Letter 25
Unknown→Olybrius|c. 513 AD|ennodius pavia
From: Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To: Olybrius and Eugenetes
Date: ~514 AD
Context: A joint letter to two aristocrats, expressing longing for their letters — a standard epistolary trope raised by Ennodius's rhetorical skill.
Ennodius to Olybrius and Eugenetes.
Desire for your letters has made me write first — a reversal I accept without complaint. The man who reaches out before being reached is not weaker; he is more honest about what he needs.
Write to me, both of you. A letter from one of you would satisfy; a letter from both would delight. Farewell.
XXV. ENNODIVS OLVBRIO ET EVGENETL
Desiderio paginarum uestrarum facta est mihi prodiga frons
pudoris, et dum tabella promittit promulgata responsum, intra
uerecundum penetrale annosam continere nescit infantiam.
deberem quidem sanguini et proposito silentii uenustatem, postquam
spei meae fructum prima negauere conloquia. sed nescio
utrum male pertinax iudicetur intentio, quae sine alterius dispendiis
sollicitae per amorem experientiae pericla multiplicat.
ualete, mi domini, et ad scriptionis mecum remeate concordiam,
ne contra euangelii faciatis monita, si et inportunitati denegetis
quod iuste forsitan inpetrasset affectio.
◆
From: Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To: Olybrius and Eugenetes
Date: ~514 AD
Context: A joint letter to two aristocrats, expressing longing for their letters — a standard epistolary trope raised by Ennodius's rhetorical skill.
Ennodius to Olybrius and Eugenetes.
Desire for your letters has made me write first — a reversal I accept without complaint. The man who reaches out before being reached is not weaker; he is more honest about what he needs.
Write to me, both of you. A letter from one of you would satisfy; a letter from both would delight. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.