Letter 3011: If the memory of your affection for me has not been stripped from your mind, then my concern is groundless and this...
Ennodius of Pavia→Senarius, an man (a Roman official at Burgundian court)|c. 501 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Senarius [official at the court of Theoderic]
Date: ~501 AD
Context: A letter to the court official Senarius, checking whether the bond of affection still holds — the anxious tone suggests Ennodius had reason to worry about his standing at Ravenna.
Ennodius to Senarius.
If the memory of your affection for me has not been stripped from your mind, then my concern is groundless and this letter is merely a pleasure. But if the press of affairs has crowded me out of your thoughts, then this letter is a necessity — and I send it with the urgency such a loss would require.
I do not accuse you. I only ask. A single word of reassurance would quiet the anxiety that your silence has stirred. You know what our friendship means to me; I need only to know that it still means the same to you.
Write to me, even briefly, and all is well. Farewell.
XI. ENNODIVS SENARIO.
Si diligentiae memoria circa personam meam animus uester
non exueretur, si reuerti eum ad iudicium sublimitas tua non
cogeret post fauorem, frequentia scripta prorogares. sed quid
faciam, quia non ualidis radicibus nititur amor indebitus et
cito ad examen reducitur quicquid gratiae aura subripuit? me
noui solum prius debuisse diligi quam probari: hunc tantum
fructum de caritate possedi, quem incognitus prouisione subtraxi.
sed uos conuenerat non cito ab eo, cui amici nomen inposuistis,
abscedere, ne non semper ad meam culpam redeat
quod promissa mihi non tenetur affectio. solet enim esse ignara
districtionis deuincti conscientia, et opus est ut perpetuo teneat
quicquid semel fidum pectus acceperit. salutem ergo debitam
dicens spero, ut despicientes rancida potentum fastidia honorem
uestrum et quam deus tribuit possibilitatem humilitatis
fascibus sublimetis. cuius rei fidem interpres animorum lingua
confirmet et testimonium fidele mentibus deferat caritas monstrata
per litteras.
1 credetia B iudicare BТ1b et om. b 3 pape B
esse LVl 4 mereor] meo B (post meo spatio 3-4 litt. uacwo)
5 expendere PTb, expendet B, ezplandere L, expludere V (ln in en
corr . m. 1)
XI. 7 ennodius om. T sanario B 8 memoriea V
9 exuretur V 10 cogerit B 12 subrepuit B solum noui
LPTVb 15 db V h eras. uidetur imposuistis amici nomen
Pb 20 dispicientis B, despicienses X1 ranceda B 24 litteras]
finit add. LTV
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From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Senarius [official at the court of Theoderic]
Date:~501 AD
Context:A letter to the court official Senarius, checking whether the bond of affection still holds — the anxious tone suggests Ennodius had reason to worry about his standing at Ravenna.
Ennodius to Senarius.
If the memory of your affection for me has not been stripped from your mind, then my concern is groundless and this letter is merely a pleasure. But if the press of affairs has crowded me out of your thoughts, then this letter is a necessity — and I send it with the urgency such a loss would require.
I do not accuse you. I only ask. A single word of reassurance would quiet the anxiety that your silence has stirred. You know what our friendship means to me; I need only to know that it still means the same to you.
Write to me, even briefly, and all is well. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.