To the Lord Bishop Graecus [Bishop of Marseille].
I envy the good fortune of our regular courier, who has the chance to see you so often. But what am I saying about Amantius? I even envy my own letters, which will be opened by your sacred fingers and read by your blessed eyes. Here I sit, penned within the half-burned remnants of a fragile wall, unable to satisfy my longing for you, trapped by the terror of a war close at hand. If only the condition and circumstances of the Auvergne were such that we could less easily be excused!
But what is harder still: it is through the merits of our own injustice that we do not lack a legitimate excuse. So, having offered the customary greeting as duty requires, I earnestly ask that you accept words in payment of the debt of a personal visit — for the time being. For if the freedom to travel is restored by peace, I will fear something else entirely: that the regularity of my presence will become a nuisance. Be mindful of us, my lord bishop.
EPISTULA XI
Sidonius domino papae Graeco salutem.
1. Invideo felicitati consuetudinarii portitoris, a quo contigit saepius vos videri. sed quid de Amantio loquar, cum ipsas quoque litteras meas aemuler, quae sacrosanctis reserabuntur digitis, inspicientur obtutibus? et ego istic inter semiustas muri fragilis clausus angustias belli terrore contigui desiderio de vobis meo nequaquam satisfacere permittor. atque utinam haec esset Arvernae forma vel causa regionis, ut minus excusabiles iudicaremur!
2. sed, quod est durius, per iniustitiae nostrae merita conficitur, ut excusatio nobis iusta non desit. quocirca salutatione praefata, sicut mos poscit officii, magno opere deposco, ut interim remittatis occursionis debitum vel verba solventi. nam si commeandi libertas pace revocetur, illud magis verebor, ne assiduitas praesentiae meae sit potius futura fastidio. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.
◆
To the Lord Bishop Graecus [Bishop of Marseille].
I envy the good fortune of our regular courier, who has the chance to see you so often. But what am I saying about Amantius? I even envy my own letters, which will be opened by your sacred fingers and read by your blessed eyes. Here I sit, penned within the half-burned remnants of a fragile wall, unable to satisfy my longing for you, trapped by the terror of a war close at hand. If only the condition and circumstances of the Auvergne were such that we could less easily be excused!
But what is harder still: it is through the merits of our own injustice that we do not lack a legitimate excuse. So, having offered the customary greeting as duty requires, I earnestly ask that you accept words in payment of the debt of a personal visit — for the time being. For if the freedom to travel is restored by peace, I will fear something else entirely: that the regularity of my presence will become a nuisance. Be mindful of us, my lord bishop.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.