Letter 8002: It would be only fitting for Your Greatness to display the riches of your talent while following the teachings of...

Ennodius of PaviaAvienus|c. 494 AD|Ennodius of Pavia|To Avienus (recipient)|AI-assisted
education books

It would have been fitting for your greatness to pour forth the abundance of its own talent, while following the precepts of the holy father, and to set forth the learning acquired with much sweat as a testimony of your diligence. A twofold praise would fall to you from the arrangement mentioned above, since, as the devotion of those who undertook it grew, the palm of eloquence would be brought into the open: the very thing that unlocks your love to us is what exalts you. By one and the same exercise both the pomp of your speech and that of your fidelity would be multiplied. Those set upon the summit are thought to bestow upon their subordinates that affection which they utter. These things, my lord, that most busy father, placed upon the citadel of human affairs, keeps watch over. For he reveals contempt who, living at leisure, does not grant words. I recall having read: "For the speech of the miser there is no honor." Now therefore, with the services of greeting rendered, I make known that I am well. It remains that this suggestion of mine may rejoice in the abundance of conversation drawn forth from you.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

II. ENNODIVS AVIENO.

Par erat magnitudinem uestram ingenii sui opulentiam, dum
sancti patris sectatur instituta, depromere et multo adquisitam
sudore doctrinam pro diligentiae testimonio uentilare. gemina
uobis contingeret ex antefata concinnatione laudatio, quando
crescente susceptorum deuotione ferretur in medium palma
sermonis: res, quae nobis amorem uestrum reserat, uos extollit.
uno eodemque usu et oris pompa multiplicaretur et fidei. in
apice constituti illam subiectis adfectionem putantur inpendere,
quam locuntur. haec, mi domine, ille occupatissimus
pater et in humana locatus arce custodit. nam contemptum
manifestat qui in otio degens uerba non tribuit. legisse me
memini: sermonis auari nullus honor. nunc ergo seruitiis
salutationis exhibitis indico me ualere. superest, ut suggestio
mea eliciti gaudeat ubertate conloquii.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern ennodius pavia retranslated v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/csel-dev/master/data/stoa0114a/stoa008/stoa0114a.stoa008.opp-lat1.xml

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