Page 309 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Chronology of Constantius, Vita Germani

of which Patiens’ commission to Constantius to compose the Vita may have been
another contemporary expression. 33
Sid. Ap., Ep. viii, 15.1 provides a possible terminus ante quam for the publication
of Vita Germani. Prosperus, bishop of Orl´ eans, asked Sidonius to write an account of
Attila’s raid on Gaul, in order to praise the role played by Annianus, Prosperus’ prede-
cessor, in defending Orl´ eans. In politely declining the commission, Sidonius specifi-
cally compares Annianus with Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes: ‘you wish
that the holy Annianus, a great and consumate priest, the equal of Lupus and not
34
unequal to Germanus, be celebrated with the greatest praises’. This is the sole ref-
erence to Germanus in Sidonius’ letters, though the cult of St Germanus was active
35
in the Auvergne; Lupus, however, was a frequentcorrespondentof Sidonius. Ithas
been thought that this reference, in conjunction with the evidence of Vita Germani
that Lupus accompanied Germanus to Britain, attests a close association between
Germanus and Lupus during their life. 36 The context of Sidonius’ reference, how-
ever, could suggest another explanation: Sidonius might have mentioned Lupus and
Germanus because they were two bishops whose lives had already been ‘celebrated’,
in vitae circulating within Sidonius’ circle. As such, the vitae would be available lit-
erary models, showing bishops of a previous generation as community leaders in
quasi-historical narratives. Sidonius’ reference is too elusive to permit a definitive
interpretation; but, if his allusion is not to written texts, it is difficult to explain
why he should choose these two bishops specifically as yardsticks for comparison.
If Sidonius had read the Vitae of Germanus and of Lupus, then Constantius must
have written Vita Germani before the publication of Sidonius’ penultimate book of
letters, in the late 470s. 37

33
Victorius: Gregory of Tours. Hist. ii, 20; PLRE ii, ‘Victorius 4’, 1162–4. Levison, Introduction
to Vita Germani, 230; Harries, Sidonius Apollinaris, 122.
34
Sid. Ap., Ep. viii, 15.1: laudibus summis sanctum Annianum,maximum consummatissimumque pontif-
icem,Lupo parem Germanoque non imparem,vis celebrari.
35
Sid. Ap., Epp. vi, 1, 4, 9; ix, 11; mentioned iv, 17.3; vii, 13.1; viii, 14.2, 15.1; Carm. xvi, 111.
36
Chadwick, Poetry and Letters, 258–9; cf. Mathisen, ‘Hilarius, Germanus, and Lupus’, 163–4.
37
Date of publication of Sidonius’ letters: Harries, Sidonius, 7–9.

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