In return Apollinaris composed a panegyric in his honour (as he had previously done for Avitus), which won for him a statue at Rome and the title of count.
The Letters, which are very stilted, also reveal Apollinaris as a man of genial temper, fond of good living and of pleasure.
In the latest empire Ausonius, Symmachus, Apollinaris, Sidonius and other Gaulish writers, chiefly of Gallia Comata, kept alive the classical literary tradition, not only for Gaul but for the world.
A further complication was added when, in 375, Vitalius, one of Meletius's presbyters, was consecrated bishop by the heretical bishop Apollinaris of Laodicea.
Each play has an argument in metre by Sulpicius Apollinaris (2nd century of our era).