Letter 7021: Ad Sigimundum et Alagisilum

Venantius FortunatusPrince Sigismund|c. 586 AD|Venantius Fortunatus
friendship

XXI. Ad Sigimundum et Alagisilum
To Sigismund and Alagisel

A sweet letter unfolds the names of friends before me: here shining Sigismund, here graceful Alagisel. Happy prosperity poured out the breath of these winds when the breeze announced to me the men I love. I call both your heads to witness — my prayers are as refreshed as a harvest blooming joyfully under rain.

Lest I thirst with raging flames in summer's heat, you have refreshed me with the waters of a nectarous spring. After the lands of Italy you send me, Sigismund, a friend sought out among the Franks — and the one I found in Gaul in its vast extent I would not exchange for the one I left behind in Italy.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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