Page 171 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

The saint as envoy: bishops’ Lives

8 A trader uses Vivianus’ blood as a relic, in the East (during Vivianus’
lifetime); construction of a basilica dedicated to Vivianus in the East
by the emperor Severus.
9 In his old age, Vivianus builds a basilica in Saintes, with relics from
Rome; his death.
As with Vita Orientii, close imitation of a miracle account reveals fa-
miliarity with Constantius’ Vita Germani on the part of the author of Vita
Viviani. En route to Arles, Germanus suffers the theft of his horse during
the night; but the next day, the thief returns the beast, casting himself at
Germanus’ feet to confess his sin and stating that he had been miracu-
lously transfixed all night, unable to move in any direction other than to
return the horse to its owner. Germanus, recognising that need prompted
the theft, gives the horse to the man with his blessing. 125 This quietly
humorous scene is emulated in Vita Vivianus: at night, after Vivianus has
arrived in Toulouse, a thief steals the oxen which had drawn the carriage
in which the bishop travelled, but then walks in circles for the rest of
the night, realising at dawn that he is again at the same point where he
had taken the animals. He confesses his crime at the feet of Vivianus, who
mercifully grants the oxen to the man for him to live by his labour, not
theft. 126 As in Vita Germani, the scene is part of the journey of an embassy.
The descentof this scene in Vita Viviani from Vita Germani seems clear.
A less close parallel is discernible also between the accounts of Germanus’
and Vivianus’ early years. 127
The embassy narrative of Vita Viviani concerns a representation on
behalf of the provincials of Saintes to the Gothic king of Toulouse. An
intolerabilis iniunctio is imposed on the citizens of Saintes, causing the
impoverishmentand even slavery of both mediocres and nobiles. Some
Goths, seeking to acquire for themselves the forfeited lands of the nobiles,
eagerly carry imprisoned citizens of Saintes to Toulouse. 128 Vivianus,
unwilling for members of his flock to be imprisoned without their bishop,
travels also to Toulouse where, finding humble accommodation near the
tomb of the martyr Saturninus, he meets and forgives the thief in the

125
Constantius, Vita Germani, 20.
126
Vita Viviani, 5. Though the events are very close to Vita Germani, there are no marked verbal
echoes; the tone of Vita Viviani is harsher than its model. Whereas the thief in Vita Germani is
unable to move, his counterpart in Vita Viviani wanders in circles all night; the change is perhaps
derived from Paulinus, Vita Ambrosii, 8 (Ambrose’s attempt to escape episcopal election; cf.
Vita Viviani, 3: another echo from Vita Ambrosii). The theft scene in Vita Germani is anecdotal,
loosely linked to the surrounding embassy narrative, but that of Vita Viviani has a somewhat
greater structural significance, as popular report of the saint’s mercy prompts his entr´ etothe
king’s court.
127
Constantius, Vita Germani, 1,cf. Vita Viviani, 2. Levison, ‘Bischof Germanus’, 144.
128
On this iniunctio: Goffart, Barbarians and Romans, 96.
145