2 - The Development of the Visigothic Court in the Hagiography of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries

Summary

Abstract

Discussions of the Visigothic court have tended to concentrate on the reforms brought in by Leovigild. For the previous century and a half, we do have some evidence in the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris, and in various hagiographic accounts, notably the Lives of Orientius of Auch, Bibianus of Saintes, and Epiphanius of Pavia. These highlight the importance of formal dining (the convivium), and they also imply that royal banquets followed the traditions of aristocratic dining, rather than any elaborate ceremonial. The archaeology of late Roman villas gives us some insight into the reality of the convivium.

Keywords: convivium; Sidonius Apollinaris; Euric; Theodoric II; Vita Orientii; Vita Bibiani

An obvious point of departure when considering Byzantium and the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse is the reign of Leovigild (568–586). In Edward Thompson's words, Leovigild ‘dressed himself “in royal raiment and seated himself upon a throne”. Hitherto the kings had worn much the same dress as their subjects, and had been accessible to all, like the old Germanic chieftains. But Leovigild surrounded the throne with something of Byzantine pomp, though the details of what he did are not recorded.’ The reign of Leovigild, however, will be my end point. I am interested in what the Visigothic court was like before Leovigild's reforms. This will take us to Toulouse rather than Toledo, and to the courts of western emperors rather than Byzantium. It will not take us to the dress of ‘old Germanic chieftains’.

Our image of the Visigothic court in the fifth century is largely derived from Sidonius's accounts of the courts of Theodoric II and Euric. Certainly this is the most vivid material. But there are several small anecdotes and snippets of information that add to his. For the reign of Athaulf there is Orosius's story of the Narbonnensian familiarissimus of the king, in which we learn that the king decided not to overthrow the empire, but rather to support it with Gothic arms. The story is clearly symbolic, and we do not need to believe the detail, but there was a Roman coterie surrounding Athaulf, Galla Placidia, and Attalus, including the senator Paulinus of Pella, although his view of Athaulf's reign is very much less happy.