ABSTRACT
The elaboration of a Christian pedigree going back to apostolic times mirror's this pagan tradition that gives a special status to Narbonne through the life of Paul. Permanent geographical boundaries like the Pyrenees or the Rhone overlay new political frontiers created by Visigoths and Burgundians, and limits of Roman cities going back to their foundation. Old provincial capital cities of the Roman system acquired new influence because of the rising authority of the bishop. Narbonne was no longer part of that Mediterranean string of cities praised by the orator in the mid second century, as Sidonius had also divined. At the beginning of the sixth century some five states laid claim to different territories of Western Europe that had been part of the Roman Empire. The territories of Narbonne and other neighbouring cities of Gaul therefore fell nominally under this prefecture, having been saved from the threat of a Franco-Burgundian coalition.
