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family and friendship in the west 421
anything is known. 38 It is perhaps significant that Ennodius does not name
the parents of his nephew Parthenius, since the boy’s mother seems to have
married below her social station. 39 Marriage within a confined social group
seems to have continued to be the norm among the aristocracy for much
of the sixth century. It is clear that both sides of Gregory of Tours’ family
were of the same status, and that he held his maternal and paternal relatives
in equal regard. Among the clerics he revered in his family were a paternal
uncle, Gallus of Clermont, 40 and a maternal uncle, Nicetius of Lyons, 41
each of whom was partially responsible for his upbringing. 42 Gregory, who
was encouraged to write by his mother, 43 offers a very even coverage of
both sides of his family in his Ten Books of Histories, and in his hagiography.
44
Gregory provides evidence for numerous generations of his family,
theoretically going as far back, in one case, as the second century. 45 The
letter collections of the fifth and sixth century are not so wide-ranging in
their chronological coverage, although they perhaps give more intimate
insights into attitudes towards the family. Sidonius’ comment on the paternal
and maternal kin of Aper might be seen as something of a rhetorical
flourish. Not so his outburst after some peasants had accidentally disturbed
his paternal grandfather’s grave, which led him to horsewhip them, and
then to consider setting up a proper monument. 46 On his own parents he
is remarkably silent, more so than on his father-in-law, although this may
say more about power and patronage than about family structures, since
Avitus was not only Sidonius’ father-in-law but also, briefly, emperor, and
as such, inevitably, Sidonius’ patron. 47 More intimate are Sidonius’ letters
to and about his son Apollinaris, which describe his attempts to provide
him with a literary education, teaching him Terence, and which lament his
failure. 48 These are all the more interesting because the letter collections of
Ruricius and Avitus of Vienne reveal Apollinaris as an arbiter of taste in
the next generation, 49 suggesting that some of Sidonius’ lessons ultimately
did bear fruit.
For Avitus of Vienne, Sidonius, probably his maternal uncle, was Sidonius
meus. 50 For Ruricius of Limoges Sidonius was a more distant relative, 51 but
38 Stroheker (1948); Wood (1992) 10–11.
39 Ennodius xciv, ed. F. Vogel, MGH, AA 7 (Berlin 1885). 40 Greg. Tur. Liber Vitae Patrum vi.
41 Greg. Tur. Liber Vitae Patrum viii. 42 Van Dam (1993) 52–62.
43 Greg. Tur. Liber de Virtutibus sancti Martini i pref., ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM 1 (2); Greg. Tur. Hist.
pref., ed. B. Krusch and W. Levison, MGH, SRM 1 (Hanover 1951). 44 Van Dam (1993) 50–81.
45 On Vettius Epagathus, Greg. Tur. Hist. i.29, 31. On his relationship with Gregory’s family, Greg.
Tur. Liber Vitae Patrum vi.1. 46 Sid. Ap. Ep. 3.12; Wood (1996). 47 Harries (1994) 31.
48 Sid. Ap. Epp. 4.12.1; 9.1.5. On the significance of literature for the Gallo-Roman aristocracy of
the fifth and sixth century, Mathisen (1993) 105–18.
49 Ruricius, Epp. 2.26.41, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, AA 8 (Berlin 1887); Avitus, Ep. 51, ed. R. Peiper,
MGH, AA 6 (2) (Berlin 1883). 50 Avitus, Ep. 51. On the relationship, Mathisen (1981) 97–100.
51 On the relationship, Mathisen (1981) 101–3; Stroheker (1948) 209–10.
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