Kenney_and_Clausen B.M.W.(eds.) - Get a Free Blog

POETRY
of date, and it is clear that the letters are not arranged in chronological order.
Books 2-7 were probably published in 477, Book 8 in 479, Book 9 in 482.
Apart from these indications each letter has to be dated by internal evidence.
Sidonius' style, both in verse and in prose, is inflated and precious, full of
word-plays, complex figures of speech, mythological and historical allusions,
to which is added biblical imagery in the letters written after his assumption
of the bishopric. He is a man of considerable learning, though he not infrequently
gets things wrong. For him, as for the other aristocrats who compose
his world, literary culture is the outward and living sign of his Romanity, which
he sees threatened by a tidal wave of barbarism. Yet like other members of his
class he is ready to come to terms with the new rulers in the hope of retaining
somediing of his economic and social position. He praises one of his friends
for his perfect knowledge of Gothic. His entry into the church was the only
way out of his dilemma. As a bishop he was the defender of a culture in which
the Goths too, Arians though they were, could share. And he was able to
continue the role of paternalistic leadership which his family had exercised in
his province for generations. His prestige and influence in Romania and Gothia
alike were immense. Today he is of interest primarily as a priceless historical
source. Few would read Sidonius for his literary merit. Yet behind his often
absurd preciosity lies a real talent for description and narrative. His descriptions
of the Visigoths (Epist. 1.2, poem 23, Epist. 5.12, 6.6, 33, 8.9), the Burgundians
(poem 12), the Franks (poem ^.2^7^; Epist. 4.20), the Saxons (Epist. 86)
and the Huns (poem 2.243ft".) show sharp observation which goes beyond die
commonplaces of the genre. His account of the 'satire' of Aries (Epist.i.11),
of the trial of Arvandus (Epist. 1.7), of the adventures of the reader Amantius
(Epist.7.2) show him a superb raconteur.
For all his limitations — and he scarcely seems to have noticed Romans
who did not belong to his own class - Sidonius is an attractive character and
on occasion an attractive writer. We know that he lived through the decline
and fall of the western Roman empire. This was knowledge denied to him.
But he tried to keep his head in difficult circumstances, and in a large measure
succeeded.
Ausonius' grandson Paulinus of Pella had to face the same problems as
Sidonius, but with inferior resources both personal and material. Born at
Pella in Macedonia during the praetorian prefecture of his father Hesperius,
he was soon brought to Bordeaux where his education, in both Greek and
Latin, was supervised by Ausonius. For a number of years he lived the idle
life of a selfish aristocrat, a Sidonius without Sidonius' cultural interests. In
396 he married, without much enthusiasm, a rich heiress. This life of ease was
interrupted by the Gothic invasion of 406, when Bordeaux was sacked and
Paulinus lost much property. He left Bordeaux for the more defensible Bazas,
721
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008