Introduction

Summary

Iohannes, a friend of Sidonius, needs Petronius’ help in a complicated lawsuit. Sidonius asks the lawyer Petronius to help Iohannes find a good strategy.

Addressee

Petronius is a noble lawyer and vir illustris (for this title see the commentary on Ep. 2.4.1 Vir clarissimus Proiectus…) from Arles. He is one of two addressees who received three letters (2.5, 5.1, 8.1); Mathisen (2020a) 41. Petronius, moreover, is a central figure for Sidonius’ letter collection, for it was at his suggestion that Sidonius compiled and published his eighth letter book; see Ep. 8.1.1 scrinia Arverna petis eventilari (‘you want to shake my Avernian book cases’). He is also mentioned in Ep. 1.7.4, 8.16.1, 8.16.3. In Ep. 2.5 and 5.1 Sidonius asks him for legal advice. Together with Tonantius Ferreolus and Thaumastus, Petronius was one of the three Romans from Gaul who were sent to Rome in 468/9 to charge Arvandus for treasonous collusion with the Visigothic court; see Ep. 1.7.4–5. As praefectus urbi Sidonius was responsible for the judicial process, but he disappeared from Rome before the trial. Sidonius’ sympathy for Arvandus made him unpopular among his fellows, including Magnus Felix (see Ep. 2.3); Stevens (1933) 103–7, Köhler (1995) 229–32, Mathisen (1998), Delaplace (2015) 241–6, Kelly (2020a) 179–80, 192, Mathisen (2020a) 53, 82, 95–6, 113, 123, van Waarden (2020a) 27.

For Petronius’ biography, see PLRE 2, 863–64, PCBE 4, 1475–6, Kaufmann (1995) 333–4, Köhler (1995) 240, Liebs (2002) 50–2, Overwien (2009a) 94–6, Mathisen (2020a) 113.

Date

Loyen (1970a) 57, 247 n. 5 suggests the year 69, which I find unlikely in view of the Arvandus case, which led to a rift between Sidonius and his friends; see immediately above, on the addressee, Petronius. A date before 468/9, specifically between the years 461 and 467 (PLRE 2, 863), seems more likely. On the general difficulty of dating Sidonius’ letters, see the Introduction, ‘2. The date and order of letters in Book 2’.

Major themes and further reading

Like the previous letter (2.4), this one belongs to the many letters of recommendation in Sidonius’ collection; see the introduction to Ep. 2.4. Whereas in Ep. 2.4 the occasion for the letter is a matchmaking, here it is the plea for help in a lawsuit.