Page 306 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Appendix i

10
authority. There is some external corroboration for the anniversary dates given by
11
the Kal. Autiss., but none for the length of Germanus’ episcopate. Testimony for the
latter is late; the Vetus missale Gallicanus provides only the most formalised presentation
of Germanus’ episcopate, and in the Gesta episc. Autiss., a striking number of early
bishops of Auxerre are recorded as having thirty-year episcopates. 12 Moreover, the
Gesta episc. Autiss. is not internally consistent, and fails to coordinate the episcopates
of Germanus and his predecessor Amator. 13
The only dates which can be adduced for Germanus’ journeys are Prosper’s refer-
ence to the trip to Britain in 429, and inscription evidence for Auxiliaris in office as
praetorian prefect of Gaul 435/7. 14 Auxiliaris’ known predecessor and successor in
office are attested for July 425 and 439, butitis likely thatAuxiliaris was praetorian
prefectuntil 439, and therefore most improbable that he was in office in the 420sor
early 430s. 15 Constantius falsely makes Germanus’ trip to Arles occur immediately
after the first trip to Britain. 16 He appears misleadingly to collapse in time all the
public events of Germanus’ career.
The reference to the patriciate of Sigisvult, for which there is no firm dating,
17
does nothelp date Germanus’ final mission. In any case, the reference need not be
chronologically accurate for the narrative setting; Constantius may well have used a
title of honour which the general acquired at a subsequent date, just as manuscript
headings often describe authors with all their known titles, not just those held at
the time of composition of the particular work which follows. Bagaudae unrest is
attested for the years 435, 437, and 448; the Armorican revolt in Vita Germani cannot
be firmly identified with any one of these, though Tibatto, named by Constantius as
18
leader of the Armorican revolt, is attested in the 435/7 disturbances. A final external
attestation of the chronology of Germanus’ career appears in the Chron. Gall. 452
under the year 433: ‘Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, was renowned for his miracles

10 Levison: Introduction to ‘Vita Germani’, 225, 226. The years 418–48 as episcopate: e.g. Borius,
Introduction to Vie de Germain, 44–5, 106; Heinzelmann, ‘Studia sanctorum’, 112 § 1; PLRE ii,
‘Tibatto’, 1119. Critique: Mathisen, ‘Last Year’, 152–3 and n. 8.
11 Anniversary dates: Grosjean, ‘Le dernier voyage de S. Germain d’Auxerre’, 180–2.
12 I.e. the fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth bishops, including Germanus, his predecessor Amator,
and his successor Alodius. This round figure may be a hagiographic convention, or may reflect
actual commemorations of the thirtieth anniversaries of the bishops’ elevations, akin to imperial
tricennalia (cf. Ennodius, Dictio in natale Epiphani in annum tricensimum sacerdotii, title and line 154);
records of such celebrations perhaps served as a source of information for later archivists.
13
The Gesta episc. Autiss., 7,gives 1 May as the date of Amator’s death (cf. Kal. Autiss., 53 and Vita
Amatoris,c. 31) and states that Germanus was ordained thirty days afterwards, i.e. 31 May. But
Gesta episc. Autiss. also gives 31 July as the date of Germanus’ death (cf. Kal. Autiss., 98; Grosjean,
‘Le dernier voyage de S. Germain’, 180–1), and states that he was in office for thirty years and
twenty-five days, i.e. his episcopate must have begun on 7 July. Levison, Introduction to Vita
Germani, 226.
14 15
PLRE ii, ‘Auxiliaris 1’, 206. PLRE ii, 1246; Mathisen, ‘Last Year’, 151–2 n. 4.
16
Constantius, Vita Germani, 19 (reditu [sc. a Britannia] venerabilium sacerdotum . . . expectatio propriae
civitatis beatum Germanum . . . ambiebat). Levison, ‘Bischof Germanus von Auxerre’, 127.
17
Sigisvult: the only other attestation of this title is the forged Processus habitus circa Sixtum papam
III (Gesta de purgatione Xysti) in Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum v, 1061–70; on which: Liber pont. i,
cxxvi–cxxvii, 196. Barnes, ‘Patricii under Valentinian III’, 158–9, adduces evidence for Sigisvult’s
patriciate in 443.
18
Chron. Gall. 452, s.aa. 435, 437, 448.
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