Friday, August 21, 2026

It is the 21st of August 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Rome wasn’t built in a day- neither did it fall in a day. The fall of Rome, in fact, is one of the most contentious issues in historiography. None other than Augustine of Hippo, the great African theologian, would dedicate one of his most famous books to the issue. The “City of God” was written to defend the popular argument that the collapse of Rome was the fault of the Christians.

 

But Augustine died in 430- towards the beginning of the collapse of the empire. What other Christian witnesses do we have to learn about how the one-time enemy of the faith became a kind of cradle for the faith? It was likely in the same year Augustine died that Apollinaris Sidonius was born in Lyon in Southern France. He would become known as the poet Bishop whose letters give us an insight into the final years of the empire and how a Christian might navigate the perilous times.

 

Sidonius was born into the Praefectorial class- a kind of nobility. His father and Grandfather had been named the Prefect of the Gauls. They had also embraced Nicene Christianity- this is no small issue, as the so-called Barbarians were not as pagan as you might think- many were Christians, but of the very suspect Arian variety.

 

Sidonius was given the benefit of a first-class education, albeit in a time of decadence. Hesiod, Homer, Virgil and Cicero were the primary sources, but historians tell us that the liberal arts were not being studied as much for the virtues they might instill, but rather for a kind of social climbing- the so-called “cursus honorum” or “ladder of public offices”. In fact, you might see part of the decline of Roman society in this. Nobility couldn’t serve in the army or in the trades; they couldn’t even take part in governing- as there was a bureaucratic class for this. Instead, folks like Sidonius would spend their time preparing witty panegyrics, flattering one another and collecting sponsors (is there a parallel to the modern “influencer”? I’ll let others decide).

 

Sidonius would do well for himself; he married into the Avitii family and procured a fine dowry that included a countryside estate. He entered public life in the 450s just as Attila the Hun crossed the Rhine and bore down on the Romans. Sidonius would enlist the help of his father-in-law to woo the Visigoths, and one result of this was that his father-in-law, Avitus, would be named Emperor. Sidonius would write and publicly read a poem for his father-in-law and was honored with a statue in the Forum of Trajan.

 

But emperors during this last gasp of the Empire had the shelf life of milk, and when Avitus was murdered, Sidonius fled to his estate to retire. But when Anthemius, perhaps the last capable Emperor, was crowned, the people of Southern France called upon Sidonius to petition him for help. Sidonius appears just in time for the wedding of the Emperor’s daughter and delivers another dazzling public oration and is made prefect.

 

Once again, political instability and his own fear of humiliation (he may have had stage fright despite his popularity) led him to retire again to his country estate.

 

But then the Visigoths came— those Arians who sought to displace both the Romans and Nicene Christianity. This time Sidonius was called upon by his people for a new task: to serve as Bishop. We know from his letters that he and his brother-in-law attempted to defend his seat in the south of France and defend Nicene Christianity. The Visigoths and Romans would call a truce, but part of the deal was that Auvergne, where Sidonius was located, was annexed. Sidonius was no longer a Roman citizen. He would be thrown into prison by the Visigoths, only to be released, and he retired once again to his estate to manage his papers and poems. He would die a broken man on this, the 21st of August in 483. He was immediately acclaimed as a saint for his work as a Bishop and his defense of Nicene Christianity. His letters remain an important primary source for those last days of the empire and a Christian’s response to the changing regime.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and 2 Corinthians 10:

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 21st of August 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Goths include the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, and fans of Siouxsie and the Banshees… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who always felt that Goth bands missed out on a lot of cool names: Theodoric’s Army, Leo’s Bane… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.