Letter 6016: Conversations between friends should not always be driven by business.
Ennodius of Pavia→Luminosus, Abbot|c. 506 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
education booksfriendship
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Luminosus
Date: ~505 AD
Context: A brief letter arguing that conversations between friends should not always have a business purpose — sometimes writing for its own sake is the whole point.
Ennodius to Luminosus.
Conversations between friends should not always be driven by business. There ought to be room for letters that serve no purpose beyond the pleasure of writing and the pleasure of being read.
This is that kind of letter. I have nothing to ask, nothing to report, and nothing to complain about. I write simply because I thought of you and did not want the thought to pass without leaving a mark on paper.
Receive it in the spirit in which it is sent, and reply in kind. Farewell.
XVI. ENNODIVS LVMINOSO.
Non deberent esse negotiosa conloquia, quae pro remedio sibi
amor inuenit, nec religionis stipendium ad necessaria nos
oporteret euocare commercia, quia dulce esset epistularum
munia soli militare concordiae nec rem diligentiae in aucupia
transferre conpendii! sed res ad hoc rediit, ut nisi senior
caritas, quae inter nos ab ipso uitae limine sumpsit exordium
et per uarias profectuum uires messem gratiae perduxit ad
aream, conpulsa pro meis partibus stimulo scriptionis adsurgat,
grandi ingratitudinis et detrimentorum sterilitate percutiar.
meminit amplitudo uestra quae. de expensis, quae apud Rauennam
episcopus meus fecerat, me ei redhibitionem promittente,
pro sedis apostolicae utilitate, uobiscum fuerit conlocutus: de
qua restituenda celerem promiseratis effectum. sed pro peccatis
meis nescio qui casus manus opposuit. de qua ad me praedicti
antistitis se conuertit intentio, ut uix indutias ad sacratissimam
urbem tribuerit destinandi. nunc post deum in uobis causa est,
qui potestis et personam meam offensione pontificis et detrimentis
eripere, ne officium fidei mihi uni peperisse uideatur
aduersa. domine mi, salutationis munera persoluens deum
precor, ut animum uestrum ad utilitatis meae considerationem
incunctanter inuitet. ego quid amplius facerem inuenire non
potui, nisi ut cum allegatione manifesta fidum mihi dirigerem
perlatorem.
XVI. 3 quę B 8. I . 5 , quia]! quam fort . 8 lumine V1 et
Sirm . 9 profecUum L uices fort . 12 meminet B expensis
qua\' T episcopos B 13 redibitionem BTlV, retributionem
L 14 apoatulice B coillocutua T 15 peccatis meis V in
ras . 16 opposuit manus LTV 17 antestitis B inducias
(c ex t corr.) B 18 tribueret L destinandua Bb 19 offensioni
L . pontifieis] mei add. LTV 20 uideatui peperisse LTV:
21 mihi BL V dominum b et Sirat. 23 quidS Bl ut uidetur
24 fidem B b
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Luminosus
Date:~505 AD
Context:A brief letter arguing that conversations between friends should not always have a business purpose — sometimes writing for its own sake is the whole point.
Ennodius to Luminosus.
Conversations between friends should not always be driven by business. There ought to be room for letters that serve no purpose beyond the pleasure of writing and the pleasure of being read.
This is that kind of letter. I have nothing to ask, nothing to report, and nothing to complain about. I write simply because I thought of you and did not want the thought to pass without leaving a mark on paper.
Receive it in the spirit in which it is sent, and reply in kind. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.