Magnus Maximus was comes Britanniae in the time of Gratian who usurped the imperial power in the spring of AD 383. Maximus subdued Gaul, the conquered Gratian went back to Italy where he was assasinated. Later on, Maximus came to terms with the emperor Valentinian II (with the intercession of Ambrose of Milan) and the Emperor Theodosius who formally recognized the usurper in AD 384 (Curran 2008: 104-108). The present letter is a response to the inquiries of Bishop Siricius of Rome (from AD 384 to 399) regarding the ordination of the Gallic presbyter Agroecius.

 

Collectio Avellana is a collection containing 244 letters issued by emperors, imperial magistrates and popes. The earliest item is dated to AD 367, the latest to AD 553. Hence, the compilator worked most probably in the second half of the 6th century. Two hundred documents of the Collectio are not known from any other collection. The editor of the Collectio, Günther noticed that it can be divided into five thematic parts (Gunther 1896: 3-96; Steinacker 1902: 14-15; Blaudeau 2013: 4) :

1) no. 1-40 is an independent collection making use of the records of the prefecture of the city of Rome concerning two episcopal elections;

2) no. 41-50 that are derived from the records of the bishopric in Carthage, and consist of the letters of Innocentius I and Zosimus;

3) no. 51-55, the late letters of Leo I not known from any other source, regarding the exile of Bishop Timothy II of Alexandria;

4) no. 56-104 the group of letters from the pontificates of Simplicius, Gelasius, Symmachus, John, Agapet, and Vigilius;

5) no. 105-243 the letters from the records of Hormisdas.

 

The modern name of the collection derives from the codex Vaticanus Latinus 4961 copied in the monastery Sancti Crucis in fonte Avellana that was considered the oldest by the brothers Ballerini who edited the Collectio in 1787.