**From:** Ennodius, deacon of Pavia
**To:** Euprepia, kinswoman
**Date:** ~504 AD
**Context:** A startling letter of reproach to Ennodius's kinswoman Euprepia, who has abandoned her son and severed all contact with him — Ennodius compares her unfavorably to a tigress and reveals he has been serving as the boy's guardian in her absence.
---
It is rare for love — even love reinforced by the bonds of kinship — to bow its neck in submission to necessity. It scarcely ever happens that affection plays the servant, since it is always the sovereign power, commanding by its own royal right. By what obstacle is the royal name of devoted care ever blocked? To whose bidding is free love ever enslaved? Only the person who has cast away the spirit of attachment makes excuses born of fear. The mind that serves duty does not tremble, even when the commands of the powerful are harsh. There are no laws of any people so barbarous that they do not permit a mother to render to her child what is owed. Whatever exists among the nations of the earth does not fall short of this human obligation. Whatever is born into the light of the world reaches back toward the fruit of womb and seed. This alone is the common cause, the common care, that binds us to every creature that lives.
Whose mind, then, will be judged to harbor such savagery — one found to be less attentive to the care of her offspring than the beasts that have no reason? Everything said above looks toward you, my kinswoman.
You have forgotten your only child. You have robbed him at once of the compassion owed to the bereft and of the happiness that belongs to one whose mother still lives. I confess it freely, speaking plainly — and especially now, when even conversation with you is denied to him: with peace, by God's favor, firmly rooted among all the lords of our regions [i.e., between Ostrogothic Italy and the Eastern Empire, making travel safe], you have surpassed a tigress in savagery.
When could anyone have found, in a son, either something more worthy of your love — or something worthy of your fear? The care for property ought to have been set aside, because an inheritance is never well pursued when the heir is despised. I will speak plainly: had God not, through my own anxious efforts, withstood the malicious enemies of his servant, every branch of your family tree would have been cut down. Lionesses entrust their cubs to the safe, hidden depths of forests or wilderness, so that their young will not become prey to men. Perhaps you will say that this reproach reveals how heavily I bear the burden that a mere youth has placed upon me. The Lord knows that I suffer only this, and suffer it bitterly: that I am deprived of your presence, and that I know, through your silence, that you have become unmindful of every bond of affection.
Yet by God's grace, fatherly care is not denied to our boy. He has entered the threshold of nobility, ready to be formed in the liberal arts. I have also sent to you the very speech by which he was commended — read it not for its eloquence, but for the prayers it contains.
Farewell then, my lady — and if it can be done, by God's own ordering, restore yourself to our sight.
XV. ENNODIVS EVPREPIAE.
Rarum eat ut necessitati amor fultus necessitudine colla
summittat: uix contingit ut seruiat qui imperator est semper
et suo iure dominatur affectus. quo umquam regium diligentiae
nomen inpeditur obstaculo? cui libera caritas mancipatur obsequio?
excusationem de aliquo timore non adhibet, nisi qui
animum deuinctionis abiecit. mens quae pietati militat, etsi
sint dura principum iussa, non metuit: nulla sunt tam barbara
iura populorum, quae non reddi filio debita materna patiantur:
quicquid in orbe gentium est ab humanitate non discrepat:
quicquid in mundana luce gignitur fructus uteri requirit et
seminis: sola nobis cum cunctis animalibus causa et
1 cathena T 2 interaalla (ter in ras.) L . posset B
3 cupia B 4 mutainter V (i postea add. m . 1), mutinter L (a
s. I . m. 2) 5 oportunitas BLTV aubtrahetur B 6 possent
B 8 exibens BL* 9 maeae V
XV. 13 eupraepiae B 16 numquam V diligentiae B, diligentia
LTV 17 inpeditor B, impe«ditar L n fort. eras . 18 adhibit
B, ad*ibet L 19 piaetati B, pietate LTV 20 iussa]
iura T 21 iura] iassa Sirm . quem T 22 gentium] genitum
SWm . 23 gignitor (tnr in ras. m. 2) T fructui ex
fructtia L m. 2 fructuB uteri T in ras. m. 2 requiref/ B (e
corr.), uestri requirat T 24 ea causa fort., cf. Wiener Studien II
p. 252 ..
sollicitudo communis est. cuius aestimabitur esse mens illa feritatis,
quae erga curam sobolis posterior ab inrationabilibus
inuenitur? germanitatem tuam respicit praefata concinnatio.
