized the majority of his mother-in-law's lands and clashed with Seronatus, whom he considered a collaborator, for encouraging them to billet their troops in the [[Roman villa|villa]]s of Roman aristocrats.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=231-232}} His hostility to Euric is reflected in his decision to open his letter collection, published around 477, with a letter enthusiastically praising Theoderic II, whom Euric had murdered in order to assume the Visigothic throne.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=234}}

Sidonius was still living in 481,{{sfn|Harries|2018}} but had died by 490, when his successor as bishop, Aprunculus, died. His date of death was 21 or 23 August.{{sfn|Martindale|1980|p=118}} Following his death he was venerated as a saint in [[Aremorica]].{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=224}}

===Descendants===
Sidonius's relations have been traced over several generations as a narrative of a family's fortunes, from the prominence of his paternal grandfather's time into later decline in the 6th century under the [[Franks]]. Sidonius's son Apollinaris, who was a correspondent of [[Ruricius]] of [[Limoges]], commanded a unit raised in [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]] at the [[Battle of Vouille]] in 507, where the Goths were decisively defeated by the Franks.{{sfn|Mratschek|2020|p=231}} He was also bishop of Clermont for four months before his death.<ref>Gregory of Tours, 2.37, 3.2</ref> Sidonius's grandson, Arcadius, on hearing a rumor that the Frankish king [[Theuderic I]] had died, betrayed Clermont to [[Childebert I]], only to abandon his wife and mother when Theuderic appeared; his other appearance in the history of Gregory of Tours is as a servant of king Childebert.<ref>Gregory of Tours, 3.9, 11</ref>