Letter 8036: Learning had nearly lost its claim to public attention — until you restored it.

From: Ennodius, bishop of Pavia To: Boethius [the philosopher] Date: ~521 AD Context: One of the last known letters between Ennodius and Boethius — both men would be dead within a few years, Boethius executed by Theoderic and Ennodius dying of natural causes. Ennodius to Boethius. Learning had nearly lost its claim to public attention — until you restored it. The prestige of education, which had been fading in a world that values power over wisdom, shines again because you insist on keeping it alive. I write to acknowledge what others take for granted: that your intellectual gifts are a public good, not merely a private accomplishment. May they continue to serve both you and the world. Farewell.

XXXVI. ENNODIVS BOETIO. Perdiderat eruditionis pretium lingua, dum retices, quia, dum uenustatem eloquentiae taciturnitas includebat, credebatur non esse quod nuper efferbuit. produxisti in lucem nouum iubar eloquii et dum diem in epistula facis, splendorem recens adeptus crederis iam maturum. gratias ago, quod me ad amicitiae custodiam paginae tuae flore conpellis. sed si fidei meae esses conscius, dubitationem de rebus constantibus non haberes. timeo, ne ambiguitatem quam credis exhibeas et dum amantis teporem metuis, in adfectione frigescas. domine, ut supra salutationis gratiam persoluens spero, ut crebro ad me epistolarum commercia dirigas, quia in his muniis et diligentia te admonet et perfectio ut multus incumbas.