tu unici oblita pignoris et miserationem orbati et felicitatem
eius, cui mater superest, abstulisti. uere fateor sub libertate propositi,
modo maxime quando ei a te et conloquia denegantur,
pace deo propitio inter regionum nostrarum dominos omni
radice solidata tigridem te inmanitate superasse. quando inueniri
potuit aut quod plus amare possis a filio aut propter
filium quod timere? facultatum cura debuit posthaberi, quia
numquam bene hereditas quaesita est herede contempto. ecce
dico: ni deus per sollicitudinem meam serui sui maliuolis obstitisset,
omnis generis tui fuerat planta succisa. leaenae catulos
tutis siluarum aut heremi commendant penetralibus, ne
partus earum praeda sit hominum. dicas forsitan, quod haec
exprobratio grauiter me ferre inpactam de adulescente sarcinam
monstret. nouit dominus hoc solum me acerbe perpeti, quod
et praesentia tua careo et totius te per silentium inmemorem
affectionis esse cognosco. beneficio tamen dei paterna puero
nostro non denegatur instantia. inbuendus liberalibus disciplinis
limen nobilitatis ingressus est. ipsam quoque ad te dictionem,
qua commendatus est, destinaui, in qua non eloquentiam
sed uota cognoscas. uale ergo, mi domina, et si fieri potest,
nostris te cum dei ordinatione redde conspectibus.
1 estimabitnr B mens esse LV, mens. T (A add. m. 2)
feritates B 2 snbolis B 4 meaerationem Bl 5 praepositi
T1 7 propicio B dominus B 8 tygridem BL V
«
inmanitatem B spasse T inuenisse T 10 postaberi B
11 nnnqnS B 12 ni ex m T malibolis obstetisset B
13 leaene L catolus B 14 eremi Sirm. penitraUbus
B, penetra**libus (li eras.) L 16 exprobracio B, exprobatio Tl
adoliscente B 17 dominus] deus Sirnu 18 presentia BL V
19 benificio B, benefitio V 20 denegatur] derogatur Sirm .
dus imbuan
libera**libus (li ems.) L 24 te T s. I. m. 2 couspectibus]
finit add. LT
6*
◆
**From:** Ennodius, deacon of Pavia **To:** Euprepia, kinswoman **Date:** ~504 AD **Context:** A startling letter of reproach to Ennodius's kinswoman Euprepia, who has abandoned her son and severed all contact with him — Ennodius compares her unfavorably to a tigress and reveals he has been serving as the boy's guardian in her absence.
---
It is rare for love — even love reinforced by the bonds of kinship — to bow its neck in submission to necessity. It scarcely ever happens that affection plays the servant, since it is always the sovereign power, commanding by its own royal right. By what obstacle is the royal name of devoted care ever blocked? To whose bidding is free love ever enslaved? Only the person who has cast away the spirit of attachment makes excuses born of fear. The mind that serves duty does not tremble, even when the commands of the powerful are harsh. There are no laws of any people so barbarous that they do not permit a mother to render to her child what is owed. Whatever exists among the nations of the earth does not fall short of this human obligation. Whatever is born into the light of the world reaches back toward the fruit of womb and seed. This alone is the common cause, the common care, that binds us to every creature that lives.
Whose mind, then, will be judged to harbor such savagery — one found to be less attentive to the care of her offspring than the beasts that have no reason? Everything said above looks toward you, my kinswoman.
You have forgotten your only child. You have robbed him at once of the compassion owed to the bereft and of the happiness that belongs to one whose mother still lives. I confess it freely, speaking plainly — and especially now, when even conversation with you is denied to him: with peace, by God's favor, firmly rooted among all the lords of our regions [i.e., between Ostrogothic Italy and the Eastern Empire, making travel safe], you have surpassed a tigress in savagery.
When could anyone have found, in a son, either something more worthy of your love — or something worthy of your fear? The care for property ought to have been set aside, because an inheritance is never well pursued when the heir is despised. I will speak plainly: had God not, through my own anxious efforts, withstood the malicious enemies of his servant, every branch of your family tree would have been cut down. Lionesses entrust their cubs to the safe, hidden depths of forests or wilderness, so that their young will not become prey to men. Perhaps you will say that this reproach reveals how heavily I bear the burden that a mere youth has placed upon me. The Lord knows that I suffer only this, and suffer it bitterly: that I am deprived of your presence, and that I know, through your silence, that you have become unmindful of every bond of affection.
Yet by God's grace, fatherly care is not denied to our boy. He has entered the threshold of nobility, ready to be formed in the liberal arts. I have also sent to you the very speech by which he was commended — read it not for its eloquence, but for the prayers it contains.
Farewell then, my lady — and if it can be done, by God's own ordering, restore yourself to our sight.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.