Sidonius Apollinaris: EPISTULARUM LIBRI IX

1. Soror mihi quae uxor tibi: hinc inter nos summa et principalis necessitudo, et ea quidem patruelis, non germana fraternitas, quae plerumque se purius fortius meracius amat. nam facultatum inter germanos prius lite sopita iam qui nascuntur ex fratribus nihil invicem controversantur, et hinc saepe caritas in patruelibus maior, quia desistit simultas a divisione nec cessat affectus a semine. secundus nobis animorum nexus accessit de studiorum parilitate, quia idem sentimus culpamus laudamus in litteris et aeque nobis quaelibet dictio placet improbaturque, quamquam mihi nimis arrogo iudicium meum conferens tuo.

1. A sister to me who is a wife to you: hence between us the chief and principal necessity, and that indeed a patruelis, not a germana fraternitas, which for the most part loves itself more purely, more strongly, more sincerely. For among brothers, the faculties having first been stilled by quarrel, those who are born of brothers no longer dispute at all with one another, and hence often charity among patruel relations is greater, because rivalry ceases from division nor does affection cease from the seed. A second bond of minds has come to us from the parity of studies, because we feel the same, blame the same, praise the same in letters, and equally any phrasing pleases and is disapproved by us, although I arrogate my judgment too much in comparing it with yours.

2. quis enim iuvenum nesciat seniorumque te mihi magistrum fuisse proprium, cum videremur habere communem, et si quid heroicus arduum comicus lepidum, lyricus cantilenosum orator declamatorium, historicus verum satiricus figuratum, grammaticus regulare panegyrista plausibile, sophista serium epigrammatista lascivum, commentator lucidum iurisconsultus obscurum multifariam condiderunt, id te omnifariam singulis, nisi cui ingenium sibique quis defuit, tradidisse? deus bone! quam sibi hinc patres nostri gratulabantur, cum viderent sub ope Christi te docere posse, me discere, et non solum te facere quod posses sed et velle quod faceres ideoque te bonum non minus quam peritum pronuntiari!

2. for who of the young and the old does not know that you were to me a teacher and master proper, when we seemed to have one in common, and if anything heroic and lofty, comic and witty, lyric and cantillating, oratorical and declamatory, historic and true, satirical and figurative, grammarian and regular, panegyrical and plausible, sophist and serious, epigrammatist and wanton, commentator and lucid, jurist and obscure — you furnished these manifoldly to each one, unless some man's genius or some faculty failed him? good God! how our fathers rejoiced on that account, when they saw that under the help of Christ you could teach, I could learn, and not only that you could do what you were able but that you would will what you did; and for that reason you were proclaimed as good no less than skilled!

3. et vere intra Eusebianos Lares talium te quaedam moneta susceperat disciplinarum, cuius philosophica incude formatus nunc varias nobis rerum sermonumque rationes ipso etiam qui docuerat probante pandebas, nunc ut Platon discipulus iam prope potior sub Socrate, sic iam tu sub Eusebio nostro inter Aristotelicas categorias artifex dialecticus atticissabas, cum ille adhuc aetatulam nostram mobilem teneram crudam modo castigatoria severitate decoqueret, modo mandatorum salubritate condiret.

3. and truly even within the Eusebian Lares a certain coinage of the disciplines had taken you up, whose philosophical anvil having shaped you you now unfolded to us various methods and reasonings of things and discourse, even with approval from him who had taught; now, as Plato almost became the superior pupil under Socrates, so now you under our Eusebius, among Aristotelian categories, wrought as an atticizing dialectician, while he still, by turns, was refining our mutable, tender, raw little age with corrective severity, and then seasoning it with the wholesomeness of injunctions.

4. at qualium, deus bone, quamque pretiosorum, quae si quis deportaret philosophaturus aut ad paludicolas Sygambros aut ad Caucasigenas Alanos aut ad equimulgas Gelonos, bestialium rigidarumque nationum corda cornea fibraeque glaciales procul dubio emollirentur egelidarentur neque illorum ferociam stoliditatemque, quae secundum beluas ineptit brutescit accenditur, rideremus contemneremus pertimesceremus.

4. but of what sort, good God, and how precious, which if anyone were to carry off to philosophize among the marsh-dwelling Sygambri or to the Caucasian-born Alans or to the horse-milking Geloni, the corneous hearts and icy fibres of those bestial, rigid nations would without doubt be softened and thawed, and we would no longer laugh at, contemn, or be terrified of their ferocity and stolidness, which, after the manner of beasts, is kindled and grows brutish.

5. igitur quia nos ut affinitas, ita studia iunxerunt, precor, quoquo loci es, amicitiae iura inconcussa custodias longumque tibi etsi sede absumus, adsimus affectu; cuius intemeratae partes, quantum spectat ad vos, a nobis in aevum, si quod est vitae reliquum, perennabuntur. vale.

5. therefore, since affinity joined us as much as studies did, I pray that, wherever you are, you keep the unshaken laws of friendship, and that although we are absent in seat, we be present in affection toward you for a long time; the untarnished parts of which, insofar as they concern you, by us into eternity, if there be any remainder of life, will endure. farewell.

EPISTULA II

EPISTLE 2

Claudianus Sidonio papae salutem.

Claudianus. To Pope Sidonius, greeting.

1. Si possibile factu esset, ut te, dominum meum, vel aliquotiens aliquantulum convenirem, non undeunde quarumpiam personarum aut voluntates aut necessitates anquirerem, quae in rem debiti mei usui mihi esse possent. quippe revisionis potestas multimodis et miseris perinde causis intercluditur. enimvero scribendi facultas aut raro idonea suppetit aut nec suppetit.

1. If it were possible, that I might meet you, my lord, even occasionally for a little while, not that I might seek from any quarter the persons’ wills or necessities or preferences which could be to the use of my duty. For the power of revision is cut off in many ways and for causes equally miserable. Indeed the faculty of writing is either rarely suitably at hand or is not at hand at all.

istaec eadem remissibilia sint necne, tute iudicaveris.

You yourself will judge whether these same things are remissible or not.

2. porro autem vero, quod saepenumero scriptis vestris alii inpertiuntur, qui id ipsum nec ambiunt quam egomet forsan nec merentur amplius, non arbitror amicitiae legibus inpune committi. illud etiamnum dolenter faxo tacitum, quod libellos illos, quos tuo nomine nobilitari non abnuis, nullo umquam inpertivisti rescripto. sed vacuum forte non suppetit, quod tute modicum magnae admodum impendas amicitiae.

2. moreover, as to the fact that very often by your letters others are endowed with things which perhaps they neither seek nor deserve more than I do, I do not think may be committed with impunity to the laws of friendship. I will moreover, to my sorrow, keep silent that you have never in any reply bestowed those little books which you do not refuse to have ennobled by your name. but perhaps there is no spare copy at hand, on which you might bestow a little of your very great friendship.

3. ecquo tumet occupatu umquam uspiamve implicabere, quin illud in aliorum commoda revergat? cum precatu deum placas, eundem non modo amicis sed ignotis quoque concilias. cum scripturarum caelestium mysteria rimaris, quo te studiosius imbuis, eo doctrinam ceteris copiosius infundis.

