Page 269 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Negotium agendum

this period covered winter, when sailing conditions were difficult though
not altogether suspended. 95

Patrons,friends,and lovers
Sidonius’ hostin Rome provided notonly accommodation butalso aid
in seeking a powerful patron from among the leading senators, who
could aid Sidonius’ mission on behalf of his province, as well as advance
Sidonius’ personal interests. Local patronage for envoys to Rome had an
96
ancient tradition. Ennodius’ letters reveal him actively pursuing support
97
at Ravenna for projected embassies to court. Local patronage, particu-
larly by senior members of a ruler’s consistorium, could determine the fate
of the issue at hand; Theoderic’s support for Symmachus in the disputed
papal election of the early 500s was attributed by the disgruntled losers to
bribery of his courtofficials. 98 The episcopacy provided a valuable net-
work: Epiphanius received assistance in the form of local advice, if not
actual advocacy at court, in Lyons from the Catholic bishop Rusticius,
and had contacts at Ravenna; Pope Hormisdas suggested to his envoys
to Constantinople that supportive locals could help win their case. 99 As
with patronage relations in other contexts, the cult of saints annexed this
function, at least in literary representations. 100
Residence in the city of an envoy’s destination gave the opportunity
to strike up new friendships, later maintained by exchanges of letters. 101
Ennodius metLaconius, a palatine official of Gundobad, in Lyons and

95 Procopius, Wars vi, 6.33, 7.13–15, 22.22; for date: PLRE iii, 201. Cf. Procopius, Wars vii, 37.17,
39.25, 29: a similar agreement, but apparently over the summer; Liber pont., 61: Pope Vigilius
is arrested in Rome on 22 November, and arrives at Constantinople on 24 December, having
stopped en route at Catina in Sicily long enough to perform December ordinations there. Winter
sailing conditions: Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris, ed. C. Lang (Stuttgart, 1872), iv, 39; Duncan-
Jones, Structure and Scale, 20, 25 and references atnn. 33–4; McCormick, Origins of the European
Economy, 458–64.
96 Sid. Ap., Ep. i, line 5. E. Badian, Foreign Clientelae (264–70 BC) (Oxford, 1958), esp. 154–67.
97
Moorhead, Theoderic, 156–8.
98
Symmachus: Fragmentum Laurentianum (Liber pont.), 52. Cf. Malchus, Fr., 15 (Theoderic in
Thrace believes he has the support of high officials within Constantinople); Fredegar, Chron.
iv, 45 (Lombard envoys succeed in terminating tribute to the Frankish kings through bribes to
three mayors of the palace).
99
Epiphanius: Ennodius, Vita Epiphani, 151 (Lyons); 190 (Ravenna). Hormisdas: Collectio Avellana,
116.4.
100
E.g. Vita Viviani, 5 (Vivianus seeks patrocinium of StSaturninus of Toulouse); Gregory of Tours,
Hist. viii, 6 (Gregory as envoy of St Martin to king Guntram: a domino meo in legatione ad te
directus sum). Patronage and cult of saints: Brown, Cult of the Saints, 55–68.
101
For an insightful account of the interrelationships between duty and personal relations in a
comparable function, the carrying of private letters: Conybeare, Paulinus Noster, 31–40: ‘The
carrier’s message therefore ends up consisting partly in his entire comportment while he stays
with the correspondent’ (38).
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