Letter 6014: I know that my silences cry out to you as loudly as any letter, and that nothing happens between us that goes unnoticed.

Ennodius of PaviaAvitus of Vienne|c. 504 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship

To Avitus, from Ennodius.

I know that my silences cry out to you as loudly as any letter, and that nothing happens between us that goes unnoticed. The bond we share does not require constant speech to prove its existence — it speaks through the very gaps that other friendships would leave empty.

Still, I write, because even the man who communicates through silence owes his friend the courtesy of an occasional page. Consider this that courtesy, and reply when you can. Farewell.

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

XIIII. AVITO ENNODIVS.

Scio mea apud uos clamare silentia nec quicquam fieri quod
non secreta interpretatione teneatur, ego tamen ab scriptione
non destiti nec sublimis memoriae uiri Sabini- filium fabricato
ingenio a iudicatione subtraxi, qui uiolentias in agello suo
perpessus hactenus operam. dicitur nauasse. cum barbaris. credite
mihi, aderit securus examini et disceptationem uestram
sine aliqua formidine ueniet ingressurus. domine mi salutati
reuerentiam dicens precor, ut personam meam tanti habeatis
insitae dudum affectionis recordatione fulcire.

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