Papianilla was a Roman noblewoman.

She was the daughter of Eparchius Avitus

Avitus

Eparchius Avitus was Western Roman Emperor from July 8 or July 9, 455 to October 17, 456. A Gallic-Roman aristocrat, he was a senator and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.A representative of the Gallic-Roman aristocracy, he...

, a member of the senatorial aristocracy of Gaul. Papianilla had two brothers, Agricola

Agricola (vir inlustris)

- Biography :Agricola was the son of Avitus, and therefore the brother of Ecdicius and Papianilla. His grandfather was probably the Agricola consul in 421. Agricola was related to the poet Sidonius Apollinaris, who married Papianila, and with Ruricius of Limonges, who was his father-in-law. He...

 and Ecdicius

Ecdicius

Ecdicius Avitus was a Gallo-Roman aristocrat, senator, and magister militum praesentalis from 474 until 475.As a son of the Emperor Avitus, Ecdicius was educated at Augustonemetum , where he lived and owned some land...

, and possibly some sisters; she was related to another Papianilla (wife of the prefect Tonantius Ferreolus

Tonantius Ferreolus (prefect)

Tonantius Ferreolus was the praetorian prefect of Gaul from 451.He was either "personally related to" or "connected through relatives" with Sidonius Apollinaris, and was associated with Thaumastus in the impeachment of Arvandus...

).

Before her father's rise to the throne (455), she married Sidonius Apollinaris

Sidonius Apollinaris

Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul" according to Eric Goldberg...

, another member of the same aristocracy, and had four children: Apollinaris

Apollinaris of Clermont

Apollinaris was a Romano-Gallic aristocrat, who led a Roman militia for the Visigoths in the Battle of Vouillé, and was bishop of Clermont for four months before his death.- Life :...

, Severiana, Roscia and Alcima.

Papianilla brought her husband the estate called Aviaticum in Auvergne

Auvergne (province)

Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....

. Her husband gave away silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 vessels from their home to the poor, but he criticised him and bought them back (Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours

Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...

, History of the Franks, II, 22).