Page 172 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Envoys and Political Communication,411–533

story above. Rumour of this benevolence catches the attention of the
king, who invites Vivianus to his convivium. There, the king orders the
bishops present to drink to him, but Vivianus, seeing the ceremony as
communion, refuses, because Theoderic is a heretic and a layman. The
king is enraged, butthe following night, which Vivianus spends in prayer,
the king receives a terrifying vision which prompts him to seek the
bishop’s forgiveness. He consequently agrees to Vivianus’ petition for the
release of the captive citizens of Saintes. 129
Like Vita Orientii, Vita Viviani borrows from both Sulpicius’ Vita Mar-
tini and Constantius’ Vita Germani to construct this narrative. Vivianus,
like Martin and Orientius, is invited to a ruler’s convivium where he finds
himself in a threatening situation. Vita Viviani reuses two further elements
from Sulpicius’ Vita Martini, notused in Vita Orientii: the ceremonial cup,
the use of which insults the ruler; and comparison between the saint and
other bishops in attendance at court, pliant to the king’s wishes. The
author’s borrowings from Constantius’ Vita Germani are more structural.
Like Vita Orientii, the embassy narrative is isolated from other incidents
in the work; but the author has followed Constantius in developing his
account of the stages of the embassy. After a lengthy account of the
circumstances necessitating the voyage, the author imitates Constantius’
description of incidents en route in Germanus’ travels: the saint’s journey
is the opportunity for both a miracle account (the theft of the oxen, imi-
tating the theft of Germanus’ horse as he travelled to Arles), and for the
saint to visit the tomb of a martyr (Germanus at the tomb of St Alban
in Britain; Vivianus at the tomb of St Saturninus in Toulouse). 130 The
narrative then moves to the dramatic confrontation, using motifs from
Sulpicius’ Vita Martini. In the concluding sentence of the scene, Vivianus
returns with his freed fellow citizens to his patria and church, bearing
gifts given to him by the king. This jubilant return echoes the tri-
umphal conclusions of several of Germanus’ journeys. 131 Vita Viviani
also uses lesser motifs from Vita Germani to embellish the embassy narra-
tive: like Germanus (and Orientius), Vivianus is old when he undertakes
his journey, and uses ‘humble’ transport. 132

129
Vita Viviani, 4–6. For brief discussion on the status of the bishops at the convivium: Ralph W.
Mathisen, ‘Barbarian Bishops and the Churches in barbaricis gentibus during Late Antiquity’,
Speculum 72 (1997), 681 n. 111.
130
Journey as opportunity for miracles: cf. Constantius, Vita Germani, 20: etiam eius iter clarum fuisse
virtutibus (theft of horse). Martyrs: ibid., 16; Vita Viviani, 5.
131
Vita Viviani, 6: Et cum magnis opibus,ab eodem qui auferre cupiebat rebus plurimus muneratus,reduxit
patriae incolomes cives,et sic virtutibus clarum recepit ecclesia sacerdotem. Cf. Constantius, Vita Germani,
19, 24 fin.
132
Vita Viviani, 4: confractus senio; carri vehiculum quamvis altus mente,humilis habitu perquisivit.Cf.
Constantius, Vita Germani, 28: senex; 19: contentus parvissimo comitatu et exigua evectione.
146