Letter 5011: You will judge for yourself the man I commend to you — a man whose liberal education has made him worthy of...
Ennodius of Pavia→Luminosus, Abbot|c. 501 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
education books
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Luminosus
Date: ~501 AD
Context: A letter of recommendation for a young man of liberal education — Ennodius regularly served as a broker connecting ambitious young men with powerful patrons.
Ennodius to Luminosus.
You will judge for yourself the man I commend to you — a man whose liberal education has made him worthy of attention and whose character confirms what his training promises. I ask only that you receive him as you would receive anyone sent by a friend who would not trouble you without good reason.
The rest I leave to your own discernment. You are a better judge of men than most, and the young man in question needs no advocate beyond his own merits. I merely open the door; he must walk through it himself.
Treat him kindly, and you will find your kindness well invested. Farewell.
XI. ENNODIVS LVMINOSO.
Videro apud quos plurimis adserendus est quem instituti
liberalis cura sollicitat: uos patronos meruit causa communis.
non ignari peregrinos suscipitis nec erudiendos animatis: expertis
manus necessitatibus frequenter adhibetur, dum ad eloquentiae
palmam feriato ore eos qui titubant inuitatis. exemplis
hortatur ex peregrino potens, ex incipiente perfectus. utraque
Partenio germanae meae filio pars conuenit, cui ad
1 superiorum b et Sirm . generalitas fort . 2 aic] si B
i
israhelitici LV, esraelitici B, istrahelitici T 4 fidis B 5 iubet
B parthenius LV 9 annas puerilis B 10 prestare B
11 fouete P\'Tb, fouite LPlV, fouit B cuius om. Sirm . consanguinitarum
qualitas (te—meorum 8. Z . add. corr.) B 12 dedicistes
(es in is corr.) B 14 obsequorum L . perlatorS T 16 fuit T
XI. 20 quod B 21 communes B1 22 igniri Ll snscipetis
B\' 26 Parthenio b
uenerabiles disciplinas Romam petenti pro ferratis calcaribus sufficit
uos uidere. si ab humanitate non discrepat, sublimitatem tuam
gerens ante oculos rebus ad uirtutem potius quam monitis
excitatur. magistra laboris est laudis ambitio, praecipue quando
in illo exuberat, quem similis retineas fuisse fortunae. sed
nobis cordi sum, circa memoratum patrem reddite, ut amor
mutuus de uicaria inpensione gratuletur, ut quicquid in magnitudine
tua dudum laboris exhibui mihi per alterum reformetur.
domine, ut supra salutationis obsequia dependens satis esse ad
commendationem credidi, si qui esset portitor non lateret.
precum prolixitate utitur de inpetratione diffidens: argumentum
est nil merentis diu rogare. facessat a moribus tuis, ut perdas
beneficiorum genium, dum longa supplicatione producitur de
effectu celeri subleuandus.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Luminosus
Date:~501 AD
Context:A letter of recommendation for a young man of liberal education — Ennodius regularly served as a broker connecting ambitious young men with powerful patrons.
Ennodius to Luminosus.
You will judge for yourself the man I commend to you — a man whose liberal education has made him worthy of attention and whose character confirms what his training promises. I ask only that you receive him as you would receive anyone sent by a friend who would not trouble you without good reason.
The rest I leave to your own discernment. You are a better judge of men than most, and the young man in question needs no advocate beyond his own merits. I merely open the door; he must walk through it himself.
Treat him kindly, and you will find your kindness well invested. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.