Sidonius Apollinaris, Selected Letters: 146 Epistulae

Judith Hindermann (University of Basel)

Ed. by Elodie Paillard, University of Sydney
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication 469 - 483

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Letter(s)

Resources

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The collection of letters by the late antique Gaul author and bishop Sidonius Apollinaris (5. Nov. 429/432–486?) closely follows the tradition of ancient epistolography, the art of writing letters. Sidonius refers to his predecessors Quintus Symmachus, Pliny the Younger, Cicero and Fronto in his programmatic letter 1.1.1. Following the ancient epistolary ideal (see Demetr.

Eloc.

231) most of Sidonius’ letters deal with only one topic (see about this rule Sidon.

Ep.

7.18.4). The letters are addressed to numerous addressees of different social rank (see Mathisen 2020) and are arranged in a carefully varied order. The nine books differ in their content.

In the first book (containing 11 letters), which deals with Sidonius’ life before he became bishop in the city of Clermont (situated in

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1254 words

Citation: Hindermann, Judith. "Selected Letters: 146 Epistulae". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 November 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=30112, accessed 08 May 2024.]

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