Letter 2024: Ennodius the deacon to his lord Faustus.
Ennodius of Pavia→Faustus|c. 512 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
grief death
From: Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To: Faustus, his lord
Date: ~513 AD
Context: A letter declaring that Ennodius considers it a loss whenever direct conversation with Faustus is unavailable.
Ennodius the deacon to his lord Faustus.
I consider it a genuine loss whenever the opportunity for direct conversation with you is denied. Letters are a poor substitute — useful, necessary, but ultimately unsatisfying to a man who has known the real thing.
Still, I take what I can get, and I send you these words as proof that the desire for your company has not diminished with distance. Farewell.
XXIIII. DOMNO SVO FAVSTO ENNODIVS DIACONVS.
Dispendium credo esse diligentiae nullas commeantium
manus litterarum dote munerari, quae solent lectione etiam
uultus ad longinqua portare et carorum imagines officio praesentare
sermonis. ad ista iungitur etiam bene de utrisque merentis
sublimissimi Luminosi portitoris occasio, qui ad religionem
meritorum. uestrorum suae quoque gratiae fructus
adiungit. quis geminus patiatur ut sub quacumque neglegentia
hebetetur affectus, si a paginis temperem, quas dignatio uestra
exigit, et si illas nominatus non accipiat perferendas ? deo gratias,
quod in fronte epistulae locandum fuit, quia felicitas
uestra uotiuis erigitur aucta successibus, quod tumida inimicorum
ceruix Christo deo nostro grauata subcumbit. spe praeceperam
quod effectus ostendit. bene enim sententiae caelestis
finem praenoscit qui nouit qualitatem eius de actuum humanorum
allis
2 adserit V, asserit aliis T 3 prestare B 5 adiauit B
6indicateTlsaV
6 indicate T1 8 u postoulo V
XXIIII. 10 domino L fansto inscr. T 11 nulla seommeantium
B 13 presentare TV 14 de om. T utrisqaae B,
utriasqae Pb merentes B 15 occasio L\' 17 geminos B
F1, gemin\' T (sed in mg . geniI, genius b negligentia B\'T
18
18 haebetetar L\', hebitar B, habitetur b effectus T temperiem
LVl 19 nominatas V* 21 ersgitar B aata T
22 noatro scripsi, non BLTVb, nunc P praeciperam B 28 effectus
(pr . e in ras.) B 24 acUum L
serenitate colligere. uale ergo longum, mi domine, et amantem
uestri stili usu releuate, ut quicquid subtrahunt interualla
terrarum tabellaria conpenset oblatio.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To:Faustus, his lord
Date:~513 AD
Context:A letter declaring that Ennodius considers it a loss whenever direct conversation with Faustus is unavailable.
Ennodius the deacon to his lord Faustus.
I consider it a genuine loss whenever the opportunity for direct conversation with you is denied. Letters are a poor substitute — useful, necessary, but ultimately unsatisfying to a man who has known the real thing.
Still, I take what I can get, and I send you these words as proof that the desire for your company has not diminished with distance. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.