Letter 9008: The strength of a friendship is proved not by grand gestures but by steady correspondence.
Ennodius of Pavia→Victor|c. 499 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Victor
Date: ~499 AD
Context: A letter to Victor during the years of the Laurentian schism, sustaining the network of correspondents that gave Ennodius his influence.
To Victor, from Ennodius.
The strength of a friendship is proved not by grand gestures but by steady correspondence. I write to you in that spirit — not because I have great news to deliver, but because the habit of writing to a friend is itself a form of faithfulness.
I trust you are well. The times test all of us, but the man who keeps his commitments — to God, to his friends, to the truth — has nothing to fear from the world's turbulence.
Send me word of yourself when you can. I remain your devoted friend and brother in Christ. Farewell.
VIII. VICTORI ENNODIVS.
Dum inscitiam sublimitas tua praeloquitur, eruditionis secreta
patefecit: inpugnas perfectione quod adseris. nam dum te
saluo pudore inlitteratum esse confirmas, quid naturae uigor,
quid studiorum lima contulerit, declarasti. credat mihi subli*
mitas tua, inbuendum liberalibus disciplinis iam suis bonis
ditauit. si talis lingua prosequitur fratris Pauli filium, facunda
adstipulatio et commendat et edocet. nihil longe degentibus
magistris opus est, quando digna laude loquitur qui dirigit ad
docentem. erubesco insinuatum minus inuenisse quam detulit,
deum rogans, ut quod de me per adfectionem praesumitis
ingenii ualeam uirtute conplere. uos tamen honore salutationis
accepto quibus libet officium sermonis inpendite, dummodo
sollicitudini meae de prosperitate uestra multiplex scriptionis
cura respondeat.
VIL 3 nnetatem V1 7 m T, mihi BLV 9 cum] c5 L
adtinente B 10 quatinus LTV 11 nutimus B
VIII. 16 insciam B, iniitiam Tl 17 perfectione ̀ L 19 studiorum
(i in ras.) B 20 bonas L 21 tales B 22 prius et
om. B 23 diriget B 24 erobisco B munus Lb, manui
B 28 uestra om. Sirm .
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Victor
Date:~499 AD
Context:A letter to Victor during the years of the Laurentian schism, sustaining the network of correspondents that gave Ennodius his influence.
To Victor, from Ennodius.
The strength of a friendship is proved not by grand gestures but by steady correspondence. I write to you in that spirit — not because I have great news to deliver, but because the habit of writing to a friend is itself a form of faithfulness.
I trust you are well. The times test all of us, but the man who keeps his commitments — to God, to his friends, to the truth — has nothing to fear from the world's turbulence.
Send me word of yourself when you can. I remain your devoted friend and brother in Christ. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.