Letter 9021: Even if the inhuman distance of Pontus makes you forgetful of me, I will not return the favor.
Ennodius of Pavia→Helpidius|c. 510 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
grief deathtravel mobility
From: Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To: Helpidius
Date: ~510 AD
Context: A letter to Helpidius, who is far away — possibly in Pontus or another distant posting — lamenting the inhuman distance between them.
Ennodius to Helpidius.
Even if the inhuman distance of Pontus makes you forgetful of me, I will not return the favor. Separation may erode memory in others; in me, it sharpens it.
I write across whatever miles divide us, trusting that the God who placed us at such a distance also provides the means to bridge it. Write back, however far you are. Farewell.
XXI. ENNODIVS HELPEDIO.
Etsi te inmemorem mei Pontica facit inhumanitas, me tamen
imitari non decet quod accuse. sic de ciuitate Mediolanensi
quasi Icarus auolasti et nec mandati me salutatione dignatus
es. sic faciunt quos potentum lateribus iungit inopinata sodalitas.
Musca moritura iustum est, at si per naturam non potes, ad
affectum meo inuiteris exemplo: possunt tibi alii pro abundantia
facultatum utiliores existere, esse tamen non ualent
dulciores. sed redeo ad considerationem patriae tuae, cui debes
bonorum obliuionem et miseriam qua laboras. nunc ergo
honore salutationis inpenso seruum tuum ad hoc direxi, ut filio
tuo domno praefecto et tibi nuntiaret in Christi nomine, me
1 solatia BTV, aolata L inpendetis B tenue scripsi, tenuae
B, tenuis P2Т2b, tenui LP1T1V praestolatnr Pb 2 ut cui]
uaui (a ex ct cott.) L incambet B 4 eclesiae B sufficet
B praecari scites B 5 iubentur B 6 quos et B s . L
captiuos B 7 conditio BT cristianum B 8 praecatio B
10 gaudio] djo B remittates B
XXI. 13 hilpidio BLV 15 imittari T1 deeit B adcaso
B 16 hycarus LPV, hyrcarus B, hyrcarius T 17 potentium
Sirm . 18 moritur B 19 effectum b et Sirm . tibi] obi
B 20 eihistere B 21 tuae om. Sirm debis B 22 inseriam
L, mea seriam B 23 dixeri L
16*
de suburbano illo documenta legitima suscepisse, ut uos cum
illo uestro domno Triggua quod necessarium uideris agere
non omittas.I -:
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To:Helpidius
Date:~510 AD
Context:A letter to Helpidius, who is far away — possibly in Pontus or another distant posting — lamenting the inhuman distance between them.
Ennodius to Helpidius.
Even if the inhuman distance of Pontus makes you forgetful of me, I will not return the favor. Separation may erode memory in others; in me, it sharpens it.
I write across whatever miles divide us, trusting that the God who placed us at such a distance also provides the means to bridge it. Write back, however far you are. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.