New Approaches to Sidonius Apollinaris

With Indices on Helga Köhler, C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius: BriefeBuch I

Edited by J.A. van Waarden Edited by G. Kelly

Book cover: New Approaches to Sidonius Apollinaris

Extent: 411 pages

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Subjects: Classical Studies, Literary Studies

Series: Late Antique History and Religion

Series volume number: 7

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(July 2013)

ISBN: 9789042929289

Price: $112.00

Out of stock

Sidonius Apollinaris is a central figure in the literature and history of fifth-century Gaul. But he still awaits sustained debate in modern scholarship. This integrated and international collection of essays explores the potential for a complete commentary on his works, starting with a retrospective on Sidonius scholarship up to the present, and then focusing in turn on his verse and his prose. The strangeness of his poetry triggers a critical contemporary assessment and a proposal for better understanding through the theory of Cultural Memory; there follow case studies of the panegyrics and of poems within the letters, and examinations of his intertextuality with Horace and Claudian. Research into Sidonius’ prose is represented by two contrasting essays on the composition of the letter collection, by a demonstration of how Sidonius constructs history to create contemporary identity, and by a groundbreaking chapter applying text linguistics to the letters.


Sidonius Apollinaris is a central figure in the literature and history of fifth-century Gaul. But he still awaits sustained debate in modern scholarship. This integrated and international collection of essays explores the potential for a complete commentary on his works, starting with a retrospective on Sidonius scholarship up to the present, and then focusing in turn on his verse and his prose. The strangeness of his poetry triggers a critical contemporary assessment and a proposal for better understanding through the theory of Cultural Memory; there follow case studies of the panegyrics and of poems within the letters, and examinations of his intertextuality with Horace and Claudian. Research into Sidonius’ prose is represented by two contrasting essays on the composition of the letter collection, by a demonstration of how Sidonius constructs history to create contemporary identity, and by a groundbreaking chapter applying text linguistics to the letters. An appendix fills a significant scholarly lacuna with Helga Kohler’s indices to her commentary on Letters, Book 1 (Heidelberg, 1995). The present volume will be important for both literary and historical scholars of the late Roman world, for both Classicists and Medievalists.

  • Edited by J.A. van Waarden
  • Edited by G. Kelly

"...this is a stimulating book." -- Paolo Mastandrea, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2014.05.42
—