Letter 5016: Great are the commands of joy: the man who lacks happiness lacks the ability to understand it.
Ennodius of Pavia→Panfronius|c. 506 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
education books
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Panfronius
Date: ~505 AD
Context: A letter celebrating the power of joy — Ennodius reflects that happiness has its own authority, commanding even those who would resist it.
Ennodius to Panfronius.
Great are the commands of joy: the man who lacks happiness lacks the ability to understand it. When good news arrives, it brings with it a kind of sovereignty that overrules every lesser concern.
I write to share my joy with you, because joy shared is joy doubled. The details I leave for conversation; what matters now is simply that the news is good and that you should know it.
Rejoice with me, and let us give thanks together. Farewell.
XVI. ENNODIVS PAMFRONIO.
Magna sunt imperia gaudiorum: expers est continentiae
hilaritas et in uocem gestit erumpere. uenit optatus desideriis
dies et ille, quem numquam de meritis meis sed semper de
superna pietate postulaui, magnitudini tuae splendor accessit:
redditus est generi et moribus tuis apex, per quem conscientiae
fidelis in lucem prodire non formidet integritas. deus
bone, indulta custodi, auge successibus quod dedisti, fac circa
seruum tuum primum esse gradum qui summus est. praecipio
spe futura quae deprecor: nesciunt in foribus haerere quae
caelo auctore tribuuntur. semper incrementis ad culmen ascenditur,
ubi supernus fauor praestat exordium. quis hoc in uita
hominum uel eorum, qui conuersationem suam nulla custodiunt
nube sordentem, accessisse sibi die una gratuletur, te honorum
auspicia ingressum et dulce meum Senarium ab ultimis terrarum
partibus restitutum? breuis horarum cursus interfuit,
1 affuit PTb 2 genitum B mia T (ut solet), gratia Pb
4 deffondere B 6 dona L1 8 sufficiens (ante dlt . s et supra
ras.) V
XYI. 10 panfronio T 11 imperia gaudiorum LPTV nisi quod
gaudiaram V scribere coeperat 12 gestet B erumpere T in
ras . 14 piaetate L postolaui B adcessit B 15 apix
0
B 17 bona B quos L 18 peroipio Pb 19 herere B
u
20 actore T tribuntur L culmina scenditur B\' 21 supernos
B prestat B 23 adcessisse B gratuletur PTb, gratulentur
BL V
ut et tu palatio natus et ille sit redditus. in ueritate dico et
de dei misericordia mihi securus spondeo, fragilitati meae praesidia
caelo obsequente concedi. spondetur mihi quod uobis est
praestitum. domine mi, salutationis obsequia suscipiens rogo,
ut, si quid amori meo tribuis, domnum animae meae Senarium,
ut apud me maneat, exorare pleniter non omittas. quod nisi
obtinueris, multum mihi de hilaritatis cumulo decerpsisti.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Panfronius
Date:~505 AD
Context:A letter celebrating the power of joy — Ennodius reflects that happiness has its own authority, commanding even those who would resist it.
Ennodius to Panfronius.
Great are the commands of joy: the man who lacks happiness lacks the ability to understand it. When good news arrives, it brings with it a kind of sovereignty that overrules every lesser concern.
I write to share my joy with you, because joy shared is joy doubled. The details I leave for conversation; what matters now is simply that the news is good and that you should know it.
Rejoice with me, and let us give thanks together. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.