[1] He was also a poet,[2] known for iambic verse based on stress (rather than quantity, as in the classical Latin prosody); this was an innovation of his time.
[3] Bishop Auspicius was part of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, also counting the Roman general of Frankish descent, Arbogast, famous under Theodosius the Great, among his ancestors.
He was probably born in the early part of the 5th century, and succeeded Gelsimus as bishop of Toul around 478.
[4] His rare talents and virtues gained him the esteem of distinguished person of his time.
He was a friend of the poet Sidonius Apollinaris, bishop of Clermont, and of Count Arbogast, the governor of Trier for Childeric I, and the three exchanged correspondence.
[5] Arbogast wrote to Sidonius asking him to instruct him in his duties and to give some explanation of the sacred books but Sidonius apologized and referred him to Saint Loup, Bishop of Troyes, or to Auspicius, bishop of Toul, both distinguished by their deep knowledge and high rank.