3. Shall anything ever be swollen, occupied, or entangled anywhere, without that turning back to the advantage of others? By your prayer you placate God, and you win over the same not only for friends but also for strangers. As you probe the mysteries of the heavenly Scriptures, the more zealously you imbue yourself, the more copiously you pour doctrine into others.

cum tuas opes in usus inopum prodigis, tibi quidem maxume, sed aliis quoque consultum facis. proinde nihil videlicet, profecto nihil est tam infecundum actionum tuarum omnium, quod tibi uni soli tantum et non aliis quoque multis tecum uberem fructum ferat.

when you lavish your opes on the uses of the inopum, you profit most of all yourself, yet you also do a service to others. therefore nothing, assuredly nothing, of all your actions is so infecund that it should bring an ubertous fruit to you alone and not likewise to many others with you.

4. nulla igitur cuiusquam praepedimenti occasio praetendi vel falso potest, cur egomet specialis atque intumus nihil ab speciali meo fructi feram, a quo ignoti quoque multum capiant plurimi. sed, uti ego autumo, iuxta formam euangelici largitoris quod non das amico esurienti dabis improbo pulsatori. porro si etiamnum solito obdurueris, faxim egomet quod tete paenitebit, quoniam, si peccabis ultra reticendo, ego protinus ulciscar scribendo.

4. therefore no occasion of anyone’s hindrance can be alleged or falsely pretended to show why I, being a special and intimate , should bear no fruit from my special [gift], from which many, even unknown, receive much. But, as I suppose, according to the pattern of the evangelical dispenser, what you do not give to a hungry friend you will give to a wicked beggar. Moreover, if you still harden as usual, would that I myself might bring about what you will repent, for if you sin by further withholding, I will forthwith avenge by writing.

porro enim ambiguo caret tam te puniendum scripto meo, quam punior egomet silentio tuo. vale.

Moreover, for the ambiguous matter lacks, as much that you be punished by my writing as that I myself be punished by your silence. Farewell.

EPISTULA III

LETTER 3

Sidonius Claudiano suo salutem.

Sidonius sends his greetings to his own Claudianus.

1. Committi, domine maior, in necessitudinis iura pronuntias, cur quod ad salve tibi debitum spectat a stilo et pugillaribus diu temperem quodque deinceps nullas viantum volas mea papyrus oneraverit, quae vos cultu sedulae sospitatis impertiat. praeter aequum ista coniectas, si reare mortalium quempiam, cui tamen sermocinari Latialiter cordi est, non pavere, cum in examen aurium tuarum quippe scriptus adducitur; tuarum, inquam, aurium, quarum peritiae, si me decursorum ad hoc aevi temporum praerogativa non obruat, nec Frontonianae gravitatis aut ponderis Apuleiani fulmen aequiperem, cui Varrones, vel Atacinus vel Terentius, Plinii, vel avunculus vel Secundus, compositi in praesentiarum rusticabuntur.

1. I entrust, most noble lord, that you pronounce upon the rights of our relationship, why I should for a long time temper from stylus and pugillares what pertains to the salutation owed to you, and why henceforth my papyrus should burden no travelling wings, that which imparts to you the cultivation of diligent preservation. You conjecture these things beyond fairness, if I were to deny some mortal, to whom nevertheless it is dear to chatter in the Latin manner, not to fear, since what is written is surely brought to the judgment of your ears; yours, I say, whose skill, if the prerogative of the runners of these times does not overwhelm me, I would not match in Frontonian gravity nor in Apuleian weight, to whom Varrones — whether Atacinus or Terentius — Plinies, whether uncle or Secundus, in these present days will be judged rustic.

2. adstipulatur iudicio meo volumen illud, quod tute super statu animae rerum verborumque scientia divitissimus propalavisti. in quo dum ad meum nomen prooemiaris, hoc munus potissimum cepi, ut meae fama personae, quam operae pretium non erat librorum suorum titulis inclarescere, tuorum beneficio perpetuaretur. at quod, deus magne, quantumque opus illud est, materia clausum declamatione conspicuum, propositione obstructum disputatione reseratum, et quamquam propter hamata syllogismorum puncta tribulosum, vernantis tamen eloquii flore mollitum!

2. That volume is vouched by my judgment which you, most rich in the science of things and words, have made public concerning the state of the soul. In which, while you prefaced to my name, I took up this gift above all, that the fame of my person, which it was not worth the labor to make famous by the titles of his books, might be perpetuated by your benefit. But, O great God, how great that work is — shut by matter and made conspicuous by declamation, obstructed by proposition and opened by disputation, and although rugged because of the hooked points of syllogisms, yet softened by the flourishing bloom of eloquence!

3. nova ibi verba, quia vetusta, quibusque conlatus merito etiam antiquarum litterarum stilus antiquaretur; quodque pretiosius, tota illa dictio sic caesuratim succincta, quod profluens; quam rebus amplam strictamque sententiis sentias plus docere quam dicere. denique et quondam, nec iniuria, haec principalis facundia computabatur, cui paucis multa cohibenti curae fuit causam potius implere quam paginam.

3. there new words, because the old, and with which the compounded style of the ancient letters was rightly made archaic; and what is more precious, that whole diction so caesurate and succinct, not effusively flowing, which, in ample and compact sentences, you perceive to teach more than to say. Finally, and once, not without reason, this was reckoned the principal eloquence, whose care was, by restraining much in few words, to fulfil the cause rather than the page.

4. at vero in libris tuis iam illud quale est, quod et teneritudinem quamquam continuata maturitas admittit interseritque tempestivam censura dulcedinem, ut lectoris intentionem per eventilata disciplinarum philosophiae membra lassatam repente voluptuosis excessibus quasi quibusdam pelagi sui portibus foveat? o liber multifariam pollens, o eloquium non exilis sed subtilis ingenii, quod nec per scaturrigines hyperbolicas intumescit nec per tapinomata depressa tenuatur!

4. but truly in your books what is this, that they interpose a tenderness which continuous maturity allows and a timely censorial sweetness, so that the reader’s attention, through the ventilated limbs of the disciplines of philosophy relaxed, is suddenly fostered by voluptuous excesses as by certain harbors of its own sea? O book powerful in manifold ways, O eloquence not meager but of subtle genius, which neither swells by hyperbolic gushings nor is thinned by demeaning diminutions!

5. ad hoc unica singularisque doctrina et in diversarum rerum assertione monstrabilis, cui moris est de singulis artibus cum singulis artificibus philosophari, quaeque, si fors exigit, tenere non abnuit cum Orpheo plectrum cum Aesculapio baculum, cum Archimede radium cum Euphrate horoscopium, cum Perdice circinum cum Vitruvio perpendiculum quaeque numquam investigare destiterit cum Thalete tempora, cum Atlante sidera, cum +Zeto pondera, cum Chrysippo numeros, cum Euclide mensuras.

5. to this add that he is remarkable for a unique and singular doctrina and for demonstration in the assertion of diverse matters, to whom it is a custom to philosophize about each art with each artificer, and who, if chance demands, does not refuse to hold Orpheus’ plectrum with Aesculapius’ rod, Archimedes’ ray with the Euphrates’ horoscope, Perdix’s compass with Vitruvius’ plumb-line, and who has never ceased to investigate things with Thales the times, with Atlas the stars, with +Zeto the weights, with Chrysippus the numbers, with Euclid the measures.

