Page 262 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Envoys and Political Communication,411–533

western generals, either imperial or Gothic; some are dispatched by the
senior general in the field, notably Aetius, others by their imperial or royal
court. 57 Eastern generals appear as envoys in the classicising historians,
and the Merovingian kings of late sixth-century Gaul also dispatched
duces and military comites on embassies. 58 The western kings could also
employ a further class of representative: their own royal heirs. In 515/16,
the Burgundian king Gundobad sent his son Sigismund, patricius and rex,
to the emperor Anastasius in Constantinople officio legationis. The aim
of the journey was perhaps to secure imperial support for Sigismund to
succeed his father in ruling southern Gaul; the unspecified official title
conferred on Sigismund in Constantinople may have been the token
of recognition. Gundobad had earlier employed Sigismund on domestic
legations. 59
The commissioning of provincial and palatine embassies differed sig-
nificantly. Provincial embassies were appointed publicly, at municipal
or other councils, where the matter of the legation was discussed and
its members elected. 60 Palatine embassies presumably could arise from
discussions in the consistorium, and could be dispatched with attendant
publicity if it suited the court’s purposes. The only accounts of the com-
missioning of legations dispatched by rulers, however, stress the secrecy

57 Chapter 2, Table 2, nos. 3, 5, 6 (the comes Censorius and Fretimund, dispatched by the magister
utriusque militiae Aetius); 7 (the comes Hispaniarum Mansuetus and the comes Fronto; whether they
were sent by the imperial court or by Aetius is unclear); 10 (the comes Fronto, sent by the emperor
Avitus in Rome); 16 (envoys sentby the magister utriusque militiae Nepotian and the comes Suneric);
25 (the general Cyrila sent by Theoderic II). Avitus as magister utriusque militiae approached the
Goths in 455, allegedly as legatus;Sid.Ap., Carm. vii, 402.
58 For the East: Blockley, East Roman Foreign Policy, 134 and 239 n. 27. Gaul: Gregory of Tours, Hist.
vii, 10 (Ragnovald); vii, 14; vii, 36 (Guntram Boso); vii, 14 (Sigisvald, cf. PLRE iii, ‘Sigisvaldus
3’, 1150–1); possibly ix, 2 (Bodegisel, brother of the dux Bobo); possibly Fredegar, Chron. iv, 30
(Rocco; cf. PLRE iii, 1088).
59 Avitus of Vienne, Ep., 9. Conferral of title: Avitus, Ep., 78; PLRE ii, 1109 (perhaps magister
utriusque militiae; both Sigismund’s father Gundobad and his grandfather Gundioc held this title
while kings of the Burgundians). Imperial support for succession: cf. Priscus, Fr., 20.1 (Frankish
prince secures support for succession from Valentinian III and Aetius); Cass., Variae viii, 1.3 with
Moorhead, Theoderic, 213 (apparent acceptance of Eutharic as successor to Theoderic of Italy
by the emperor Justin, indicated by sharing of consulate and adoption-in-arms, though unlike
Sigismund and the Frankish prince, Eutharic clearly did not travel to the imperial court to secure
recognition; Cass., Variae viii, 1.3).
Internal embassy: Avitus, Ep., 38 (to Vienne), though note that he met there the maior domus
of the deacon and doctor Helpidius, who had ties to the court of Theoderic in Italy (PLRE ii,
‘Helpidius 6’, 537).
60
Sid. Ap., Carm. vii, 336–8 (Avitus selected by a Gallic provincial council); Ep. i, 9.5 (Sidonius
acting for the Arverne); Ep. v, 20 (selection of an envoy by an unspecified council, presumably of
the civitas of Clermont); Epp. vii, 6.10, 7.4 (a southern Gallic assembly, including bishops, with
involvement in embassies from the western emperor); Hydatius, Chron., 96, 239 [86, 235]and cf.
chapter 2 atnn. 75–83; Constantius, Vita Germani, 19 (Germanus elected by civitas); Ennodius,
Vita Epiphani, 53–8, 81–2 (Epiphanius selected by council of Liguria).
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