Introduction

Summary

The second book ends with a letter about otium in the countryside. Sidonius congratulates his friend Maurusius on a rich harvest and hopes to see him soon. If Maurusius prefers to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside, Sidonius will travel to join him on his estate as friendship is the thing that he values the most.

Addressee

The addressee, Maurusius, is unattested elsewhere; PLRE 2, 738, Kaufmann (1995) 324, Mathisen (2020a) 107. As we know from the letter at hand, he owns an estate in the Auvergne in the Pagus Vialoscensis (probably presentday Marsat or Volvic near Clermont-Ferrand), is of the same age as Sidonius and is playfully addressed in section 2 as magnus dominus, which hints at his senatorial rank.

Date

There is no evidence for the date of this letter; see the Introduction, ‘2. The date and order of letters in Book 2’.

Major themes and further reading

Structure

The last letter of the second book is again a letter of friendship (see the introduction to Ep. 2.3) and, like a kind of summary, takes up again all the important themes of the second book. Like Ep. 2.2 and 2.9 it addresses the life in the villa and the subject of leisure (otium). The second book follows the course of the seasons: it was still high summer in letter 2.2, but now, at the end of the second book, we are in winter; see the introduction to Ep. 2.2, and André (2006), Hanaghan (2019) 73–4, 170–1, Hindermann (2020a) 109–11. There are also intratextual connections between the closing letter, 2.14, and other letters of the second book. As in Ep. 2.11, Sidonius addresses the subject of separation and remoteness of friends; see the introduction to Ep. 2.11. Another parallel is Ep. 2.13, about the dangers of negotium, where Sidonius praises the safety and joy of a life in the golden middle. Sidonius repeats this thought at the end of Ep. 2.14 by claiming that he prefers a good neighbour over profit.

Intertextuality

In the last letter of the second book, the theme of the harvest is dominant, which of course can also be read as a poetological metaphor for putting together a collection of poems or letters; see for example Anth. Pal. 4.2, and the commentary on Ep. 2.14.1 Audio industriae … respondere vindemiam.