6. ad extremum nemo saeculo meo quae voluit affirmare sic valuit. siquidem dum sese adversus eum, quem contra loquitur, exertat, morum ac studiorum linguae utriusque symbolam iure sibi vindicat. sentit ut Pythagoras dividit ut Socrates, explicat ut Platon implicat ut Aristoteles, ut Aeschines blanditur ut Demosthenes irascitur, vernat ut Hortensius aestuat ut Cethegus, incitat ut Curio moratur ut Fabius, simulat ut Crassus dissimulat ut Caesar, suadet ut Cato dissuadet ut Appius persuadet ut Tullius.

6. finally no one in my age was so able to affirm what he wished. for while he exerts himself against him of whom he speaks in opposition, he lawfully claims for himself the emblem of the tongue of both morals and studies. he feels like Pythagoras, divides like Socrates, explicates like Plato, entangles like Aristotle, flatters like Aeschines, grows angry like Demosthenes, springs up like Hortensius, seethes like Cethegus, urges on like Curio, lingers like Fabius, feigns like Crassus, conceals like Caesar, advises like Cato, dissuades like Appius, persuades like Tullius.

7. iam si ad sacrosanctos patres pro comparatione veniatur, instruit ut Hieronymus destruit ut Lactantius adstruit ut Augustinus, attollitur ut Hilarius summittitur ut Iohannes, ut Basilius corripit ut Gregorius consolatur, ut Orosius affluit ut Rufinus stringitur, ut Eusebius narrat ut Eucherius sollicitat, ut Paulinus provocat ut Ambrosius perseverat.

7. now if for comparison one comes to the sacrosanct fathers, he instructs as Hieronymus, destroys as Lactantius, confirms as Augustinus, is exalted as Hilarius, is humbled as Iohannes, as Basilius reproves as Gregorius consoles, as Orosius overflows as Rufinus is constrained, as Eusebius narrates as Eucherius solicits, as Paulinus provokes as Ambrosius perseveres.

8. iam vero de hymno tuo si percontere quid sentiam, commaticus est copiosus, dulcis elatus, et quoslibet lyricos dithyrambos amoenitate poetica et historica veritate supereminet. idque tuum in illo peculiare, quod servatis metrorum pedibus pedum syllabis syllabarumque naturis intra spatii sui terminum verba ditia versus pauper includit nec artati carminis brevitas longitudinem phalerati sermonis eliminat; ita tibi facile factu est minutis trochaeis minutioribusque pyrrhichiis non solum molossicas anapaesticasque ternarias sed epitritorum etiam paeonumque quaternatas supervenire iuncturas.

8. Now truly, if one question what I think of your hymn, it is commatic, copious, sweetly exalted, and surpasses whatever lyrical dithyrambs in poetic amenity and historical veracity. And that is peculiarly yours: that, with the feet of the metres preserved, the feet, the syllables and the natures of the syllables kept within the bounds of their space, it encloses rich words in a poor verse, nor does the brevity of a tightened poem eliminate the length of an ornamented discourse; thus it is easy for you, with minute trochees and still smaller pyrrhics, to overlay not only molossic and anapaestic ternaries but even quaternary junctions of epitrites and paeons.

9. excrescit amplitudo proloquii angustias regulares et tamquam parvo auro grandis gemma vix capitur emicatque ut equi potentis animositas, cui frementi, si inter tesqua vel confraga frenorum lege teneatur, intellegis non tam cursum deesse quam campum. quid multis? arbitro me in utroque genere dicendi nec Athenae sic Atticae nec Musae sic musicae iudicabuntur, si modo mihi vel censendi copiam desidia longior non ademit.

9. the amplitude of prolixity grows beyond its regular narrownesses, and, like a great gem set in too little gold, it is scarcely contained; and it flashes forth as the animosity of a powerful horse, which, when neighing, if held by the law of reins among crags or rugged rocks, you understand lacks not so much a course as an open field. Why say more? Judge me in both kinds of speaking; neither the Athens so Attic nor the Muse so musical will be judged, if only longer sloth has not deprived me even of the freedom to censure.

nam dum inpactae professionis obtentu novum scribendi morem gradatim appeto et veterem saltuatim dedisco, de bono oratore nil amplius habeo quam quod malus poeta esse plus coepi.

for while, under the ostentation of a professed profession, I gradually adopt a new manner of writing and unlearn the old by leaps, concerning the good orator I have nothing more to say than that I have begun increasingly to be a bad poet.

10. proin, quaeso, delicti huius mihi gratiam facias, quod aliquantisper mei meminens arentem venulam rarius flumini tuo misceo. tuam tubam totus qua patet orbis iure venerabitur, quam constat geminata felicitate cecinisse, quando nec aemulum repperit nec aequalem, cum pridem aures et ora populorum me etiam circumferente pervagaretur. nobis autem grandis audacia, si vel apud municipales et cathedrarios oratores aut forenses rabulas garriamus, qui etiam cum perorant, salva pace potiorum, turba numerosior illitteratissimis litteris vacant.

10. therefore, I beg, grant me the grace for this fault, that, remembering me somewhat while parched, I mingle my small wares less often with your stream. Your trumpet, which the whole orb as far as it extends will rightly venerate, which is agreed to have sung with doubled felicity, since it found neither rival nor equal, when long ago, with me bearing it about, it wandered through the ears and mouths of peoples. For to us there is great boldness, if even among municipal and cathedral orators or forensic chatterers we prate, who even when they make their peroration, with the peace of the better preserved, the more numerous crowd is devoid of the most rudimentary letters.

nam te, cui, seu liberum seu ligatum placeat alternare sermonem, intonare ambifariam suppetit, pauci, quos aequus amavit, imitabuntur. vale.

for you, to whom it pleases to alternate your speech, whether free or bound, there is at hand to thunder ambidextrously; few, whom the just one loved, will imitate. farewell.

EPISTULA IV

EPISTLE 4

Sidonius Simplicio et Apollinari suis salutem.

Sidonius to his Simplicius and Apollinaris, greetings.

1. Eccum vel tandem adest promissio mea, expectatio vestra, Faustinus, pater familias domi nobilis et inter maxima patriae iam mihi sibique communis ornamenta numerandus. hic meus frater natalium parilitate, amicus animorum similitudine; saepe cum hoc seria, saepe etiam ioca miscui; cumque abhinc retro iuvenes eramus, in pila in tesseris, saltibus cursu, venatu natatu sancta semper ambobus, quia manente caritate, contentio. mihi quidem maior hic natu, tantum tamen, ut eum non tam honorari necesse esset quam delectaret imitari; simul et ipse hinc amplius capiebatur, quod se diligi magis quam quasi coli intellegebat.

1. Behold now at last is my promise, your expectation, Faustinus, pater familias noble at home and among the greatest ornaments of the fatherland now counted to me and common to himself. This man my brother in parity of birthdays, a friend in similarity of minds; often with him I mingled the serious, often also jests; and when we were once young, in ball-game and in dice, in leaping, running, in hunting, swimming—always sacred to both, for with love remaining, rivalry. He indeed is greater than I in birth, yet only so much that it was not so necessary to honor him as it was delightful to imitate him; and at the same time he himself was thereby taken more, because he perceived that he was loved rather than merely esteemed.

sed provectu aetatis et militia clericali, cum esset amabilis prius, coepit modo esse venerabilis.

but by the advancement of age and by clerical service, although he had been amiable before, he began now to be venerable.

