Ennodius to Boethius.
[This Boethius is almost certainly Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 477-524), the philosopher and statesman later famous for writing The Consolation of Philosophy while awaiting execution under King Theodoric.]
Full of the best hopes for you, and wishing you every good fortune, I reach for the pen of letter-writing. It is fitting that your consulship should be greeted with this kind of opening, and that amid the purple robes -- growing brighter with the light of their wearer -- I should not refrain from some exchange of words, however humble. Surely love is not recognized only through the gifts of eloquence? Must it not be permitted for the longings of an unskilled man to come forward? Wishes that are veiled by no pretense of expertise make themselves known more simply. So I am the same in speech as I am in heart: I cannot disguise bitter feelings with honeyed words. The bashful admirer is one whose mind suggests what ought to be said in the arrangement of his compliment.
Thanks, then, to God Almighty, who preserves the ancient blessings of your family while multiplying new ones in you -- and, what surpasses the pinnacle of rank itself, makes those who hold high office worthy of it. This glory is indeed owed to your lineage, but -- what is more splendid still -- it is obtained by the merit of the individual. It was the custom of the ancients to purchase the height of the curule chair [the consul's seat] through the sweat of the battlefield and to shine with the sun of public honors through contempt for their own lives. But a different kind of virtue is called for, now that Rome herself has become the prize of her conquerors.
Our candidate wins his well-earned triumph after an open contest of a different kind -- without ever having seen a battlefield. He demands his laurels through judgment and did not think it necessary to clash with armed men. Among the weapons of Cicero and Demosthenes he has shone, and he has gathered the sharp points of both pursuits as though born in the very peace of the liberal arts. Let no one fear any discord between Attic [Greek] and Roman perfection, nor doubt that the finest achievements of each nation can be brought together. You are the one man who embraces both, and whatever, distributed among individuals, might have been enough for each, you -- the eager possessor of the greatest things -- encompass in yourself alone. You surpass the eloquence of the ancients while imitating it. You give the most learned a model for speaking while seeking one yourself. I have in my possession a venerable composition of yours -- a letter that bears witness to this. If only what you send were as frequent as it is delightful!
You may say: "It was natural to praise a kinsman who labors for our shared advancement, since what the consular robe confers is not a private possession but seemingly shared." And indeed, a portion of the curule honor does come to me. But believe me, I am lifted up more by the character and learning of the man promoted. Those external honors sometimes arrive by chance; the inner ones belong to virtue alone. The man who glories only in his parents approaches the consular throne nearly empty-handed. You, however, have both as your own possession: mastery of Latin learning and the purple stream of high office.
If only the conventions of letter-writing, which in fairness have kept my hand from running on at length, did not restrain me! What others enrich with elaborate accounts I would set forth, even if in rough and disordered fashion. I return to the obligations of correspondence: I report that I am well, and I ask whether you are well in return. As a final favor, I ask that the honor of a reply may raise me up. I also beg that the house you own in Milan -- which your abundance and your neglect have practically abandoned -- you might grant to me on whatever terms you wish. It is only fair that your family should have what has come down from the mass of the patrimony. Believe me, with God as my witness: if I am fortunate enough to obtain this without diminishing your wealth, I will repay the gift with all the more devoted service. On this matter -- and may all things go well for us -- if I may feel secure, please send me a document of full authority.
I. BOETIO ENNODIVS.
Optimae spei plenus cui faustum cupio ad curam officii
epistularis adspiro. decet enim uestris fascibus hac praefatione
delibari et inter purpuras possessoris luce crescentes qualicumque
non abstinere conloquio. numquid solius doctrinae
beneficiis amor agnoscitur nec fas esse credendum est prodire
in medium desideria rusticantis? simplicius innotescunt uota
nullo peritiae uelata praestigio. ergo nos hoc sumus ore quod
pectore: non amara praecordiorum delenificis possumus mutare
sermonibus: pudens laudator est cui in concinnatione blandimenti
dicenda mens suggerit. deo ergo omnipotenti gratias,
qui in uobis, dum uetera familiae uestrae bona custodit, noua
multiplicat et, quod plus est apice dignitatis, dignos facit esse
culminibus. redditur quidem uestrae gloria ista origini, sed,
quod est clarius , merito inpetrante personae. fuerit in more
ueteribus curulium celsitudinem campi sudore mercari et contemptu
lucis honorum sole fulgere: sed aliud genus uirtutis
quaeritur, postquam praemium facta est Roma uictorum.
noster candidatus post manifestam decertationem debitum
triumphum, dum numquam uiderit bella, sortitur. iudicio
exigit laureas et congredi non necessarium duxit armatis. inter
I. 3 fantom LTV dupio B at ad L 4 dicit Bb
5 delib.ari (e uel er eras.) L porporas Bl poBsessionis T
arescentis Bb 10 non] nec LTV delinificis Bb 11 concinnatione
B (ro. ree.) b, concenatione B, condempnatione LTV
12 siigerit Bl gratias omnipotenti LTY 16 morem LTY
18 sole] luce Sirm . 22 exiget B; exegit fort .
