Carmen VII of Sidonius and a Hitherto Unknown Gothic Civil War

In late spring of 455, the Gallic aristocrat Eparchius Avitus was sent to the Visigothic royal court at Toulouse by the new emperor Petronius Maximus on a mission of uncertain purpose. It has always been assumed that Avitus went to Toulouse to patch up the peace between the Goths and the empire. Most of what we know of this mission, however, comes from a panegyric delivered at Rome, by Avitus’ young son-in-law, Sidonius Apollinaris, on 1 January 456 on the occasion of Avitus’ assumption of the consulate. Sidonius’ audience had to be convinced that Avitus was neither a Gallic usurper nor the puppet of a barbarian ruler, for Avitus had become emperor with the backing of the Gothic king Theoderic II after news arrived at Toulouse of Maximus’ death in Rome. This study argues that the panegyric does not, in fact, document a conflict between the Goths and the empire in the months preceding Avitus’ election, but rather a civil war between the Gothic royal brothers Theoderic and Frederic.