In 469 Sidonius returned to Gaul. He had reached the
pinnacle of his career as Prefect of the City and was now
also a patrician. In less unsettled times, he might have
looked forward to a period of honoured otium among his
friends, pursuing his literary interests and occupying a
position of distinction among the local nobility and at meet-
ings of his peers. In the small intricate world of city politics,
his imperial service would have guaranteed his continuing
superiority over the less favoured, or energetic, who had
stayed at home.

Instead, he was consecrated bishop of Clermont, prob-
ably not more than a year after his return. From the
standpoint of the Arverni, he was a useful choice, as a
member by marriage of a prominent local family, the
Aviti, ¹ a former holder of high office, with powerful
friends to match, and a man of known Christian piety, the
friend and pupil of Faustus and of Claudianus Mamertus.
He had also served the city as leader of its delegation to
Rome in 467, which may have tried to ascertain the policy
of Anthemius towards Euric, and could be expected to deal
effectively with that king.

For Sidonius himself, the experience, some years after his
baptism by Faustus, had something of the intensity of a
second conversion. His consecration brought on a severe
fever which left him at death's door. Barely recovered, he
complained to his uncle Apollinaris, who had been omin-
ously unresponsive to his letters, of the burden of his guilty
conscience and his 'high calling', comparing himself to a

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