Letter 5012: If my letters reach you rarely, the fault lies not in my arrogance but in others' tyranny.

To Calminius. If my letters reach you rarely, the fault lies not in my arrogance but in others' tyranny. Do not press me for a plainer explanation — the fear you share will interpret the necessity of this silence well enough. This much alone I will say freely: I grieve that, torn apart by the storm of warring factions, we are deprived of seeing each other. You are never brought before the anxious eyes of your homeland unless perhaps, at the whim of foreign terror, you are encased in your armor while we man our ramparts. In which case you are brought here only as a captive — forced to empty your quiver of arrows and fill your eyes with tears. And we do not refuse this either, since your prayers aim at something very different from your javelins. But since from time to time — if not through the reality of a treaty, at least through the illusion of a truce — some window of hope and freedom shines for us, I earnestly ask that you write to me as often as you can, knowing that in the hearts of these besieged citizens your memory endures with a warmth that forgets the hostility of the besiegers. Farewell.

EPISTULA XII Sidonius Calminio suo salutem. 1. Quod rarius ad vos a nobis pagina meat, non nostra superbia sed aliena impotentia facit. neque super his quicquam planius quaeras, quippe cum silentii huius necessitatem par apud vos metus interpretetur. hoc solum tamen libere gemo, quod turbine dissidentium partium segreges facti mutuo minime fruimur aspectu. neque umquam patriae sollicitis offerris obtutibus, nisi forsitan cum ad arbitrium terroris alieni vos loricae, nos propugnacula tegunt. ubi ipse in hoc solum captivus adduceris, ut pharetras sagittis vacuare, lacrimis oculos implere cogaris, nobis quoque non recusantibus, quod tua satis aliud moliuntur vota quam iacula. 2. sed quia interdum etsi non per foederum veritatem, saltim per indutiarum imaginem quaedam spei nostrae libertatis fenestra resplendet, impense flagito, uti nos, cum maxime potes, affatu paginae frequentis impertias, sciens tibi in animis obsessorum civium illam manere gratiam, quae obliviscatur obsidentis invidiam. vale.