Letter 6003: [Euprepia was likely Ennodius's sister or a close kinswoman.

Ennodius to Euprepia. [Euprepia was likely Ennodius's sister or a close kinswoman. Their correspondence reveals a deep spiritual bond and mutual affection.] The course of all things is sustained by the service of the body but governed by the rule of the soul. One thing is ennobled by kinship with heaven, another brought low by its earthly nature. Nor is it possible for the element drawn from the lowest origins to resist the direction in which the mind -- granted by God our parent -- has turned. A soldier may not raise his hand against the commands of his emperor. From this principle, Sallust declared that we share one thing with the gods and another with the beasts. By this hidden law, we journey with the absent in spirit: though our bodies remain healthy, we burn with the fevers of those we love. Through these bonds no distance of travel divides us, and though separated in our dwellings, we meet as one in our devotion. You know, venerable sister -- you who have surpassed every sweetness in my eyes -- what occasion has called for this introduction. Now I will engage you openly, with a boldness that casts off modesty. I could scarcely endure the flattering words you sent before. After my admonition, you poured forth double sweetness in your letters -- words that shook the deepest recesses of my heart and nearly carried my captive soul away to longing for you, abandoning the body's seat entirely. How I fear that affection may once again be cast into uncertainty, and that when the mind has spread all its sails of devotion, it may suffer shipwreck because the harbor has been withdrawn! You know that my soul is incapable of pretense and cannot assume the unsteady urbanity of lovers. Your nature and your sex, on the other hand, promise something different, as the wisest Solomon says: "The soul that is full makes sport of honeycombs" [Proverbs 27:7]. The witness and judge of my words knows that I had resolved -- unless perhaps I am being deceived by the treacherous flavor of your grace, and you withdraw the offered cup from one who thirsts after having tasted your affection -- to fulfill not a mere image but the very truth of spiritual marriage. And when between us there is established one will and one refusal [the classical definition of friendship, from Sallust], we should display before the eyes and minds of all something that both spurs the good to imitation and shames the wicked. Only promise -- with God between us -- a firm and unchangeable constancy against every attack that is born of envy. And so farewell, my lady. Be content with this brief letter on great matters, since the conventions of letter-writing do not allow more, nor is it right to commit the secrets of the heart to a page. If you respond in good faith and devotion to what I have indicated, confirm it with the testimony of your own writing.

III. EVPREPIAE ENNODIVB. Rerum omnium cursus obsequiis corporis, animarum constat imperio: aliud nobilitat caelestis adfinitas, aliud abiectio terrena summittit. nec liberum est, ut quo mens parente deo 28 cf. Salluat. Cat. c. 1 1 perualebis T 8 -exegis B paroedi L desidẽ/// T 4 pwbennitate T 6 dedisti] finit add. B iL 9 oportanitM BLTV U boneetat L peregrinus BPb, peregrinum LTV 18 nxa L* 14 «omeanta JJV 16 nirium (jalt. i corr.) L posdsaima T 1$ debationis B supplicantes expectes ; sed cf. Wiener Studien II p. 883 19 mearum Bb, me- tram LTV, metfl P mere*r] finit add. B m. Epistulas 3 — VIII 2 om. P 21 eupraepiae B 84 summittet B, gommitet b deo parente LTV conlata deflexerit quod de ultimis adsumptum est non sequatur, nec licet militem obuiam manum decretis imperatoris adferre. hinc Crispus adseruit aliud nobis cum dis, aliud cum beluis esse commune. huius secreti ratione cum absentibus peregrinamur et salua membrorum ualitudine amantum febribus aestuamus: per haec uincula nulla itinerum interiectione diuidimur et segregati habitaculis in unum studiis conuenimus. nosti, soror uenerabilis et omnem apud me transgressa dulcedinem, quae praefationem exegisset occasio. nunc aperta tecum et prodiga pudoris fronte congrediar. uix quae ante direxeras blandimenta sustinui: post admonitionem meam duplicia in litteris mella fudisti, quae tota pectoris secreta concuterent et ad desiderium tui captiuam animam relicta corporis sede. transferrent. quam timeo ne rursus ad incertum remittatur affectio et cum tota mens diligentiae uela laxauerit, subducta periculum statione patiatur! animus meus quia fuci sit nescius. cognouisti nec destabilem inter amantes urbanitatem possit adsumere. tua rursus diuersum sexus et natura . pollicetur, ut dicit sapientissimus Salomon: anima, quae in saturitate est,. fauis inludit. scit uerborum meorum testis et iudex disposuisse me, nisi forte subdolo gratiae sapore decipiar et degustatae caritatis sitienti pocula oblata submoueris, spiritalis coniugii non simulacrum sed ipsam implere ueritatem et dum inter nos unum uelle et unum nolle constiterit, uel quod bonos ad imitationem stimulet uel quod 3 SaUust. Cat. c. 1 19 Prou. 27, 7 24 cf. Sallust. Cat. c. 20 1 adsumptus B 3 diis Tb beHuis b 4 ratio L 6 et B add. in mg . ualiditudine B 6 uinc.la L itenerum B diuidemux B 7 saegregati B conueniemus L 9 eiigiBaet Bl 10 prodigia L pudoris Bb, furoris LIT, uel pudoris T m. 2 - mg . 11 dbpplicia T 12 concurrerent T 14 et transferrent B 16 peric.lum L patiatur (aU . t in rtu.) o B anim L quia] quam fort . 17 orbanitatem Bb, orbitatem coni. Schottus 18 et natura T in ras. tn. 2 20 eorum Tl 22 sitigenti B 28 simulachnun T 24 et scripsi, ut B LTVb, nisi forte ut pro scilicet dixit; ef. Wiener Studien II p- 249 et ufi Tl 25 bonus B, beatos T imittationem T malos adficiat omnium oculis et mentibus exhibere. tu tantum deo medio aduersus omnem quae ex inuidia nascitur inpugnationem firmam promitte et indemutabilem seruandam esse constantiam. quocirca uale, mi domina, at breui pro maximis admonitione contenta, quia nec epistolaris concinnatio plura patitur nec ratio penetralium paginis debere committi, si ad haec quae indicata sunt uoto et fide respondes, propriae scriptionis testimonio pollicere.