“Catilina Saeculi Nostri”: Sidonius Apollinaris’ Letters about Seronatus

Abstract

This research contains an introductory article, translation, and commentary on two letters of Sidonius Apollinaris, a Gallo-Roman nobleman and bishop. The basic principle of the work is contextual analysis (analysis of the relationship between the historical situation and the conditions in which the source was written). It involves the study of letters with reference to authorship and the culture in which the text was created (hermeneutics). The author focuses on the general significance of the rhetorical tradition for the society of Late Antiquity, which was a vehicle for maintaining the identity of the Gallo-Roman nobility. The author briefly describes the historical context of the events when the letters were written. Additionally, the article describes scholars’ opinions about Seronatus, the main character of the epistles. This work is devoted to a translation of the first letter of the second book, addressed to Ecdicius, a kinsman of Sidonius, and the thirteenth letter of the fifth book sent to Pannychius, an acquaintance of Sidonius Apollinaris’ and a like-minded person. The epistles describe the events that took place in Gaul during the 460s–470s AD. The plot is built around the image and activity of Seronatus, a statesman who took the side of the barbarians in the state of a crisis of the imperial administration and was not trying to hide his position. Due to this reason, Sidonius named Seronatus a “Catilina of our age”. Using the images of Seronatus and Sidonius, we get an idea of two ways of building a career in Late Antiquity in the context of weakness of the imperial administration, i.e. in the service at the barbarians or in the Church. However, Seronatus held an official post in the imperial administration; therefore, all his relations with the barbarians were perceived as direct betrayal of the interests of the Romans.