2. per hunc salutem dico, videre vos sub ope Christi quam maturissime, si per statum publicum liceat, cupiens. quocirca, nisi desiderium meum videtur onerosum, remeante praefato fiam locorum vestrorum et temporum gnarus. stat sententia eluctari oppositas privatarum occupationum difficultates et complectendis pectoribus vestris quamlibet longum officium deputare, si tamen, quod etiam nunc veremur, non vis maior disposita confundat.

2. by this greeting I say, desiring to see you under the protection of Christ as soon as possible, if it is permitted by your public state. wherefore, unless my desire seems burdensome, the aforesaid remaining, I will return, being aware of your places and times. the decision stands to wrestle with the opposed difficulties of private occupations and to assign to your embracing hearts whatever rather long office, provided, however — as we even now fear — that no greater force overthrow what has been arranged.

3. quae vos quoque non perindignum est cum fratre Faustino, prout tempora monent, tractatu communicato deliberare. quem ego quia diligo, tamquam qui me diligat misi: si respondet iudicio meo, gratias ago; porro autem cum vir bonus ab omnibus censeatur, non est homo peior, si non est optimus. valete.

3. which it is not unfitting for you also, together with your brother Faustinus, as the times advise, to deliberate after the tract has been communicated. Whom I, because I love him, as one who loves me, have sent: if he answers to my judgment, I give thanks; furthermore, since a good man is esteemed by all, he is not a worse man if he is not the very best. Farewell.

EPISTULA V

EPISTLE 5

Sidonius Felici suo salutem.

Sidonius. To his Felix, greetings.

1. Iterat portitorem salutationis iteratio: Gozolas vester, deus tribuat ut noster, apicum meorum secundo gerulus efficitur. igitur verecundiam utrique eximite communem; nam si etiamnum silere meditemini, omnes et me cui et illum per quem scribere debebas indignum arbitrabuntur.

1. The repetition of the greeting doubles the messenger: the phrase "Gozolas vester, deus tribuat ut noster," may God grant he be ours, makes him a mere secondary bearer of my little affairs. Therefore strip modesty that is common to you both; for if you still intend to remain silent, all will deem both me, to whom you ought to have written, and him through whom you ought to have written, unworthy.

2. de temporum statu iam nihil ut prius consulo, ne sit moribus tuis oneri, si adversa significes, cum prospera non sequantur. nam cum te non deceat falsa mandare atque item ***cum sint votiva memoratu, fugio quicquid illud mali est per bonorum indicia cognoscere. vale.

2. concerning the state of the times I now no longer consult as before, lest it be a burden to your morals if you report adversities when prosperous things do not follow. For since it does not become you to commit falsehoods, and likewise since votive matters are worthy to be mentioned, I avoid learning whatever there is of that evil through signs of good. vale.

EPISTULA VI

EPISTLE 6

Sidonius Apollinari suo salutem.

Sidonius. To his Apollinaris, greetings.

1. Per Faustinum antistitem non minus mihi veteris contubernii sodalitate quam novae professionis communione devinctum verbo quaepiam cavenda mandaveram: dicto paruisse vos gaudeo. siquidem prudentibus cordacitus insitum est vitare fortuita, sicut itidem absurdum, si coeptis audacibus adversetur eventus, consurgere in querimonias et inconsultarum dispositionum culpabiles exitus ad infamanda casuum incerta convertere.

1. Through Faustinus the bishop I had, by a word, enjoined certain things to be guarded, being bound to him no less by the fellowship of an old contubernium than by the communion of his new profession: I rejoice that you have obeyed the command. For it is implanted in prudent hearts to shun the fortuitous, and likewise it is absurd, when the event opposes bold undertakings, to rise up in complaints and to convert the blameworthy results of ill‑consulted dispositions into uncertain matters for the purpose of blackening the chances of events.

2. 'quorsum istaec?' ais. fateor me nimis veritum, ne tempore timoris publici non timeres et solidae domus ad hoc aevi inconcussa securitas ad tempestuosos hostium incursus pro intempestiva devotione trepidaret inchoaretque apud animorum matronalium teneritudinem sollemnitas expetita vilescere: quamquam in pectoribus earundem ita sibi sit genuina sanctitas peculiare metata domicilium, ut, si quid secus viantibus accidisset, laetaturae fuerint quoddam se pro martyre tolerasse martyrium. ast ego, cui maiorem diffidentiam minor innocentia facit, super hoc ambiguo sententiae cautiori libentius adhaeresco nec difficulter applicor etiam tuta metuentibus.

2. 'Whither these things?' you say. I confess that I feared too much, lest in a time of public alarm you would not be afraid and the firm security of a solid house, unshaken by age, for this purpose through untimely devotion should tremble at the tempestuous incursions of enemies and should begin, among the matronal tenderness of minds, the solemnity sought, to be cheapened: although in the breasts of those same women genuine holiness has its peculiar desired dwelling, so that, if anything contrary had happened to those travelling, they would have rejoiced that they had endured a certain martyrdom as a martyr. But I, to whom lesser innocence gives greater diffidence, willingly cleave to a more cautious judgment on this ambiguous matter, nor am I hard to apply even to those fearing safe things.

3. proinde factum bene est, quod anceps iter salubriter distulistis neque intra iactum tantae aleae status tantae familiae fuit. et licet inchoata via potuerit prosperari, ego tamen huiusmodi consilio album calculum minime apponam, cuius temeritas absolvi nequit nisi beneficio felicitatis. dabit quidem talia vota divinitas dignis successibus promoveri licebitque adhuc horumce terrorum sub pacis amoenitate meminisse; sed praesentia faciunt cautos quos videbunt futura securos.

3. therefore it was done well that you postponed the perilous journey healthfully and that within a single cast of so great a die there was not the condition of so great a household. and although the begun road might have prospered, yet I will in no wise set the white pebble to such a counsel, whose rashness is not absolved except by the favor of good fortune. indeed the divinity will grant that such vows be advanced with worthy successes and it will be permitted still to remember these terrors under the pleasantness of peace; but present things make cautious those who will see future things secure.

4. interim ad praesens apicum oblator damna sibi quaepiam per Genesium vestrum inflicta suspirat. si perspicis a vero non discrepare querimoniam, tribue, quaeso, convincenti reformationem, peregrino celeritatem. si vero calumniam plectibili sufflammat invidia, in eo iam praecessit vindicta pulsati, quod procax petitor sumptu et itinere confectus temere propositae litis exsudat incommoda, atque hoc in maximo hiemis accentu summisque cumulis nivium crustisque glacierum; quod tempus, quantum ad sectatores litium spectat, breve quidem saepe est audientiae sed diuturnum semper iniuriae.

4. meanwhile for the present the plaintiff breathes out to the apex some losses inflicted on him by your Genesius. If you perceive that the complaint does not diverge from the truth, grant, I pray, to the one convinced a reformation, and to the stranger celerity. But if envy breathes a calumny punishable by penalty, in that the vengeance of the struck has already gone before, because the impudent petitioner, spent by cost and journey, rashly pours forth the inconveniences of the proposed suit — and this in the highest height of winter and on the greatest heaps of snow and the crusts of glaciers — which season, so far as it concerns pursuers of suits, is indeed often brief for a hearing but always long for injury.

vale.

