5. Parisinus. (Bibl. Nat., Paris, 9551.) 12th-13th century. Known as F.
6. Parisinus. Bibl. Nat., Paris, 2781.) 10th-11th century. Known as P.
Of these, the first is the most valuable, with the two related, manuscripts in Paris and at the Vatican, and with M and T for use where it fails; the other three are of subsidiary importance. It may be noted that certain lacunae are common to all; this would seem to indicate that they had a single archetype, which in these places presented difficulties to the copyist or had perhaps been damaged by fire.
Printed editions of Sidonius begin with the last quarter of the fifteenth century, at which period one was issued from Utrecht and another from Milan, the latter being reprinted at Basel in 1542 and 1595. E. Vinet's edition appeared at Lyons in 1552, and Wouweren's in Paris in 1598. The same year saw Savaron's first edition; his second (the first of critical value) followed in 1609. J. Sirmond's valuable edition, with notes from which every one has something to learn, was issued in 1614; Elmenhorst's five years later. Complete translations have hitherto appeared only in French; the first, by R. Breyer, Canon of Troyes, was printed in 1706; that of |cliii E. Billarden de Sauvigny in 1787 and 1792; Grégoire and Collombet's version dates from 1836. The last-mentioned work has often been criticized for inaccuracy, but it is not for one who knows by experience the difficulties of their task to join in censure upon this point. Single Letters, or parts of Letters, are summarized or translated by many writers on Sidonius or his age.
The arrangement of the Letters in nine books is, as far as is known, that of Sidonius himself. Seven books were issued at different times at the request of Constantius, the first appearing in 478. The Poems had already seen the light, perhaps as early as 468 (see above, p. cxli). The eighth book was added at the request of Petronius the jurisconsult of Arles (VIII. i), and the ninth at that of Firminius (IX. i), perhaps about the year 484. It soon becomes apparent to any reader familiar with the history of the times, that the order of the Letters is not chronological; most books contain Letters from the earlier and later parts of Sidonius' life; and within the limits of the several books the arrangement often seems capricious, Letters logically and historically connected being separated by others unrelated to them in subject. This confusion is partly due to the fact that, to complete his tale of nine books, Sidonius had to ransack all his drawers |cliv and cases at Clermont for drafts of letters written long years before: this explains the inclusion in the two last books of Letters referring to his early manhood. But it is also true that in preparing for publication he was not primarily concerned with chronological sequence; he brought his letters together for other reasons, by associations of idea which to us are often obscure. One of them probably was to ensure to each book a wide variety of subject, that his readers might not accuse him of monotony. Again, he regarded it as an advantage of the collection of Letters as such that it is essentially discontinuous, and provides reading for odd moments: from this point of view, lack of logical order is not of prime importance. It has before now been suggested that the author's arrangement should be disregarded, and that an edition should be issued with every letter in its proper order. If it were possible to give a precise and certain date to the majority of the letters, the overriding of the order approved by Sidonius might be justified on utilitarian grounds. But although certain Letters date themselves by recounting known events, while the period of others can be inferred from personal or other allusions, there remains a large proportion to which nothing more than conjectural or approximate dates can be given. This being so, it is hardly justifiable to upset the sequence which received the author's sanction, and has been retained for fifteen hundred years. Moreover, the convenience gained in one direction would be lost in another; for the references to Sidonius in historical |clv and critical literature all follow the old system; and, were it changed, the reader, driven to consult a table of concordance at every turn, would soon wish the old order back. It has therefore seemed best to keep the nine books as they stand in the texts, placing at the head of each letter its certain or conjectural date wherever such can be reasonably assigned.
In many cases the year is exactly or approximately indicated by the contents. In others, a particular allusion, or the general tone, may enable us to infer the period: for instance, it is often possible to say with some confidence that a given letter must have been written before or after the entrance of Sidonius into the Church, or the abandonment of Auvergne by the empire. Again, there is a long interval of leisure in the author's career between A.D. 461 and 467, within which many letters descriptive of provincial life seem naturally to fall: a few of these might be transferred to the years between A.D. 456 and 459, though I have not actually suggested this. It will thus be seen that the date of the majority of letters can only be regarded as approximate.
