Page 113 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

The hero as envoy: Sidonius Apollinaris

tension, Sidonius avoided direct mention of contentious issues. The Pan-
egyric on Avitus, however, directly addressed delicate issues by focusing on
Avitus and the Goths. Rather than a profession of provincial patriotism,
the Panegyric was propaganda, serving as a channel of communication
between the emperor and the Roman aristocracy. It sought, and at least
temporarily gained, confirmation of political support. Sidonius’ literary
creation of an envoy who became emperor was partof the work’s success.

the circumstances of the panegyric
In March 455, the Roman noble and patricius Petronius Maximus con-
trived the murder of Valentinian III and assumed the throne. By May,
news reached Rome of an impending Vandal assault on the city. The
Vandal king Geiseric, whether urged by Valentinian’s widow Licinia
Eudoxia as some sources claim, or exploiting the recent deaths of Aetius
and Valentinian, ignored the treaty he had made with the western court in
442. Maximus did not try to resist Geiseric’s threat. Fleeing Rome as the
Vandals reached Italy, he was mobbed by servants of the palace and killed,
leaving a ‘city devoid of all defence’. Geiseric’s forces seized the city
and, for fourteen days, systematically sacked it, removing major treasures,
seizing captives, and kidnapping the augusta Licinia Eudoxia and her two
daughters. 6
7
One month later, Eparchius Avitus was elevated as emperor. In the
430s, Avitus had held three military posts, including magister utriusque
militiae, under Aetius; in c. 439/40 he was praetorian prefect of Gaul.
Avitus had the rare honour of holding both the senior military and civilian
posts of the Gallic provinces. Between 440 and 455 he held no public
office, though he was involved in negotiations with the Goths of Toulouse
at the time of Attila’s assault on Gaul in 451. Petronius Maximus, after
assuming the throne, appointed Avitus magister utriusque militiae. 8
Sidonius, the sole source for Avitus’ pre-imperial career, makes no
9
comment on Avitus’ return to public life after fifteen years’ otium. Long

6
Prosper, Chron.,c. 1375 (quote); Fasti Vind. prior., s.a. 455; Fasti Vind. post., s.a. 455; Addit. ad
Prosp. Havn., s.a. 455;Hyd.,cc. 162, 167 [154, 160]; Marcellinus comes, Chron., s.a. 455; Cass.,
Chron.,cc. 1262–3; Victor of Tunnuna, Chron., s.a. 455; Priscus, Fr., 30 ( = John of Antioch, Fr.,
201), states that the treaty of 442 ended with the death of Valentinian III; Procopius, Wars iii, 5.2;
Bury i, 292–300; Stein i, 365–7; Clover, ‘Geiseric the Statesman’, 136–62.
7
On Avitus: A. J¨ ulicher, ‘Eparchius Avitus 5’, RE ii.2, 2395–7; PLRE ii, ‘Eparchius Avitus 5’,
196–8; Stein i, 367–9.
8
PLRE ii, ‘Eparchius Avitus 5’, 197–8; Sundwall, Westr¨ omische Studien, 55 (incorrectly stating that
Avitus actually fought under Aetius in 451).
9
In fact, Sidonius silently passes over Avitus’ period out of office, except for the events of 451;Sid.
Ap., Carm. vii, 316–21.
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