Page 137 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

The hero as envoy: Sidonius Apollinaris

the empire and the Goths of Toulouse, but even authority to treat, del-
egated from the imperial government. 111 When writing a lengthy eulogy
of Consentius, a friend and host, and describing his tenure as tribunus et
notarius praetorianus in the consistory of Valentinian III, Sidonius chooses
to dwell on the embassies which Consentius undertook to the court of
Theodosius II, which he praises in hyperbolic terms. 112 Simplicius, a for-
mer minor official, later a candidate for metropolitan bishop, is similarly
praised in a public address for the embassies he had undertaken on behalf
of his city to both imperial and royal courts. 113
Just as Sidonius portrays Avitus, misleadingly, as repeatedly undertaking
embassies, so in his letters and poems he emphasises the numerous lega-
tions undertaken by those he praises for serving as envoys. 114 He praises
envoys’ eloquence, and portrays them not as messengers but as peace-
makers. 115 Closely reminiscentof the Panegyric on Avitus is Sidonius’
praise of Tonantius Ferreolus, former praetorian prefect of Gaul in the
early 450s. 116 During Ferreolus’ prefecture, Thorismod, king of the Goths
after the death of his father Theoderic I in 451, besieged Arles. 117 The
siege of 452/3 was lifted, according to Sidonius, by Ferreolus’ eloquence
in negotiating with Thorismod. The situation was parallel to that of
Avitus, as praetorian prefect, treating with Theoderic I in 439.Like
Avitus in the Panegyric, Ferreolus is contrasted with Aetius, whose mili-
tary strength was useless: ‘by means of a banquet you removed from the
gates of Arles one whom Aetius had been unable to remove by war’. 118
Describing the quaestor Licinianus, sent by the emperor Nepos to ne-
gotiate with the Gothic king Euric, Sidonius outlines the characteris-
tics of an effective legate: he is already known by his good reputation,
his speech is forthright and impressive (though Licinianus is praised for

111 Sid. Ap., Ep. vii, 6.10, 7.4.
112 Sid. Ap., Carm. xxiii, 214–62. PLRE ii, ‘Consentius 2’, 308–9. Consentius was also cura palatii
under Avitus, but Sidonius does not elaborate on this post; Carm. xxiii, 428–33.Loyen, Sidoine
i, 152 n. 19 mistakenly reads militia ampla (222) as a promotion to higher office; Sidonius in fact
refers to the completion of Consentius’ service.
113
Sid. Ap., Ep. vii, 9.19 (Simplicius): non ille semel pro hac civitate stetit vel ante pellitos reges vel ante
principes purpuratos.
114
Sid. Ap., Carm. xxiii, 233; Ep. vii, 9.19.
115
Eloquence: Sid. Ap., Carm. xxiii, 233–40. Peace-maker: ibid., 241–62 (a listof barbarians whom
Consentius could have bound to the empire if necessary; they are mostly standard literary figures
taken from Statius, with the exception of the Vandals and their disruption of Mediterranean trade,
an uncharacteristic reference to a pressing current issue); Ep. iii, 7.4 (the quaestor Licinianus, sent
by Nepos to Euric).
116
Ep. vii, 12 (written in the 470s); PLRE ii, ‘Tonantius Ferreolus’, 465–6.
117
Chron. Gall. 511,c. 621;cf. Hyd.,c. 156 [148]: Thurismo rex Gothorum spirans hostilia (Burgess’
translation misconstrues the text; Gillett, Journal of Roman Studies 87 (1997), 313); Prosper, Chron.,
c. 1371.
118
Ep. vii, 12.3: ab Arelatensium portis quem Aetius non potuisset proelio te prandio removisse.
111