[Footnotes have been renumbered and placed at the end]
1. Sidonius is the principal name, and by it he is properly designated. He himself ( Carm. ix) gives the order of his names as Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius. Caius is substituted for Apollinaris by Claudianus Mamertus in the dedication of the De Statu Animae. Modestus is derived from the MS. of the Abbey of Cluny, in which Savaron discovered the epitaph (see p. lii below); but our author himself does not mention it. The description 'Sidonius Apollinaris' dates from the thirteenth century, and became general through its adoption by Politian (Fertig, p. 5; Germain, pp. 178-80).
2. Mommsen (Praefatio, p. xlvii) gives the year of his birth as between 430 and 433. Hodgkin ( Italy and her Invaders, ii. 304) is in favour of about 430.
3. His father, whose name may have been Apollinaris, was a secretary of state under Honorius, and prefect in Gaul under Valentinian III in 448-9 (V. ix. 2). His grandfather, the first member of his family to be converted to Christianity (III. xii), was prefect in the time of the usurper Constantine (the 'Tyrant'), A. D. 408.
4. Among the connexions of Sidonius were Tonantius Ferreolus, Philagrius, Magnus and his sons Probus and Felix, Priscus, and Valerianus. For his pedigree, see Mommsen, Praefatio, p. xlvii.
5. Carm. xvi. 70 ff., where Faustus is thanked for the care bestowed on his education.
6. Agricola seems to have led a country life and taken no prominent part in affairs (II. xii).
7. In this display of personal courage he was but following the example of his father Avitus, who once challenged a Hun trooper to single combat, and slew him in the sight of two armies (Carm. vii. 246). Several allusions in the Letters present Ecdicius in the light of a lover of outdoor sports and physical prowess. He had other moral qualities besides courage; he rivalled Bishop Patiens in the generosity with which he relieved the distress of Auvergne after the Visigothic invasion (see below, p. xl), and is thought by some to have ultimately become a bishop.
8. Though a single letter is addressed to Papianilla, who is there praised as a good wife, she too remains a rather shadowy figure. The only actions attributed to her which at all suggest a personality are related by Gregory of Tours (see below, p. cxlviii).
9. Unless, as Mommsen has suggested, the three names all belong to a single person.
10. Apollinaris associated himself with Victorius whom Euric appointed governor of Auvergne, and accompanied him on his flight to Italy, where he almost shared his fate. From Milan he managed to effect his escape, and returned to Auvergne, where he was reconciled to his father, reformed his ways, and married Placidina (Ruricius, Ep. II. xxv; and cf. Chaix, ii. 289 ff.). Gregory of Tours in one place relates that in A. D. 507 he led the nobles of Auvergne at the battle of Vouglé or Vouillé near Poitiers, in which the forces of Alaric II were defeated by Clovis. In another place he mentions him as one of the successors of Sidonius in the see of Clermont, stating that he died four months after his election. The two passages are reconcilable, because Gregory never says, as some critics have assumed, that Apollinaris died at Vouillé, only that he was present at the battle (Gregory of Tours, De gloria martyrum , lxv; cf. Hist. Franc. II. xxxvii. Cf. also Chaix, ii. 379; L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme, p. 276).
11. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. III. ii. 12; De gloria martyrum, c. 64.
12. Among his teachers were Hoënius (Carm. ix. 313) and Eusebius (VI. i. 3); among the comrades of his youth, Probus, Avitus (III. i), Faustinus (III. iv), and Aquilus (V. ix).
13. Sidonius describes himself as always a great devotee of all games (on which see pp. cxi, cxii). He also rode, hawked, and hunted (IV. iv). Cf. Chaix, i. 69 ff.
14. The consistently eulogistic nature of the letter is sufficient indication that it was written with an ulterior purpose. We may compare Carm. xxiii. 70 ff.:
Martius ille rector atque
Magno patre prior, decus Getarum,
Romanae columen salusque gentis
Theudoricus . . .