To Arbogastes [count of Trier, a descendant of the Frankish general Arbogastes who served under Theodosius I; one of the last Roman officials on the Rhine frontier].
Your friend Eminentius, my honored elder, delivered to me the letter you composed — a letter brimming with the triple grace of learning. The first of these virtues is charity, which led you to condescend to notice even us — strangers and men already seeking obscurity. The second is modesty: in your undeserved anxiety about your own abilities, you earn the very praise you disclaim. The third is urbanity: you charmingly declare yourself inept, yet you are steeped in the fountain of Roman eloquence. You drink from the Moselle yet belch the Tiber — familiar with barbarians yet ignorant of barbarisms. You are the equal of the ancient commanders who were as skilled with the pen as with the sword.
And so the splendor of the Roman language — if it survives anywhere — has survived by being abolished everywhere on the Belgian and Rhenish frontiers, and has taken up residence in you alone. While you remain alive and speaking, even if Latin law has fallen at the very frontier, Latin words have not faltered. I therefore return your greeting with great joy, glad that at least in one illustrious heart the last traces of a vanishing literature endure. If you continue these traces through frequent reading, you will discover every day how far the educated surpass the uneducated — as far as human beings surpass beasts.
As for your request that I chatter as an unauthorized interpreter on spiritual texts — such things are more justly asked of priests who are nearer in location, greater in age, bright in faith, proven in works, ready in speech, and strong in memory. For to say nothing of the bishop of your own city — a man of the highest accomplishment — the illustrious fathers and leading churchmen of Gaul can be consulted far more conveniently on any question. Neither Lupus, who is not too far away, nor Auspicius, who is quite near, lacks sufficient learning to pour out in response to your queries. And so forgive me for not complying with this part of your request — for if it is proper for you to flee ignorance, it is equally proper for me to avoid pretension. Farewell.
EPISTULA XVII
Sidonius Arvogasti suo salutem.
1. Eminentius amicus tuus, domine maior, obtulit mihi quas ipse dictasti litteras litteratas et gratiae trifariam renidentis cultu refertas. quarum utique virtutum caritas prima est, quae te coegit in nobis vel peregrinis vel iam latere cupientibus humilia dignari; tum verecundia, cuius instinctu dum immerito trepidas, merito praedicaris; tertia urbanitas, qua te ineptire facetissime allegas et Quirinalis impletus fonte facundiae potor Mosellae Tiberim ructas, sic barbarorum familiaris, quod tamen nescius barbarismorum, par ducibus antiquis lingua manuque, sed quorum dextera solebat non stilum minus tractare quam gladium.
2. quocirca sermonis pompa Romani, si qua adhuc uspiam est, Belgicis olim sive Rhenanis abolita terris in te resedit, quo vel incolumi vel perorante, etsi apud limitem ipsum Latina iura ceciderunt, verba non titubant. quapropter alternum salve rependens granditer laetor saltim in inlustri pectore tuo vanescentium litterarum remansisse vestigia, quae si frequenti lectione continuas, experiere per dies, quanto antecellunt beluis homines, tanto anteferri rusticis institutos.
3. de paginis sane quod spiritalibus vis ut aliquid interpres improbus garriam, iustius haec postulantur a sacerdotibus loco propinquis aetate grandaevis, fide claris opere vulgatis, ore promptis memoria tenacibus, omni denique meritorum sublimium dote potioribus. namque ut antistitem civitatis vestrae relinquam, consummatissimum virum cunctarumque virtutum conscientia et fama iuxta beatum, multo opportunius de quibuscumque quaestionibus tibi interrogantur incliti Galliarum patres et protomystae, nec satis positus in longinquo Lupus nec parum in proximo Auspicius, quorum doctrinae abundanti eventilandae nec consultatio tua sufficit. proinde quod super hac precum parte non parui, benignus quidem sed et iustus ignosce, quia si vos imperitiam fugere par est, me quoque decet vitare iactantiam. vale.
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To Arbogastes [count of Trier, a descendant of the Frankish general Arbogastes who served under Theodosius I; one of the last Roman officials on the Rhine frontier].
Your friend Eminentius, my honored elder, delivered to me the letter you composed — a letter brimming with the triple grace of learning. The first of these virtues is charity, which led you to condescend to notice even us — strangers and men already seeking obscurity. The second is modesty: in your undeserved anxiety about your own abilities, you earn the very praise you disclaim. The third is urbanity: you charmingly declare yourself inept, yet you are steeped in the fountain of Roman eloquence. You drink from the Moselle yet belch the Tiber — familiar with barbarians yet ignorant of barbarisms. You are the equal of the ancient commanders who were as skilled with the pen as with the sword.
And so the splendor of the Roman language — if it survives anywhere — has survived by being abolished everywhere on the Belgian and Rhenish frontiers, and has taken up residence in you alone. While you remain alive and speaking, even if Latin law has fallen at the very frontier, Latin words have not faltered. I therefore return your greeting with great joy, glad that at least in one illustrious heart the last traces of a vanishing literature endure. If you continue these traces through frequent reading, you will discover every day how far the educated surpass the uneducated — as far as human beings surpass beasts.
As for your request that I chatter as an unauthorized interpreter on spiritual texts — such things are more justly asked of priests who are nearer in location, greater in age, bright in faith, proven in works, ready in speech, and strong in memory. For to say nothing of the bishop of your own city — a man of the highest accomplishment — the illustrious fathers and leading churchmen of Gaul can be consulted far more conveniently on any question. Neither Lupus, who is not too far away, nor Auspicius, who is quite near, lacks sufficient learning to pour out in response to your queries. And so forgive me for not complying with this part of your request — for if it is proper for you to flee ignorance, it is equally proper for me to avoid pretension. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.