Siburius

Siburius, for whom only the single name survives, was among several Gauls who rose to political prominence in the Roman empire during the 4th century A.D. In early 376 he was "magister officiorum" under the emperor Gratian. The appointment of Gratian's Bordelaise tutor Ausonius to high office resulted in the elevation of many of his Gallic friends; [Hagith Sivan, "Ausonius of Bordeaux: Genesis of a Gallic Aristocracy" (London: Routledge, 1993), p. 134, and p. 210, note 36.] Siburius succeeded Ausonius as "praefectus praetorio Galliarum" (praetorian prefect of Gaul) sometime before December 3, 379. ["Codex Theodosianus" XI.31.7; A.H.M. Jones, “Collegiate Prefectures,” "Journal of Roman Studies" 54 (1964), p. 84; Andrea Pellizzari, "Commento storico al libro III dell'Epistolario di Q. Aurelio Simmaco" (Pisa 1998), p. 156.]

Like Ausonius, Siburius came from Bordeaux. The medical writer Marcellus, their countryman, places Siburius in the company of the historian Eutropius and Julius Ausonius, father of the political scholar-poet, as peers with a literary expertise in medicine. [Marcellus Empiricus, "De medicamentis," prefatory epistle 2, in "Corpus Medicorum Latinorum: Marcelli de Medicamentis Liber", edited by Maximillian Niedermann (Leipzig: Teubner 1916), p. 3.] Siburius is the addressee of three letters among the correspondence of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, the advocate of religious tolerance, [J.A. McGeachy, Jr., “The Editing of the Letters of Symmachus,” "Classical Philology" 44 (1949), 222–229.] who teases him about his archaic writing style ("Polytonic|ἀρχαϊσμὸν scribendi"). ["Epistulae" 3.44–45, edition of Otto Seeck, "Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores Antiquissimi. Q. Aurelii Symmachi quae supersunt" (Munich 1984); Neil B. McLynn, "Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital" (University of California Press 1994), p. 86.] "If you're so in love with the old days," wrote Symmachus, who is notable for his attempts to preserve the traditional religions of Rome at a time when Christianity had become dominant, "let's return with an equal amount of attention to the time-honored words in which the Salian priests chanted and the augurs pronounced on a bird-omen and the Commission of Ten established the legal code." [Symmachus, epistle 3.44: "Si tibi vetustatis tantus est amor, pari studio in verba prisca redeamus, quibus salii canunt et augures avem consulunt et decemviri tabulas condiderunt".] In the assessment of commentator Andrea Pellizzari, Siburius was indeed "un uomo di grande cultura," a highly cultured person. [Andrea Pellizzari, "Commento storico al libro III dell'Epistolario di Q. Aurelio Simmaco" (Pisa 1998), p. 157.] Other scanty evidence of his life comes from the correspondence of the Antiochan scholar Libanius, who has one letter addressed to Siburius [Libanius, epistle 663, pp. 99–100 in the edition of Richard Förster, "Libanii Opera" (Leipzig: Teubner, 1903–27), vol. 11.] and two to his son (who had the same name), [Libanius, epistles 982 and 989, pp. 114–115 and 119–120 (Förster's edition).] mentioning him once elsewhere. [Libanius, epistle 973, pp. 107–108 (Förster).]

The son of Siburius, who was proconsul of Palestine around 390, [Otto Seeck, "Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores Antiquissimi. Q. Aurelii Symmachi quae supersunt" (Munich 1984), with reference to Libanius, Sievers edition p. 269 (= Förster 989, pp. 119–120).] still practiced the traditional religions of antiquity; Libanius refers to his Hellenism. If the father, as seems likely from Symmachus's remarks, was also not a Christian, [J.A. McGeachy, Jr., “The Editing of the Letters of Symmachus,” "Classical Philology" 44 (1949), p. 226.] Siburius would have been the first non-Christian to hold the prefecture of Gaul since the death of the emperor Julian, and the last to hold the office. [Dorothy Watts, "Religion in Late Roman Britain: Forces of Change" (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 39.]

ee also

Decline of Hellenistic polytheism

Ausonius

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

Libanius

Annotated bibliography

Förster, Richard. "Libanii Opera." Leipzig: Teubner, 1903–27, vol. 11. Teubner edition with critical apparatus. A volume of the Greek text of the abundant letters of Libanius, teacher and friend to the emperor Julian, including the letters relevant to Siburius.

Jones, A.H.M. “Collegiate Prefectures.” "Journal of Roman Studies" 54 (1964) 78–89. Clarifying political succession among the "praefecti" mainly in the 4th century, with tables.

Matthews, John. "Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court, A.D. 364–425". Oxford University Press, 1975. ISBN 0198144997 See pp. 72–74 for Siburius.

McGeachy, J.A., Jr. “The Editing of the Letters of Symmachus.” "Classical Philology" 44 (1949) 222–229. Argues against the view that the letters of Symmachus had been edited and "watered down" for a Christian readership, and demonstrates that in his friends and correspondents (among them Siburius) Symmachus embraced both Christians and those who practiced the traditional religions.

Pellizzari, Andrea. "Commento storico al libro III dell'Epistolario di Q. Aurelio Simmaco: introduzione, commento storico, testo, traduzione, indici." Pisa: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, 1998. Latin text with Italian translation of the third of book of Symmachus's letters; see for extensive commentary (in Italian) on the three to Siburius.

Seeck, Otto. " Monumenta Germaniae historica inde ab anno Christi quingentesimo usque ad annum millesimum et quingentesimum: Q. Aurelii Symmachi quae supersunt". Auctores antiquissimi, vol. 6, pt. 1. Munich: Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 1984. Latin text of Symmachus's letters, with commentary also in Latin.

Sivan, Hagith. "Ausonius of Bordeaux: Genesis of a Gallic Aristocracy." London: Routledge, 1993. For background to Siburius's career and life, with passing references to him.

References