Page 130 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Envoys and Political Communication,411–533

the Goths and, having laid aside for a little the pomp of the Master’s
office, had taken upon himself the authority of an envoy.’ 83 Addressing
the coetus of Theoderic II, Avitus states ‘[when appointed magister utriusque
militiae by Petronius Maximus], then did I most readily embrace the duty,
thatI mightgo as envoy to you’. 84 As in the fifth episode, Sidonius
portrays Avitus’ contacts with the Goths as civil, not military. The speech
of a Gothic warrior restates this message: though a brave general, Avitus
resolves conflict with the Goths through ties of alliance, not war. 85
In the brief scene of Avitus’ arrival at Toulouse, imagery functions
to convey the episode’s message. Avitus’ mere arrival is enough to quell
Gothic aggression. Sidonius compares the effect of his arrival on the
Goths with the thunderbolt which struck down Phaethon from the wild
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chariotof Phoebus. Itis perhaps notthe happiestsimile (the thunder-
boltwas hardly clemens to Phaethon), but it conveys the idea of a superior
being resolving a temporary breach of the natural order. The description
of the reception of Avitus by Theoderic II and of their joint entry into
the city suggest an adventus ceremony, an urban ritual of welcome and
submission. 87 When entering the city, ‘Avitus kept on one side of him
the king, on the other side the king’s brother, and with joined hands they
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entered Toulouse.’ These lines are suggestive of another image famili-
ar from imperial art: an imperial college, with senior and junior rulers
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side-by-side in concordia. Another image of concord, the unification of
the Sabines with the Romans, concludes the scene. The presentation of
83 Sid. Ap., Carm. vii, 400–2: succinctum . . . diplomate Avitum/iam Geticas intrare domos positaque
parumper/mole magisterii legati iura subisse.
84 Sid. Ap., Carm. vii, 467–8: promptissimus istud/arripui officium,vos quo legatus adirem.
85 Sid. Ap., Carm. vii, 423–5: pacem fortis amas.
86 Sid. Ap., Carm. vii, 405–10. Traditionally the thunderbolt was thrown by Zeus, not (as in Sidonius)
by Phoebus.
87 Sivan, ‘Sidonius Apollinaris, Theoderic II, and Gotho-Roman Politics’, 87–8 and n. 13.Cf.
MacCormack, Art and Ceremony, 17–22.
88 Sid. Ap., Carm. vii, 435–6: hinc germano regis,hinc rege retento/palladiam implicitis manibus subiere
Tolosam (the brother mentioned was probably Frederic; cf. Marius of Avenches, Chron., s.a. 455;
Sirmond, PL 58, 689–90 n. e; PLRE ii, ‘Fredericus 1’, 484).
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The association of concordia with adjacent figures also appears in other contexts, e.g. portraits of
married couples.
Imperial coin types depicting two or more emperors were common from the Diocletianic
period through the fourth and fifth centuries. Variants of the reverse legend concordia augg
were frequent during the Tetrachy and Constantine’s periods of shared rule. concordia legends
were not used by Constantine’s sons nor by Valentinian I and Valens, but reappeared after the
death of Valentinian I and continued to the death of Honorius; RIC vi–x;R.A.G.Carson,
Coins of the Roman Empire (London and New York, 1990), 194–9.
Neither this coin type nor this legend, however, was common during the time of Theodosius
II and Valentinian III. Theodosius II’s coins issued during the reign of Honorius featured both,
but after Valentinian III’s accession, these features appeared only on the issues celebrating the
jointimperial consulship of 426. Valentinian III’s coins used neither this type nor this legend;
Philip Grierson and Melinda May (eds.), Catalogue of Late Roman Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks
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