Paulinus of Pella
Paulinus of Pella (A.D. 377 – after 461), a Gallo-Roman nobleman had his estates near Bordeaux taken over by Visigoths. He became a refugee and settled in Marseillies. From his autobiographical poem, “Eucharisticus” (Thanksgiving) , we learn that a Goth who wished to buy a small property that Paulinus had once owned actually sent him payment for it. Paulinus complains that the payment did not represent the actual worth of the property, but gives thanks for the unexpected windfall to aid him in building a new life for himself.
“For when thou hadst shown I could no longer hope for further profit from my grandfather’s property; and when all that also which in my poverty I was able to hold at Marseilles was retained by me under the terms of a written contract, the freehold now being lost — thou didst raise up for me a purchaser among the Goths who desired to acquire the small farm, once wholly mine, and of his own accord sent me a sum, not indeed equitable, yet nevertheless a godsend, I admit, for me to receive, since thereby I could at once support the tottering remnants of my shattered fortune and escape fresh hurt to my cherished self-respect.”