Letter 8006: I would have you know that my affection for you does not waver with distance or cool with the passage of time.

Ennodius of PaviaAvienus|c. 497 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship

To Avienus, from Ennodius.

I would have you know that my affection for you does not waver with distance or cool with the passage of time. The obligations of friendship are permanent, and a man who forgets them forgets himself.

I have written to you before; I write again now. If my persistence seems excessive, blame the heart that drives the pen. I would rather be thought a nuisance than a negligent friend. The former at least proves I care; the latter would prove I had stopped.

Let me hear from you. A single page in your hand would be worth more than any report carried by others. 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AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

VI. AVIENO ENNODIVS.

Credo ad iustitiam pertinere, ut quod a uobis expecto primus
exhibeam. decet enim, ut qui bona opera praestolatur inuitet

1 praeeio B additio T 2 est et scripsi, est B, et LTVb
poto B scantia B, canctia Lx ut uidctur 3 cristianis B
4 sterelitas (r ex 1 corr.) V, insterilitas L solatium BTV
secnli B 6 agnagnosticis LPTV 7 animaent B\' detergat
Pr\'b 8 iuxta (ta s l. m. 2) T, iux L V men ne desideria
uestra fabrica V in ras . m. 1 10 omemorationem T 11 feoeram
fort . 12 efficatia BLTV nos] aostra fori . praessisset
B 13 nihic L accione B proficimus B 14 miBeri T
15 graciam B . uicessitndine B, uicissitudinem b 18 periclitatae
(iclitat m ras.) V, periclitate B hutilitatis V 20 dampna PTl
gfl pernicibus su ̃ T .

VI. 24 exspecto LV 25 praestulatur B

exemple. expugnat ealcaribus tarditatem qui formam ministrat
officii. his. ergo salutationis munus inpertiens sanum me esse
post inaequalitatem, quam pro peccatis sum passus, enuntio et
statum uestrae prosperitatis inquiro, sperans ut in huius rei
solutione multus incumbas.

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