Farewell.

EPISTULA VII

EPISTULA 7

Sidonius Simplicio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Simplicius, greetings.

1. Solet dicere 'currentem mones' qui rogatur, ut faciat quod facturus fuerat etiam non rogatus. percontere forsitan, quo spectet ista praemitti. baiulus apicum sedulo precatur, ut ad vos a me litteras ferat, cuius a nobis itinere comperto id ipsum erat utique, si tacuisset, orandus; namque hoc officium vester potius amor quam geruli respectus elicuit.

1. One is wont to say "you warn the runner" of a man who is asked to do what he would have done even if not asked. Perhaps inquire thoroughly to what purpose these things are prefixed. The carrier diligently begs a small tip that he carry letters from me to you, whose journey, learned by us, made that very thing certainly to be pleaded for, if he had been silent; for your love rather than regard for the porter drew out this service.

ceterum hic ipse beneficium se computat meruisse, qui praestitit, quamquam identidem quod poposcit acceperit, sed quae nobis amicitiarum iura minime agnoscens.

Moreover this same man reckons that he merited the beneficium he rendered, although repeatedly he has received what he demanded, and least of all acknowledging to us the rights of friendships.

2. unde quamquam absens facile coniecto, quo repente stupore ferietur, cum intuitu nostri dignanter admissus intellexerit se paginam meam magis otiose flagitasse quam tradere. videre mihi videor, ut homini non usque ad invidiam perfaceto nova erunt omnia, cum invitabitur peregrinus ad domicilium, trepidus ad conloquium, rusticus ad laetitiam, pauper ad mensam, et cum apud crudos caeparumque crapulis esculentos hic agat vulgus, illic ea comitate tractabitur, ac si inter Apicios epulones et Byzantinos chironomuntas hucusque ructaverit.

2. whence, although absent I easily conjecture by what sudden stupor he will be struck, when, having been admitted to the sight of us with a certain dignity, he perceived that he had begged my page more in idleness than to hand it over. I seem to myself to see that, for a man not wholly free from envy, all things will be new: when a stranger is invited to a house, timid at conversation, rustic at mirth, poor at the table; and when among the crude and the onion‑sodden revelers the common folk here behave one way, there they will be dealt with that courtesy, as if among Apician gourmets, feasters, and Byzantine chironomuntas they had hitherto belched.

3. attamen qualis ipse quantusque est, percopiose me officii votivi compotem fecit. sed quamquam huiuscemodi saepe personae despicabiles ferme sunt, in sodalibus tamen per litteras excolendis dispendii multum caritas sustinet, si ab usu frequentioris alloquii portitorum vilitate revocetur. vale.

3. nevertheless what sort and how great he himself is, he abundantly made me a partaker of a votive duty. but although persons of this kind are for the most part often despicable, yet among companions, in cultivating letters, affection sustains much of the expense, if by the practice of more frequent conversation it is reclaimed from the vileness of messengers. vale.

EPISTULA VIII

LETTER 8

Sidonius Euodio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his own Euodius, greeting.

1. Cum tabellarius mihi litteras tuas reddidit, qui te Tolosam rege mandante mox profecturum certis amicis confitebatur, nos quoque ex oppido longe remotum rus petebamus. me quidem mane primo remoratum vix e tenaci caterva prosecutorum paginae tuae occasio excussit, ut satisfacere mandato saltim viator, saltim eques possem.

1. When the courier restored your letters to me — who confessed that he would soon set out for Toulouse at the king’s bidding to certain friends — we too were making for the countryside, far removed from the town. I indeed, delayed early in the morning, was scarcely shaken free by the occasion of your page, pursued by a tenacious band, so that I could at least fulfil the command as a traveller, at least as a horseman.

2. ceterum diluculo familia praecesserat ad duodeviginti milia passuum fixura tentorium, quo quidem loci sarcinulis relaxandis multa succedunt conducibilia, fons gelidus in colle nemoroso, subditus ager herbis abundans, fluvius ante oculos avibus ac pisce multo refertus, praeter haec iunctam habens ripae domum novam vetus amicus, cuius inmensae humanitati nec si adquiescas nec si recuses modum ponas.

2. moreover at dawn the household had gone forward to pitch a tent eighteen miles off, a place indeed yielding many conveniences for loosening bundles: a cold spring on a wooded hill, a low-lying field abounding in herbs, a river before the eyes teeming with birds and fish, and besides these things an old friend having a new house joined to the bank, to whose immense humanity you can put no measure, whether you assent or refuse.

3. igitur huc nostris antecedentibus, cum tui causa substitissemus, quo puer ocius vel e capite vici remitteretur, iam duae secundae facile processerant, iam sol adultus roscidae noctis umorem radio crescente sorbuerat: aestus ac sitis invalescebant eratque in profunda serenitate contra calorem sola quae tegeret nebula de pulvere, tum longinquitas viae per virens aequor campi patentis exposita visentibus, quippe ob hoc ipsum sero pransuris, ingemebatur; nam viaturos etsi nondum terebat labore, iam tamen expectatione terrebat.

3. therefore, with our men preceding here, since we had halted for your sake that the boy might be sent back more quickly either from the head of the village, two favorable hours had already easily advanced, and the grown sun had with its increasing ray sucked up the moisture of the dewy night: heat and thirst were gaining strength, and in the deep serenity, against the heat, the only thing that covered was a mist raised from the dust; then the remoteness of the road, stretched across the green expanse of the open field and laid bare to the eyes of those looking, was bewailed — indeed for this very thing, that they would sup late — for although the wayfarers were not yet worn by toil, they were already terrified by expectation.

4. quae cuncta praemissa, domine frater, huc tendunt, ut tibi probem neque animo vacasse me multum neque corpore neque tempore, cum postulatis obtemperavi. ilicet, ut ad epistulae vestrae tenorem iam revertamur, post verba, quae primum salve ferebant, hoc poposcisti, ut epigramma transmitterem duodecim versibus terminatum, quod posset aptari conchae capaci, quae per ansarum latus utrumque in extimum gyri a rota fundi senis cavatur striaturis.

4. all these things having been set before, master brother, tend to this end, that I may show you I have not been idle either in mind or much in body or time, since I have complied with your requests. But now, to return to the tenor of your letter: after the words which first conveyed greeting, you demanded that I send an epigram finished in twelve verses, one that could be fitted to a capacious conch, which along the side of its handles on either side is hollowed out to the outermost turn of the coil by the wheel of the old farmer’s mill, with striations.

5. quarum puto destinas vel ventribus pandis singulos versus vel curvis meliore consilio, si id magis deceat, capitibus inscribere; istoque cultu expolitam reginae Ragnahildae disponis offerre, votis nimirum tuis pariter atque actibus patrocinium invictum praeparaturus. famulor iniunctis quomodocumque, non ut volebam; sed tuae culpae primus ignosce, qui spatii plus praestitisti argentario quam poetae, cum procul dubio non te lateret intra officinam litteratorum carminis si quid incus metrica produxerit non minus forti et asprata lima poliri. sed ista vel similia quorsum?

