Anianus was a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

nobleman who served as the

referendary Referendary is the English form of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organizations in Europe. Pre-modern history The office of ' (plural: ', from the Latin ', "I inform") existed at the Byzan ...

Alaric II Alaric II ( got, 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, , "ruler of all"; la, Alaricus; – August 507) was the King of the Visigoths from 484 until 507. He succeeded his father Euric as king of the Visigoths in Toulouse on 28 December 484; he wa ...

, king of the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

. He was a ''

vir spectabilis The title ''vir illustris'' ('illustrious man') is used as a formal indication of standing in late antiquity to describe the highest ranks within the senates of Rome and Constantinople. All senators had the title ''vir clarissimus'' ('very famous ...

'', that is, an "admirable man", or holder of high office in the empire. Anianus was tasked by Alaric to authenticate with his signature the official copies of the

Breviary of Alaric The ''Breviary of Alaric'' (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum'') is a collection of Roman law, compiled by unknown writers and approved by referendary Anianus on the order of Alaric II, King of the Visigoths, with the a ...

, which had been distilled by other legal writers from the '' Codex Theodosianus''. In his signature he used the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words ''Anianus, vir spectabilis subscripsi et edidi'', and it is probable that, from a misunderstanding of the word ''edidi'', proceeded the common notion that he was the author or editor of the work, which has sometimes been called ''Breviarium Aniani''. He was not, and only functioned in the capacity of referendary, to authenticate the books themselves. Anianus' authentication of the copies of this work took place at Aire (modern Aire-sur-l'Adour) 506 AD. The medieval writer

Sigebert of Gembloux Sigebert of Gembloux (Sigebertus Gemblacensis; 1030 – 5 October 1112) was a medieval author, known mainly as a pro-Imperial historian of a universal chronicle, opposed to the expansive papacy of Gregory VII and Pascal II. Early in his life ...

says that this Anianus translated from Greek into Latin the work of

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of ...

on Matthew the Apostle,

, ''de ecclesiasticis scriptoribus'', c. 70, cited by Jac. Godefroi, ''Prolegiomena in Cod. Theodos.'' § 5 but it's now considered likely he was mistaken and instead meant Anianus of Celeda.

Notes

{{authority control 5th-century Visigothic people 6th-century people of the Visigothic Kingdom 6th-century Latin writers