Letter 2011: What am I to do when you write things that demand a reply, and yet your own foresight has already anticipated...
Ennodius of Pavia→Faustus|c. 501 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
donatismeducation booksproperty economics
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Faustus [Faustus Niger, Roman senator]
Date: ~501 AD
Context: A letter to Faustus during the Laurentian schism, reflecting on the difficulty of replying to letters that contain matters better known to the sender than the recipient — a hint at sensitive political communications.
Ennodius to Faustus.
What am I to do when you write things that demand a reply, and yet your own foresight has already anticipated everything I might say? You write to me about matters you understand better than I ever could, and then expect me to add something useful. It is a flattering but impossible position.
Still, I will not refuse the challenge. If my words cannot match your insight, at least they can confirm your judgment. We are agreed on the essentials — that much I know — and agreement between friends is worth stating even when it adds nothing new.
I send you this letter as proof that I read yours carefully and that I stand where I have always stood. Farewell.
XI. ENNODIVS FAVSTO.
Quid faciam, quando rescribenda uos scribitis et pro bono
praescientiae caelo uobis obsequente concessae quicquid alienum
pectus potuit inuestigare narratis ? liqueto supra hominem esse
duorum sic implere personas, sed ad illum referantur ista, qui
praestitit. ego tamen remittere me orationem, per quam in
umbram antiquus Tullius trudetur, non promisi, quippe qui
acceptum quaternionem sub maiori quam ingenio meo commodabat
celeritate reddideram, dum fidei seruiens quae ad
profectum poterant pertinere contempsi. nihil apud me de
ueneranda tunc dictione remanserat, nisi quod ad fructum,
quantum aestimo, bonae opinionis reposcenti memoria furante
subduxeram. nolo dicere, quale fuerit quod inuitus restitui,
quale etiam quod amaui, ne manifesto credatis uos alleganda
sine sui dispendio praedixisse. curis meis tamen super hac
parte serenae lucis meae domni Auieni miseratio licet incipientis
tamen iam probata succurrit: quandam scedulam, quae
2 canna Pb, canos BLV 3 lacrjmoso Pb, lacrimo BL V
addixi fort. 9 terrqua L subtraat B
XI. 12 qA rescribenda T in ras . 13 quidquid B 14 liqueto
LPV, liquido B, liquet hoc (hoc in ras. m. 3) T, liquet b, liquet
6 Sirm . 16 praestetit B 17 antiquis B1 21 remanserat (s
eorr.) L quod B, om. LPTVb 82 resposcenti B 24 amaui
| aui ne (Ai in mg . postea add.) B; amoui fort . 25 haDe L
26 domni B, domini LPTVb 27 succurra ̍ t V scedolam B
ipsi remanere potuit, ostrum mihi nobilitatis ingessit: hanc
hactenus habui, inde sum et locutus et sapui. sed postquam
et aliena beneficia iussus sum perdere, perlatore eam sequente
destinabo, non eam in me pro peccatis meis intellegens beniuolentiam,
ut quod externorum muniret ingenia bene credulus
non negarem, sciens me hominibus quod inpugnat propositum
cautione miscere. uerum dico illo teste, cui nota sunt omnia,
a me illas mundi ore celebratas dictiones uestras, quod credo
inscitia mea fieri, cuiquam dari nec tormenta conpellunt.
domine mi, salutationem reuerentiae uestrae exhibens contestor,
quia neque neglegentia iudicium meum neque adulatio inpugnat
affectum.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Faustus [Faustus Niger, Roman senator]
Date:~501 AD
Context:A letter to Faustus during the Laurentian schism, reflecting on the difficulty of replying to letters that contain matters better known to the sender than the recipient — a hint at sensitive political communications.
Ennodius to Faustus.
What am I to do when you write things that demand a reply, and yet your own foresight has already anticipated everything I might say? You write to me about matters you understand better than I ever could, and then expect me to add something useful. It is a flattering but impossible position.
Still, I will not refuse the challenge. If my words cannot match your insight, at least they can confirm your judgment. We are agreed on the essentials — that much I know — and agreement between friends is worth stating even when it adds nothing new.
I send you this letter as proof that I read yours carefully and that I stand where I have always stood. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.