5. of these I think you intend either to lay out each verse in straight lines or, with a better design, to inscribe them on curved capitals, if that shall please more; and in that adornment to arrange and offer them polished to Queen Ragnahilda, plainly preparing invincible patronage alike for your wishes and for your deeds. I serve at the tasks enjoined, in whatever fashion, not as I would have wished; but first forgive your fault, you who allotted more space to the silversmith than to the poet, since without doubt it would not have escaped you that within the workshop of writers of verse, if the anvil has produced anything metrically, it is no less to be polished by a strong and rough file. But to what end are these things or the like?

ecce iam canta.

behold now, sing.

Pistrigero quae concha vehit Tritone Cytheren
     hac sibi conlata cedere non dubitet.
poscimus, inclina paulisper culmen erile
     et munus parvum magna patrona cape
Euodiumque libens non aspernare clientem,
     quem faciens grandem tu quoque maior eris.
sic tibi, cui rex est genitor, socer atque maritus,
     gnatus rex quoque sit cum patre postque patrem.

The shell which, with Triton the fish-driver, bears Cytherene,
     when thus bestowed upon her, let her not hesitate to yield.
we beg, bend for a little the household crest,
     and accept a small gift, great patroness;
and willingly do not spurn Euodus your client,
     whom, by making great, you too will be greater.
thus to you, whose genitor is king, be father-in-law and husband,
     and let the son be king both with his father and after his father.

felices lymphae, clausae quae luce metalli
ora tamen dominae lucidiora fovent!
nam cum dignatur regina hinc tinguere vultus,
candor in argentum mittitur e facie.

happy nymphs, who are shut away by the metal’s light
yet cherish features more luminous than their mistress!
for when the queen deigns to tint her looks from here,
pallor is sent from her face into the silver.

Si tantum amore nostro teneris, ut scribere has nugas non erubescas, occule auctorem, de tua rectius parte securus. namque in foro tali sive Athenaeo plus charta vestra quam nostra scriptura laudabitur. vale.

If you are so tender toward our love that you do not blush to write these nugae, hide the author, trusting in your more righteous part. For in such a forum or in the Athenaeum your charta will be praised more than our scriptura. Farewell.

EPISTULA IX

EPISTLE 9

Sidonius Industrio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Industrio, greetings.

1. Interveni proxime Vectio inlustri viro et actiones eius cotidianas penitissime et veluti ex otio inspexi. quas quoniam dignas cognitu inveni, non indignas relatu existimavi. primore loco, quod iure ceteris laudibus anteponemus, servat inlaesam domino domus par pudicitiam; servi utiles (rustici morigeri, urbani amici) oboedientes patronoque contenti; mensa non minus pascens hospitem quam clientem; humanitas grandis grandiorque sobrietas.

1. I recently came upon Vectius, an illustrious man, and inspected his daily conduct most carefully and as it were from leisure. Since I found these things worthy of cognizance, I judged them not unworthy of relation. In the first place, which by right we set before other praises, the house keeps intact a chastity fitting to its lord; servants useful (rustic in manner, urbane in friendship), obedient and content with their patron; a table feeding the guest no less than the client; a great humanity and an even greater sobriety.

2. illa leviora, quod ipse, quem loquimur, in equis canibus accipitribus instituendis spectandis circumferendis nulli secundus; summus nitor in vestibus, cultus in cingulis, splendor in phaleris; pomposus incessus, animus serius (iste publicam fidem, ille privatam asserit dignitatem); remissio non vitians, correptio non cruentans, et severitas eius temperamenti, quae non sit taetra sed tetrica.

2. the lesser matters: that he himself, of whom we speak, is second to none in riding horses, in training dogs and hawks, in watching and carrying them about; the utmost neatness in garments, carefulness in girdles, splendor in phalerae; a pompous gait, a more serious spirit (this one upholds public faith, that one asserts private dignity); lenience that does not vitiate, correction that does not draw blood, and a severity of temperament which is not foul but stern.

3. inter haec sacrorum voluminum lectio frequens, per quam inter edendum saepius sumit animae cibum; psalmos crebro lectitat, crebrius cantat; novoque genere vivendi monachum complet non sub palliolo sed sub paludamento; ferarum carnibus abstinet, cursibus adquiescit; itaque occulte delicateque religiosus venatu utitur nec utitur venatione.

3. among these things, a frequent reading of sacred volumes, by which, between meals, he oftener takes food for the soul; he reads the psalms frequently, he sings them more frequently; and by this new manner of living he makes a monk — not under a little pallium but under a paludamentum; he abstains from the flesh of wild beasts, he gives himself to running and exercises; and so, secretly and delicately, the religious man uses hunting as pastime but not the actual chase.

4. filiam unicam parvam post obitum uxoris relictam solacio caelibatus alit avita teneritudine, materna diligentia, paterna benignitate; erga familiam suam nec in proferendo alloquio minax nec in admittendo consilio spernax nec in reatu investigando persequax; subiectorum statum condicionemque non dominio sed iudicio regit; putes eum propriam domum non possidere sed potius administrare.

4. he nourishes celibacy as a solace for his one small daughter left after his wife’s death, with ancestral tenderness, maternal diligence, paternal benignity; toward his household neither threatening in speaking forth nor scornful in admitting counsel nor relentless in investigating fault; he governs the state and condition of those under him not by dominion but by judgment; you would think he does not possess his own house but rather administers it.

5. qua industria viri ac temperantia inspecta ad reliquorum quoque censui pertinere informationem, si vel summotenus vita ceteris talis publicaretur, ad quam sequendam praeter habitum, quo interim praesenti saeculo imponitur, omnes nostrae professionis homines utilissime incitarentur, quia, quod pace ordinis mei dixerim, si tantum bona singula in singulis erunt, plus ego admiror sacerdotalem virum quam sacerdotem. vale.

5. seeing the industry and temperance of the man, I judged that it likewise pertained to the admonition of others: if even to the slightest degree such a life were made public to the rest — to which, apart from the habit that for the present is imposed in this age, all men of our profession would be most usefully incited to conform — for, by the peace of my order I would say this, if only individual goods are found in individuals, I admire the sacerdotal man more than the priest. vale.

EPISTULA X

LETTER 10

Sidonius Felici suo salutem.

Sidonius to Felix, his greeting.

1. Erumpo in salutationem licet seram, domine meus, annis ipse iam multis insalutatus, frequentiam veteris officii servare non audens, postquam me soli patrii finibus eliminatum peregrinationis adversa fregerunt. quapropter vos quoque ignoscere decet erubescentibus, siquidem convenit humiliatos humilia sectari neque cum illis parem familiaritatis tenere constantiam, quibus forte sit improbum plus amoris quam reverentiae impendere. propter hoc denique iam diu taceo vosque tacuisse, cum filius meus Heliodorus huc venit, magis toleranter quam libenter accepi.

1. I break forth into a greeting though belated, my lord, myself already un‑greeted for many years, not daring to preserve the frequency of former courtesy, since the adversities of travel have driven me far from the sole confines of my fatherland. Wherefore it beseems you also to forgive those who are ashamed, since it is fitting that the humbled pursue humble things and not keep the same equality of familiarity with those to whom it might perhaps be improper to bestow more affection than reverence. For this reason, then, I have long remained silent, and you too were silent; when my son Heliodorus came here, I received him more tolerantly than willingly.

