Letter 2008: Sedatus, bishop, to his holy and most blessed lord and Pope Ruricius, to be revered with apostolic respect.
Ruricius of Limoges→Ruricius of Limoges|c. 485 AD|Ruricius of Limoges
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From: Sedatus, bishop (of Toulouse or nearby)
To: Ruricius, bishop of Limoges
Date: ~490 AD
Context: One of the funniest letters in the collection — Sedatus thanks Ruricius for the gift of a horse, then delivers a devastatingly comic description of the wretched animal: slow, ugly, afraid of everything solid but unbothered by shadows, immobile when ridden but a runaway when released.
Sedatus, bishop, to his holy and most blessed lord and Pope Ruricius, to be revered with apostolic respect.
I received the horse you sent through our brother the priest — loaded down with the magnificent trappings of your words. In your letter he was priceless; in life he is worthless. He moves when he is jabbed with spurs or beaten with a whip — and still makes absolutely no progress. He is hideous in form, the cheapest of colors, softer than feathers, lazier than statues. He is terrified of anything solid, but — out of habit, I suppose — not afraid of shadows. He runs away when you let him go; he is immovable when you sit on him. He stands on flat ground; he collapses on rough terrain. He cannot be held and is unable to walk.
Before I actually saw him, while I was rereading your letters, I believed he was from the race of those horses "whom cunning Circe, using a substituted mother, created as bastards" [Virgil, Aeneid 7.282].
I thought he would be fiery in spirit, swift in his courses, breathing fire from flaring nostrils when presented, shaking the solid ground with his hooves, outrunning the winds and rivers in speed. For your most brilliant letter had described just such an animal to me.
VIII. DOMINO SANCTO AC BEATISSIMO ET APOSTOLICA REUERENTIA SUSPICIENDO DOMNO ET PAPAE RURICIO EPISCOPO SEDATUS EPISCOPUS.
Equum, quem per fratrem nostrum presbyterum transmisistis,
accepi magnificis uerborum uestrorum phaleris oneratum, in
1 ac frequenti et v 5 presentiam S 6 persentimus v utrum dictis
an datis in 8 exstet dubium, dictis v 9 commendetis S . ut Kr., et S
10 et Kr., ut S 11 tholosa S, Tolosae v Kr . 12 hispanus Sl 13 oro
te v tam S dignaretur affectum S, cenT. v 21 expetit coni. Mmumsenus
22 meae om. v 23 distinarem S 24 desiderio S 26 domino v
suspiciendo Kr., suscipiendo S 27 papae] patrono Kr . 28 aequum S
29 faleris S oneratum scrijm, honeratum S, honoratum vKr .
XXI. Fauat.
29
uita uilem, in epistula pretiosum, mouentem se, cum foditur
calcaribus aut urgetur uerberibus, et nihil penitus promouentem,
forma deterrimum, colore uilissimum, molliorem plumis, statuis
pigriorem, solida corpora pauescentem, umbras solum, ut credo,
de consuetudine non timentem, fugitiuum, cum dimittitur, inmobilem,
cum sedetur, in planis stantem, in asperis conruentem,
qui teneri nesciat, ambulare non possit. quem priusquam
uiderem, dum epistulas uestras relego, illorum de gente
esse credidi,.
quos Daedala Circe
subposita de matre nothos furata creauit.
Putabam illum calidum animis, acrem cursibus, ignem, cum
exhiberetur, elatis naribus efflaturum, concussurum solido cornu
campos, celeritate uentos et flumina praecursurum. talem enim
mihi splendidissimus epistulae sermo promiserat. credebam
etiam, quod illum mandentem frenos, terentem morsibus ferrum
duo fortiores uiri, ne euaderet, retinerent. nec me fefellit.
nam trahebant eum aliquot, inpingebant alii et plures caedebant.
quem ut sic exhibitum uidi, optaui, ut talia, qualia erant,
non, qualia epistula mea continet, semper caris uestris munera
mitteretis. ego tamen, quia mihi non reliquistis in transmissi
muneris laude quod dicerem, ne omnino .....
10] Uerg. Aen. VII 282 sq..
1 uita scripsi, uia S preciosum S se-promouentem Sbis 2 et]
ex S paenitus S 3 statuis v, status S 4 pauiscentem S 5 fugitium
S 6 caeditur v 9 crededi S dedala S 11 notus S
12 potabam S callidum S 13 exiberetur S 14 campus Sl uentus
S 16 mandantem S (e man. alt.), manducantem t\' frenus S1
terentem r, erentem S 17 forciores S feuellit S 18 aliquod S
cedebant S 19 ut r, ad 8 20 muneris v, munere S lacunam indicaui;
quae sequuntur in S, ex Sidonii epistula (II, 1) deprompta ntnt,
cf. prolegomena
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From:Sedatus, bishop (of Toulouse or nearby)
To:Ruricius, bishop of Limoges
Date:~490 AD
Context:One of the funniest letters in the collection — Sedatus thanks Ruricius for the gift of a horse, then delivers a devastatingly comic description of the wretched animal: slow, ugly, afraid of everything solid but unbothered by shadows, immobile when ridden but a runaway when released.
Sedatus, bishop, to his holy and most blessed lord and Pope Ruricius, to be revered with apostolic respect.
I received the horse you sent through our brother the priest — loaded down with the magnificent trappings of your words. In your letter he was priceless; in life he is worthless. He moves when he is jabbed with spurs or beaten with a whip — and still makes absolutely no progress. He is hideous in form, the cheapest of colors, softer than feathers, lazier than statues. He is terrified of anything solid, but — out of habit, I suppose — not afraid of shadows. He runs away when you let him go; he is immovable when you sit on him. He stands on flat ground; he collapses on rough terrain. He cannot be held and is unable to walk.
Before I actually saw him, while I was rereading your letters, I believed he was from the race of those horses "whom cunning Circe, using a substituted mother, created as bastards" [Virgil, Aeneid 7.282].
I thought he would be fiery in spirit, swift in his courses, breathing fire from flaring nostrils when presented, shaking the solid ground with his hooves, outrunning the winds and rivers in speed. For your most brilliant letter had described just such an animal to me.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.