Letter 9010: It is flattery, not the sacrament of true goodwill, when affection is shown only to those who are present.
Ennodius of Pavia→Celsus|c. 501 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Celsus
Date: ~501 AD
Context: A letter reflecting on the nature of genuine friendship versus mere courtesy — a theme Ennodius returns to repeatedly.
To Celsus, from Ennodius.
It is flattery, not the sacrament of true goodwill, when affection is shown only to those who are present. The man who remembers his friends only when they are in the room has confused politeness with love.
I hold you to a higher standard — and I hold myself to the same. The friendship between us was not made for fair weather alone. It was built to endure distance, silence, and the wear of years. If it cannot survive a few months without a letter, it was never the thing we claimed it was.
But I believe it is. And so I write, trusting that you will prove me right. Farewell.
X. CELSO ENNODIVS.
Lenocinium est, non gratiae sacramentum quod tantum
praesentibus exhibetur: amicitiae sinceritas et longe positos
VIIII. 2 camellae LTVb, camelle BP 4 paruolum B
5 suscipisse B, suscipere LTVb 6 aecclesiastici B (et sic l. 12)
seruitiis B 7 relazit B 8 occupatus BL 9 uita Sirm.
disciplininu T 13 ezpulire B 14 diacs B ipse asseruit
Pb, ipseruit BLV, imperauit T 15 istis fort . 17 magis] magistri
L 18 eogitatiane L1, cogitationem B 19 uernolam B,
uenulam Fabri codex 90 ut nt B fabor B 23 nos B, nostro
LPTVb 24 adsia duis B non o.] Domi|natas L
X. 28 amiticie T .
non relinquit. quid possit uera fides, intellegat qui tunc
adipiscitur beneficia, quando desinit supplicare: ego mihi debeo,
quod ad stationem precum trans Gargara positus peruenisti.
tu luce conscientiae amicos et litteras uno a te tempore diuisisti,
sectans non solam longinqua sed abdita, ita ut nusquam
te sagacis boni persecutor inueniat. semper et hic quidem
latentia inter lepores cubilia diligebas, sed saepe latebram
tuam qui presso ore uestigia rimatus est inuenit. nunc altiori
consilio, credo, ut maerores accenderes, te hominum coetibus
submouisti. ergo solam pueritiam debuisti Mediolanensibus
tuis? et uirum te tenere debuerant qui puerum possederunt,
et quos laetificasti de amplexibus debuisti iuuare consiliis. sed
hinc alias. tu tibi prouisionum tuarum aut gaudia debebis ant
lacrimas. ego interim salutationem praefatus memor debiti
donationem de puero destinaui, hoc apud me reputans, ut nec
inportunus in tempore diffidentiae suae uinceret et cessans
inter desperationis mala gauderet.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Celsus
Date:~501 AD
Context:A letter reflecting on the nature of genuine friendship versus mere courtesy — a theme Ennodius returns to repeatedly.
To Celsus, from Ennodius.
It is flattery, not the sacrament of true goodwill, when affection is shown only to those who are present. The man who remembers his friends only when they are in the room has confused politeness with love.
I hold you to a higher standard — and I hold myself to the same. The friendship between us was not made for fair weather alone. It was built to endure distance, silence, and the wear of years. If it cannot survive a few months without a letter, it was never the thing we claimed it was.
But I believe it is. And so I write, trusting that you will prove me right. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.