Papianilla (wife of Sidonius Apollinaris)

Papianilla (floruit 455 CE) was an aristocrat of Roman Gaul.[1] She was the daughter of future Western Roman Emperor Eparchius Avitus, and wife of bishop, author, and letter-writer Sidonius Apollinaris.[2][3]

Her father, Eparchius Avitus, rose from the Gallo-Roman senatorial aristocracy to become Western Roman Emperor from 455 CE to 456 CE.[4] Papianilla had two brothers, Agricola and Ecdicius, and possibly some sisters; she was related to another Papianilla (wife of the prefect Tonantius Ferreolus). The family lived in the Auvergne region.[3]

Before her father's rise to the throne (455), she married Sidonius Apollinaris, another aristocrat, who may have been a distant maternal relative.[3] The marriage was highly advantageous for Sidonius, making him part of the most powerful family in the region.[3][5] They had three or four children: Apollinaris, Severiana, Roscia and Alcima (the latter, mentioned only in Gregory of Tours and not in Sidonius' letters, being possibly another name for Severiana or Roscia). A number of Sidonius' letters were addressed to her.[5]

Papianilla brought her husband the estate called Avitacum[6] in Auvergne. Her husband gave away silver vessels from their home to the poor, but she criticised him so he bought them back.[7]

  1. ^ Hanaghan, M. P. (2019-02-14). Reading Sidonius' Epistles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-42921-4.
  2. ^ Watson, Lynette (1998-01-01), "Representing the Past, Redefining the Future: Sidonius Apollinaris' panegyrics of Avitus and Anthemius", The Propaganda of Power, Brill, pp. 177–198, ISBN 978-90-04-35147-9, retrieved 2024-06-28
  3. ^ a b c d Waarden, Joop van (2016-03-07), "Sidonius Apollinaris", Oxford Classical Dictionary, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.5917, ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5, retrieved 2024-06-28
  4. ^ Mathisen, Ralph W. (1981). "Epistolography, Literary Circles and Family Ties in Late Roman Gaul". Transactions of the American Philological Association. 111: 95–109. doi:10.2307/284122. ISSN 0360-5949. JSTOR 284122.
  5. ^ a b Kelly, Gavin (2020-03-18). Edinburgh Companion to Sidonius Apollinaris. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-6170-2.
  6. ^ Located at 45°39′42″N 2°58′45″E / 45.661604°N 2.979076°E / 45.661604; 2.979076 (Avitacum)
  7. ^ Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II, 22