2. sed dicere solebas, quamquam fatigans, quod meam quasi facundiam vererere. excusatio istaec, etiamsi fuisset vera, transierat, quia post terminatum libellum, qui parum cultior est, reliquas denuo litteras usuali, licet accuratus mihi melior non sit, sermone contexo; non enim tanti est poliri formulas editione carituras. ceterum si caritatis tuae morem pristino colloquiorum cursui reddis, et nos vetustae loquacitatis orbitas recurremus, praeter haec avide praevio Christo, sicubi ***culorum fueritis, modo redux patronus indulgeat, advolaturi, ut rebus amicitia vegetetur, quae verbis infrequentata torpuerat.

2. but you used to say, though tiring, that you feared my, as it were, eloquence. That excuse, even if it had been true, would have passed, for after the finished little book, which is rather less cultivated, I again wove the remaining letters in the usual, if more careful though not better for me, style of discourse; for it is not worth so much to polish formulas that are empty by mere edition. Furthermore, if in the manner of your charity you restore the former course of our conversations, we shall recover what we lack of old loquacity; besides this, eagerly with Christ as forerunner, wherever you have been ***culorum, provided the returning patron indulge, we will hasten to attend, so that friendship may be nourished by deeds which, through a lack of frequent words, had grown torpid.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA XI

LETTER 11

Sidonius Petreio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Petreius, greetings.

1. Angit me nimis damnum saeculi mei nuper erepto avunculo tuo Claudiano oculis nostris, ambigo an quempiam deinceps parem conspicaturis. vir siquidem fuit providus prudens, doctus eloquens, acer et hominum aevi loci populi sui ingeniosissimus quique indesinenter salva religione philosopharetur; et licet crinem barbamque non pasceret, pallium et clavam nunc inrideret, nunc etiam execraretur, a collegio tamen conplatonicorum solo habitu ac fide dissociabatur.

1. The loss to my age weighs on me greatly — your uncle Claudian having lately been taken from our eyes — I doubt whether anyone equal to him will henceforth be seen. For he was provident, prudent, learned, eloquent, sharp, the most ingenious of the men of his time and place, and would philosophize unceasingly, religion preserved; and although he did not cultivate hair and beard, and would now deride, now even execrate the pallium and the staff, he was separated from the college of fellow-Platonists only by dress and by faith.

2. deus bone, quid erat illud, quotiens ad eum [sola] consultationis gratia conveniebamus! quam ille omnibus statum totum non dubitans, non fastidiens aperiebat, voluptuosissimum reputans, si forte oborta quarumpiam quaestionum insolubilitate labyrinthica scientiae suae thesauri eventilarentur. iam si frequentes consederamus, officium audiendi omnibus , uni solum quem forsitan elegissemus deputans ius loquendi, viritim vicissimque, non tumultuatim nec sine schematis cuiuspiam gestu artificioso doctrinae suae opes erogaturus.

2. O good god, what was that, how oft when we met to him [sola] for the sake of consultation! how he disclosed to all the whole state, not doubting, not loathing, esteeming it most delightful, if perchance by the labyrinthine insolubility of some questions the treasures of his science might be ventilated. Now if we had sat together frequently, he the duty of listening on all, assigning the right of speaking to the one alone whom perhaps we had chosen, man by man and in turn, not tumultuously nor without the artful gesture of some scheme, about to dispense the riches of his doctrine.

3. dein quaecumque dixisset protinus reluctantium syllogismorum contrarietatibus excipiebamus; sed repellebat omnium nostrum temerarias oppositiones: itaque nihil non perpensum probatumque recipiebatur. hinc etiam illi apud nos maxima reverentia fuit, quod non satis ferebat aegre pigram in quibuspiam sequacitatem. haec apud eum culpa veniabilis erat; quo fiebat esset ut nobis patientia eiusdem sine imitatione laudabilis.

3. then whatever he had said we at once met with the contradictions of resisting syllogisms; but he repelled the rash oppositions of all of us: and therefore nothing was received that had not been thoroughly weighed and approved. Hence he enjoyed the greatest reverence among us, because he could not well endure a rather sluggish, lazy kind of compliance in certain matters. This fault was venial with him; and so it came about that his patience was laudable to us without imitation.

quis enim virum super abditis consuleret invitus, a cuius disputationis communione ne idiotarum quidem imperitorumque sciscitatio repudiaretur?

For who, unwilling, would consult a man about hidden matters, from whose participation in disputation not even the questioning of the idiots and the inexperienced would be turned away?

4. haec pauca de studiis. ceterum cetera quis competenti praeconio extollat, quod condicionis humanae per omnia memor clericos opere sermone populares, exhortatione maerentes destitutos solacio, captivos pretio ieiunos cibo nudos operimento consolabatur? pariter et super his plura replicare superforaneum statuo.

4. these few words about studies. But who will, with a competent proclamation, exalt the rest — that, mindful in every respect of the human condition, he consoled clerics by work and speech, the populace, the grieving, the destitute with exhortation and solace, prisoners by ransom, the hungry with food, the naked with covering? Likewise, I deem it beyond my competence to set forth more concerning these matters.

nam merita sua, quibus divitem conscientiam censu pauperatus locupletavit, spe futurae retributionis celare plus studuit.

for he strove more to conceal his own merits, by which—impoverished in estate—he enriched his conscience, in the hope of future retribution.

5. ***episcopum fratrem maiorem natu affectuosissime observans, quem diligebat ut filium, cum tamquam patrem veneraretur. sed et ille suspiciebat hunc granditer, habens in eo consiliarium in iudiciis vicarium in ecclesiis, procuratorem in negotiis vilicum in praediis, tabularium in tributis in lectionibus comitem, in expositionibus interpretem in itineribus contubernalem. sic utrique ab alterutro usque ad invidiam exempli mutua fide germanitatis officia restituebantur.

5. ***most affectionately attending to the bishop, his brother greater in age, whom he loved as a son while he venerated him as a father. But that one likewise greatly trusted this man, having in him a consiliarius in juridical matters, a vicar in the churches, a procurator in business, a vilicus on the estates, a tabularius in the tributes, a comrade in the readings, an interpreter in the expositions, a contubernal companion in journeys. Thus to each from the other, even to the point of inspiring envy by example, the duties of brotherhood were restored by mutual fidelity.

6. sed quid dolorem nostrum moderaturi causis potius doloris fomenta sufficimus? ergo, ut dicere institueramus, huic iam, ut est illud Maronianum, cineri ingrato id est gratiam non relaturo neniam condidimus tristem luctuosamque propemodum laboriose, quia faceret dictandi desuetudo difficultatem, nisi quod animum natura desidiosissimum dolor fletu gravidus accendit. eius hoc carmen est:

6. but why, in order to temper our sorrow, do we rather supply fomentations to the causes of grief? therefore, as we began to speak, to this one now, as in that Maronian fashion, in ungrateful ash — that is, returning no thanks to anyone — we buried him sadly and almost dolefully, with great labor, because the disuse of composing would make difficulty, unless nature, most indolent, stirs the mind, heavy with tears, by grief. this is his song:

Germani decus et dolor Mamerti,
mirantum unica pompa episcoporum,
hoc dat caespite membra Claudianus,
triplex bybliotheca quo magistro,
Romana, Attica, Christiana fulsit;
quam totam monachus virente in aevo
secreta bibit institutione,
orator, dialecticus, poeta,
tractator, geometra, musicusque,
doctus solvere vincla quaestionum
et verbi gladio secare sectas,
si quae catholicam fidem lacessunt.
psalmorum hic modulator et phonascus
ante altaria fratre gratulante
instructas docuit sonare classes.
hic sollemnibus annuis paravit
quae quo tempore lecta convenirent.

