General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> Bishop Of Piacenza
Avitus had a distinguished civil and military career. Around his early twenties, ca.415/420, he undertook a civic mission to the Master of Soldiers, and later emperor, Constantius, and early in his life he formed close contacts with the Visigothic court at Toulouse. He then served under Flavius Aëtius in several military posts, and by 437 may have risen to the office of Master of Soldiers in Gaul. Subsequently, he rose to become Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, perhaps ca. 439-440, in which capacity he was able torenegotiate the treaty with the Visigoths. He therefore provides an unusual example of a person obtaining both civil and military offices of very high rank. Avitus then seems to have indulged in the life of leisure to which every senator purported to aspire. Then, in 451, as a civilian, Avitus was influential in gaining the aid of the Visigoths against Attila and the Huns, who were subsequently defeated at the Battle of the Mauriac Plain. But he then returned to his estate, called Avitacum, at Clermont.

In 455, Avitus was appointed magister militum praesentalis ("Master of Soldiers in the Presence") by the short-lived emperor Petronius Maximus and was sent as an ambassador to the Visigoths, presumably to reconfirm them in their federate status. Assisted by a certain Messianus, he was successful. Sidonius recalled,

"The chiefs of the Visigoths were letting loose the war they had planned, when suddenly their fury was checked by tidings that Avitus, armed with an imperial writ, was already entering the home of the Goths, and, having laid aside for a little the pomp of the Master's office, had taken upon himself the authority of an ambassador.... The king and the Master took the stand together, the master with confident look, while the other... sued for clemency... " (Carm.7.399-434: trans. Anderson, 1.153-155).

ACCESSION
After the news arrived of Maximus' death on 22 May and of the ensuing Vandal sack of Rome, Theoderic urged Avitus to assume the purple himself, asserting,

"We do not force this on you, but we say to you: With you as leader, Iam a friend of Rome; with you as Emperor, I am her soldier. You are not stealing the sovereignty from anyone; no emperor holds the Latian hills, a palace without a master is yours... I would that your imperial diadem might bring me the means to do your service. My part is but to urge you, but if Gaul should compelyou, as she has the right to do, the world would cherish your rule..."(Sid.Apoll. Carm. 7.510-518: Anderson trans., 1.163).

One might suspect, of course, that Theoderic's goals were not merely altruistic, and that he might have seen some benefits for himself and his people if Avitus were to become emperor.

Theoderic then seems to have accompanied Avitus to Arles, for Marius of Avenchesreported, "Avitus was raised emperor in Gaul, and Theodoric, king of the Goths, entered Arles in peace with his brothers" ("levatus est Avitus imperator in gallias. Et ingressus est Theodoricus rex Gothorum Arelatum cum fratribus suis in pace": nos.1-2). This ceremonial arrival of the Gothic royalty would have been a far cry from past occasions when the Goths had attempted to seize Arles by force of arms.

The requisite Gallic support was soon forthcoming. At a meeting of the "Council of the Seven Provinces" at Beaucaire, just outside Arles, the decision is made to name Avitus emperor, and three days later, on 9 or 10 July, the ceremony was carried out. Sidonius continued,

"Then a great clamor filled the hall of Beaucaire... Place, hour, and day are declared auspicious forthe assumption of empire... The lords of the land assemble in haste and with the soldiers all around set him on a mound. There they crown their sorrowing chief with a torque and present him with the insignia of sovereignty... "(Carm.7.571-579: Anderson trans., 1.167).

Other sources are more concise. Hydatius tersely reported, "In this year, Avitus, a citizen