Category: Article

Stover & Woudhuysen and Sidonius in the HA

In a new article on ‘The Poet Nemesianus and the Historia Augusta‘, centred on onomastics in the Life of Carus (JRS 2022, open access), Justin Stover and George Woudhuysen, in passing (fn. 4), advocate some renewed confidence in the hypothesis that Sidonius Apollinaris is reflected in the HA:

‘The argument of Domaszewski (Die Personennamen bei den Scriptores historiae Augustae, Heidelberg, 1918: 19, here), that Aurelius Apollinaris was inspired by Sidonius Apollinaris, who did write about the deeds of Carus (Carm. 23.88–96), has been treated with greater contempt than it perhaps deserves’.

Furbetta on Letter Epigrams

Luciana Furbetta contributed ‘L’usage des procédés rhétoriques et leur fonction communicative dans l’épigramme latine: l’“épigramme lettre” comme cas d’étude’ to Florence Garambois-Vasquez and Daniel Vallat (eds), Stylistique et poétique de l’épigramme latine. Nouvelles études, Lyon: MOM, 2022, 181-201. Examples are drawn from Ausonius, Sidonius (Carm. 17 and 20) and Venantius Fortunatus.

The publication is freely accessible on OpenEdition

Formisano on Carmen 1

Marco Formisano, in ‘The King Listens: Origins, Noises, and Panegyric in Sidonius Apollinaris’ Carmen 1’ (Arethusa 54 (2021) 275-90), contends “that the opening position of Carmen 1 is relevant, not only to its own interpretation, but also to the interpretation of the subsequent panegyric and to Sidonius’s poetry as a whole”. “Noise” precedes “meaning” in poetry, and in panegyric above all.

Go to this issue of Arethusa.

Van Waarden and Symmachus’ ‘You and I’

Joop van Waarden has published the second part of his series on ‘You and I’ in epistolary usage: ‘Symmachus and the Metamorphosis of “You and I” in Epistolary Usage’, in: Antonella Bruzzone, Alessandro Fo and Luigi Piacente (eds), Metamorfosi del Classico in età romanobarbarica, Nuova biblioteca di cultura romanobarbarica 2, Florence: Sismel–Galluzzo, 2021, 145-61.

Info volume here

The first, and central, part of this series is chapter 13 in the Sidonius Companion: ‘“You” and “I” in Sidonius’ Correspondence’ (pp. 418-39). The third part is to follow soon: ‘A Gentleman Weighs His “You” and “I”: Inclusion in the Letters of Faustus, Mamertus Claudianus, Ruricius, Avitus and Ennodius’, in: Veronika Egetenmeyr and Tabea L. Meurer (eds), Gallia docta? Learning and Its Limitations in Late Antique Gaul. Proceedings of the International Conference Greifswald, 17.03.2021 – 20.03.2021, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

Kelly Edits Paratexts

Gavin Kelly has put out the first ever edition of the paratexts of Sidonius’ panegyrics and carmina minora: ‘Titles and Paratexts in the Collection of Sidonius’ Poems’, in: Antonella Bruzzone, Alessandro Fo and Luigi Piacente (eds), Metamorfosi del Classico in età romanobarbarica, Nuova biblioteca di cultura romanobarbarica 2, Florence: Sismel–Galluzzo, 2021, 77-97.

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NOVELTY: Sirmond Travels to Rome

Gavin Kelly discovered a forgotten poem by Jacques Sirmond in a 1993 article.

Sidonius’ editor Jacques Sirmond (1559-1651), when still a young man, was summoned to Rome by the general of the Jesuit order to serve as his secretary. He describes his arduous voyage from Paris to Rome (August-December 1590) in a Hodoeporicum that is clearly reminiscent of Rutilius’ De reditu suo and, above all, Sidonius’ letter 1.5 with the description of his voyage from Lyon to Rome.

Find this article on JSTOR: ‘L’Hodoeporicum de Jacques Sirmond, S.J.: Journal poétique d’un voyage de Paris à Rome en 1590′, Humanistica Lovaniensia 42 (1993) 301-22, or download the 1993 instalment of the journal in open access.

Bedon on Sidonius’ Travels

Just out: Robert Bedon, ‘Présence, rôles et aspects des voyages de Sidoine Apollinaire et de ses relations dans la vie et l’œuvre de cet auteur’, Vita Latina 202 (2022).

Earlier relevant publications by Robert Bedon:

Rus amoenum: les agréments de la vie rurale en Gaule romaine et dans les régions voisines (ed.), Caesarodunum 37–38, Limoges, 2004.

‘Les auteurs latins et le voyage thérapeutique: à la recherche d’une nature bienfaisante’, in: Christine de Buzon and Odile Richard-Pauchet (eds), Le corps et l’esprit en voyage: le voyage thérapeutique, Paris: Garnier, 2012, 17-44.

‘Les glaces de la Loire et le séjour en Touraine d’un futur empereur romain dans l’œuvre d’un écrivain gaulois du Ve siècle de notre ère’, Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Touraine 27 (2014) 17-33.

‘Le séjour et les actions d’un futur empereur romain au bord de la Loire prise par les glaces (Sidoine Apollinaire, Carmina V, 206-211’, RIPARIA 2 (2016) 93-113.

‘L’accès des femmes aux livres et aux bibliothèques familiales en Gaule romaine’, La Revue de la BNU 14 (2016) 26-35.