To Domnitius.
You who love the sight of arms and armed men — what pleasure you would have felt if you had seen young Prince Sigismer [a Burgundian royal], dressed in the full splendor of his people's fashion, making his way to his father-in-law's palace as a suitor and bridegroom! Horses decked in jeweled trappings went before and behind him, but what was most striking was this: surrounded by his runners and attendants on foot, he walked in the middle of them, blazing in scarlet, gleaming in gold, shining in white silk, his ruddy hair and fair skin matching all that finery.
The appearance of the petty kings and companions escorting him was terrifying even in peacetime. Their feet were laced up to the ankle in bristly hide boots. Knees, shins, and calves were bare. Above that, tight, high-cut, multicolored tunics that barely reached the knee, with sleeves covering only the upper arm. Green cloaks edged in crimson. Swords hung from their shoulders on baldrics that pressed close their fur-covered, stud-decorated sides.
The ornaments they wore were also their weapons. Their right hands bristled with barbed lances and throwing-axes; their left arms were shadowed by shields — snow-white on the rims, tawny-gold on the bosses — shields that displayed their owners' wealth as much as their taste for war. The whole scene was arranged so that the pomp of Mars was no less visible than the pomp of Venus at this wedding procession.
The only thing missing was you. When I saw the kind of spectacle you love and realized you were not there to see it, I found myself missing your enthusiasm as much as you would have missed the sight. Farewell.
EPISTULA XX
Sidonius Domnitio suo salutem.
1. Tu cui frequenter arma et armatos inspicere iucundum est, quam voluptatem, putamus, mente conceperas, si Sigismerem regium iuvenem ritu atque cultu gentilicio ornatum, utpote sponsum seu petitorem, praetorium soceri expetere vidisses! illum equus quidem phaleris comptus, immo equi radiantibus gemmis onusti antecedebant vel etiam subsequebantur, cum tamen magis hoc ibi decorum conspiciebatur, quod cursoribus suis sive pedisequis pedes et ipse medius incessit, flammeus cocco rutilus auro lacteus serico, tum cultui tanto coma rubore cute concolor.
2. regulorum autem sociorumque comitantum forma et in pace terribilis; quorum pedes primi perone saetoso talos adusque vinciebantur; genua crura suraeque sine tegmine; praeter hoc vestis alta stricta versicolor vix appropinquans poplitibus exertis; manicae sola brachiorum principia velantes; viridantia saga limbis marginata puniceis; penduli ex umero gladii balteis supercurrentibus strinxerant clausa bullatis latera rhenonibus.
3. eo quo comebantur ornatu muniebantur; lanceis uncatis securibusque missibilibus dextrae refertae clipeis laevam partem adumbrantibus, quorum lux in orbibus nivea, fulva in umbonibus ita censum prodebat ut studium. cuncta prorsus huiusmodi, ut in actione thalamorum non appareret minor Martis pompa quam Veneris. sed quid haec pluribus? spectaculo tali sola praesentia tua defuit. nam cum viderem quae tibi pulchra sunt non te videre, ipsam eo tempore desiderii tui inpatientiam desideravi. vale.
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To Domnitius.
You who love the sight of arms and armed men — what pleasure you would have felt if you had seen young Prince Sigismer [a Burgundian royal], dressed in the full splendor of his people's fashion, making his way to his father-in-law's palace as a suitor and bridegroom! Horses decked in jeweled trappings went before and behind him, but what was most striking was this: surrounded by his runners and attendants on foot, he walked in the middle of them, blazing in scarlet, gleaming in gold, shining in white silk, his ruddy hair and fair skin matching all that finery.
The appearance of the petty kings and companions escorting him was terrifying even in peacetime. Their feet were laced up to the ankle in bristly hide boots. Knees, shins, and calves were bare. Above that, tight, high-cut, multicolored tunics that barely reached the knee, with sleeves covering only the upper arm. Green cloaks edged in crimson. Swords hung from their shoulders on baldrics that pressed close their fur-covered, stud-decorated sides.
The ornaments they wore were also their weapons. Their right hands bristled with barbed lances and throwing-axes; their left arms were shadowed by shields — snow-white on the rims, tawny-gold on the bosses — shields that displayed their owners' wealth as much as their taste for war. The whole scene was arranged so that the pomp of Mars was no less visible than the pomp of Venus at this wedding procession.
The only thing missing was you. When I saw the kind of spectacle you love and realized you were not there to see it, I found myself missing your enthusiasm as much as you would have missed the sight. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.