Ciceronis gladios et Demosthenis enituit et utriusque propositi
acumina quasi natus in ipsa artium pace collegit. nemo
dissonantiam Atticae perfectionis metuat et Romanae nec
praecipua gentium bona in societatem dubitet conuenire. unus
es qui utrumque conplecteris et quicquid uiritim distributum
poterat satis esse auidus maximarum rerum possessor includis.
eloquentiam ueterum, dum imitaris exsuperas: dicendi formam
doctissimis tribuis, dum requiris. est apud me epistulae uestrae,
quae huius rei fidem faciat, ueneranda conpositio. utinam
quae a uobis diriguntur tam essent crebra quam suauia! dicatis
forsitan: par fuit propinquum laudare in commune augmentum
laborantem, quia non est proprium quod quasi singulariter
uidetur palmata conferre: uenit ad me equidem portio
de curuli. sed, si mihi creditis, plus erigor de genio et studiis
sublimati. interdum accesserunt ista de casibus: soli contigerunt
illa uirtuti. prope inops ad scipionem adducitur suffragii consularis
qui tantum de parentibus gloriatur. tibi utrumque in
peculio est, Latiaris scientia et uena purpurarum. o si mihi
non stili epistularis consideratio in longum equidem producta
manus opponeret! quod alii relatione ditant ego crudum etsi
confusis ordinibus explicarem. redeo ad tabellarum fidem.
ualere me nuntio et utrum ualeatis inploro, ad summam beneficii
postulans, ut dignatio me reciproci sermonis adtollat, hoc
quoque deprecans, ut domum, quam in Mediolanensi ciuitate
et abundantia uestra et neglectus propemodum iam reliquit,
mihi quo uultis genere concedatis. iustum est enim ut parentes
1 gladius B demostenta SLTVb 9 ipso a. apice fort.
colliget B 3 atticae (cae in ras.) B, antioe L profecttonit L
5 destributum B 7 enpenw LT 8 tribnes Bb reqaires
B 9 fidem Bb, fidaciam V, fidutiam LT 11 propinquam B
in T 8. 1 . agmentam T1 13 aequidem B 14 curruli T
a
17 tibi est T 18 est otn. T largiaris L 19 epistolaris
*
B ANuidem B producti fort . 20 dicant (c s. I. m . rec.)
B, dictant b st si. (n ? cras.) L 22 ntio et utrum T
23 dignatio me L* 25 habundantia BT reliquid BL
26 genera L concidatis B
uestri habeant quod de patrimonii mole descendit. credite
mihi deo teste, quia, si inpetrare sine detrimento census
uestri meruero, quasi dono obligatus obsequiis potioribus respondebo.
de qua parte, sic nobis feliciter uniuersa contingant,
si securus esse debeo , plenarii mihi documenti dirigite firmitatem.
◆
Ennodius to Boethius.
[This Boethius is almost certainly Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 477-524), the philosopher and statesman later famous for writing The Consolation of Philosophy while awaiting execution under King Theodoric.]
Full of the best hopes for you, and wishing you every good fortune, I reach for the pen of letter-writing. It is fitting that your consulship should be greeted with this kind of opening, and that amid the purple robes -- growing brighter with the light of their wearer -- I should not refrain from some exchange of words, however humble. Surely love is not recognized only through the gifts of eloquence? Must it not be permitted for the longings of an unskilled man to come forward? Wishes that are veiled by no pretense of expertise make themselves known more simply. So I am the same in speech as I am in heart: I cannot disguise bitter feelings with honeyed words. The bashful admirer is one whose mind suggests what ought to be said in the arrangement of his compliment.
Thanks, then, to God Almighty, who preserves the ancient blessings of your family while multiplying new ones in you -- and, what surpasses the pinnacle of rank itself, makes those who hold high office worthy of it. This glory is indeed owed to your lineage, but -- what is more splendid still -- it is obtained by the merit of the individual. It was the custom of the ancients to purchase the height of the curule chair [the consul's seat] through the sweat of the battlefield and to shine with the sun of public honors through contempt for their own lives. But a different kind of virtue is called for, now that Rome herself has become the prize of her conquerors.
Our candidate wins his well-earned triumph after an open contest of a different kind -- without ever having seen a battlefield. He demands his laurels through judgment and did not think it necessary to clash with armed men. Among the weapons of Cicero and Demosthenes he has shone, and he has gathered the sharp points of both pursuits as though born in the very peace of the liberal arts. Let no one fear any discord between Attic [Greek] and Roman perfection, nor doubt that the finest achievements of each nation can be brought together. You are the one man who embraces both, and whatever, distributed among individuals, might have been enough for each, you -- the eager possessor of the greatest things -- encompass in yourself alone. You surpass the eloquence of the ancients while imitating it. You give the most learned a model for speaking while seeking one yourself. I have in my possession a venerable composition of yours -- a letter that bears witness to this. If only what you send were as frequent as it is delightful!
You may say: "It was natural to praise a kinsman who labors for our shared advancement, since what the consular robe confers is not a private possession but seemingly shared." And indeed, a portion of the curule honor does come to me. But believe me, I am lifted up more by the character and learning of the man promoted. Those external honors sometimes arrive by chance; the inner ones belong to virtue alone. The man who glories only in his parents approaches the consular throne nearly empty-handed. You, however, have both as your own possession: mastery of Latin learning and the purple stream of high office.
If only the conventions of letter-writing, which in fairness have kept my hand from running on at length, did not restrain me! What others enrich with elaborate accounts I would set forth, even if in rough and disordered fashion. I return to the obligations of correspondence: I report that I am well, and I ask whether you are well in return. As a final favor, I ask that the honor of a reply may raise me up. I also beg that the house you own in Milan -- which your abundance and your neglect have practically abandoned -- you might grant to me on whatever terms you wish. It is only fair that your family should have what has come down from the mass of the patrimony. Believe me, with God as my witness: if I am fortunate enough to obtain this without diminishing your wealth, I will repay the gift with all the more devoted service. On this matter -- and may all things go well for us -- if I may feel secure, please send me a document of full authority.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.