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
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 31 October 2024.]