Sidonius Apollinaris Ep. II.2.: The Man and his Villa

Abstract

The article discusses Sidonius Apollinaris' Epistula II.2, a fifth-century letter on Sidonius’ Gallic villa, Avitacum. In the course of the argument, a detailed discussion, combined with a translation of the letter, aims to explain how Sidonius used the villa, combined with literary motifs, especially Pliny the Younger’s letters on his villae, and a topos of modesty, to present himself as a man of culture and refinement. The villa and the letter are then discussed within the framework of late antique elite behaviour, signaling the differences in Sidonius’ letter when compared with Pliny and using these differences to identify late-antique markers of self- perception.