Letter 5023: If it were permitted to engage Your Greatness on equal terms, I would speak more freely.
Ennodius of Pavia→Constantius|c. 512 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship
From: Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To: Constantius
Date: ~512 AD
Context: A deferential letter noting that Ennodius cannot presume equality with Constantius's greatness — but friendship bridges the gap.
To Constantius, from Ennodius.
If it were permitted to engage Your Greatness on equal terms, I would speak more freely. But the gap between us — in rank if not in affection — imposes a certain modesty on my pen.
Still, friendship has its own rank, and in that currency we are equals. I write with the boldness that love permits and the humility that respect requires. Farewell.
XXIII. CONSTANTIO ENNODIVS.
Si liceret cum magnitudine uestra aequa sorte contendi, si
honores aetas meritum quod uobis facem praetulit nos non in
1 que B, q ex q; L 4 inimica T in ras . subrepat fort., nisi
antea testimonii mei praeferendum est qua opinionem exuifitis fort .
1
5 meritis meis LPTVb 6 extetiBset B 7 domine B, domine
LIPTb meum u.] uotorum meorum T 8 dampna LPTV
XXII. 12 gestio me] gestionem L 18 resereBse X1 14 ex-
Bpectatione LV opperior V 16 acoidere B habes Sirm.
17 conditio L 19 epistnlares B 20 actorem T
XXIII. 27 honoris aestas L non om. T
umbram cogeret: ego potius culmen uestrum de tabellarum
abstinentia iure culparem, qui, postquam ad urbem Romam
profecti estis, nulla me recordationis fruge subleuauit. sed uide,
per rerum prouidentiam quam cauta est seniorum dispensatio
et fabricatis plena sermonibus: praeuenitur querelis innocentia
et, ne dolorem suum in lucem producat, arguitur: fit rea, ne
faciat. ergo haec mihi digrediens promissa contuleras? hac
deosculatum fiducia subleuasti, ut crederem mei inmemores
uos futuros? an ad aliud adtributae sunt paginae, nisi at
secreta pectorum oris claue manifestent ? sed abstineo prolixitate
paginali, ne grandiorem generet confabulatio producta rancorem.
ad salutationis obsequia me reduco rogans, at pro me
apud apostolos dei preces effundas, ut eorum beneficiis mortalis
angustiae superetur obscenitas et de puro mandatorum
caelestium tramite mens serena gratuletur.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To:Constantius
Date:~512 AD
Context:A deferential letter noting that Ennodius cannot presume equality with Constantius's greatness — but friendship bridges the gap.
To Constantius, from Ennodius.
If it were permitted to engage Your Greatness on equal terms, I would speak more freely. But the gap between us — in rank if not in affection — imposes a certain modesty on my pen.
Still, friendship has its own rank, and in that currency we are equals. I write with the boldness that love permits and the humility that respect requires. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.