Germani, the glory and grief of Mamertus,
the sole pomp of admiring bishops,
Claudianus gives to this turf his limbs,
a triple bybliotheca in which his master
shone — Roman, Attic, Christian;
the whole of which a monk, in a verdant age,
drank in by secret institution,
orator, dialectician, poet,
tractator, geometer, and musician,
skilled to loose the bonds of questions
and with the sword of the Word to cut sects,
if any assail the catholic faith. Here the modulator and precentor of psalms
before the altars, with a brother rejoicing,
taught the instructed choirs to sound. Here he prepared for the annual solemnities
those things which at what time read would be fitting.

antistes fuit ordine in secundo,
fratrem fasce levans episcopali.
nam de pontificis tenore summi
ille insignia sumpsit, hic laborem.
at tu, quisque doles, amice lector,
de tanto quasi nil viro supersit,
udis parce genis rigare marmor:
mens et gloria non queunt humari.

he was a prelate in the second order,
raising his brother with the episcopal fascia.
for from the tenor of the supreme pontiff
that one took the insignia, this one the toil.
but you, whoever mourns, dear reader,
as if scarcely anything remains of so great a man,
learn to spare your cheeks from wetting the marble:
mind and glory cannot be buried.

7. Ecce quod carmen, cum primum affui, super unanimi fratris ossa conscripsi. namque tunc afui, cum funerarentur; nec ob hoc tamen perdidi in totum desideratissimam flendi occasionem. nam dum forte meditarer, lacrimis habenas anima parturiente laxavi fecique ad epitaphium, quod alii fecerunt ad sepulcrum.

7. Behold the poem which, when I first was present, I wrote over the bones of my like-minded brother. For then I was absent when they were burying him; nor on that account did I altogether lose the most-desired opportunity to weep. For while, by chance, I was composing, with tears I loosened the reins as my soul brought forth, and I made an epitaph which others made at the tomb.

haec ergo scripsimus tibi, ne forsitan arbitrarere solam nos colere vivorum sodalitatem reique tuo iudicio essemus, nisi amicorum vita carentum semper aeque ut incolumium reminisceremur. namque et ex hoc, quod vix reservatur imaginaria fides vel superstitibus, non praeter aequum opinabere, si perpaucos esse conicias, qui mortuos ament. vale.

We have therefore written these things to you, lest perhaps you should suppose that we alone cherish the sodality of the living, and that by your judgment we were concerned only with your affair, unless we were always equally mindful of the lives of friends bereft as of the unharmed. For even from this — that scarcely an imaginary faith is kept even among the superstitious — you would not deem it unjust to think that there are very few who love the dead. Vale.

EPISTULA XII

LETTER 12

Sidonius Simplicio et Apollinari suis salutem.

Sidonius to Simplicius and Apollinaris, his greetings.

1. Deus bone, quantum naufragioso pelago conformis est motus animorum, quippe cum nuntiorum turbinibus adversis quasi propria tempestate confundimur! nuper ego filiusque communis Terentianae Hecyrae sales ruminabamus; studenti assidebam naturae meminens et professionis oblitus quoque absolutius rhythmos comicos incitata docilitate sequeretur, ipse etiam fabulam similis argumenti id est Epitrepontem Menandri in manibus habebam.

1. Good God, how like to a shipwrecking sea is the agitation of minds, since with the whirlwinds of adverse news we are confounded as by our own storm! Recently I and the son of the common Terentian Hecyra were ruminating on witticisms; I sat beside the student, mindful of nature and, forgetting his profession, that he might more wholly follow the comic rhythms urged by stirred docility, and I myself also had in my hands a play of similar argument, that is Menander’s Epitrepontes.

2. legebamus pariter laudabamus iocabamurque et, quae vota communia sunt, illum lectio, me ille capiebat, cum repente puer familiaris adstitit vultuosus. cui nos: 'quid ita?' et ille: 'lectorem', inquit, 'Constantem nomine pro foribus vidi a dominis Simplicio et Apollinare redeuntem; dedit quidem litteras quas acceperat sed perdidit quas recepit.'

2. we were reading together, praising and joking, and, as common wishes are, the reading seized him, he in turn seized me, when suddenly a familiar boy stood by, countenanceful. to whom we: 'why thus?' and he: 'a reader,' he said, 'named Constans I saw returning before the doors from the masters Simplicius and Apollinaris; he did indeed give the letters which he had taken, but he lost those which he had received.'

3. quibus agnitis serenitas laetitiae meae confestim nubilo superducti maeroris insorduit tantamque mihi bilem nuntii huiusce contrarietas excitavit, ut per plurimos dies illum ipsum hermam stolidissimum venire ante oculos meos inexoratus arcuerim, laturus aegre, si mihi apices aut quoscumque aut quorumcumque non redderet, taceam vestros, qui mihi, dum recti compos animus durat, minime frequentes maxime desiderabiles iudicabuntur.

3. when these things were recognized, the serenity of my joy was at once overlaid with a cloud and the rust of sorrow set in, and the contradiction of this very message excited so much bile in me that for very many days I unrelentingly kept that same most stupid herm from coming before my eyes,—he would have brought it reluctantly, had he not returned to me apices or whatever or of whatever sort,—I will be silent about your things, which to me, while a mind composed of rightness endures, will be judged least frequent and most desirable.

4. at postquam nostra sensim temporis intervallo ira defremuit, percontor admissum, num verbo quippiam praeterea detulisset. respondit ipse, quamquam esset trepidus et sternax et prae reatu balbutiret ore, caecutiret intuitu, totum quo instrui, quo delectari valerem, paginis quae intercidissent fuisse mandatum. quocirca recurrite ad pugillares, replicate membranas et scripta rescribite.

4. But after my wrath slowly subsided with the interval of time, I inquired whether anything further had been delivered with the message. He himself answered, although he was tremulous and snorting and, before guilt, stammered with his mouth and blinded in his look, that the whole of what would instruct me and delight me had been committed to the pages which had been lost. Wherefore, return to the pugillares, copy the membranas again and rewrite the written things.

tamdiu enim aequanimiter admitto, ut desiderio meo sinister eventus officiat, donec ad vos nostro sermone perveniat ad nos vestrum non pervenisse sermonem, valete.

for I endure with equanimity so long, that a sinister event may frustrate my desire, until, by our message, it reach you that your message has not reached us; farewell.

EPISTULA XIII

EPISTULA 13

Sidonius Vectio suo salutem.

Sidonius Vectio sends his greetings to his own.

1. Nuper rogatu Germanici spectabilis viri Cantillensem ecclesiam inspexi. est ipse loco sitorum facile primus quique post tergum cum iam duodecim lustra transmittat, cotidie tamen habitu cultuque conspicuo non iuvenescit solum sed quodammodo repuerascit. enimvero vestis adstricta, tensus coturnus, crinis in rotae specimen accisus, barba intra rugarum latebras mersis ad cutem secta forcipibus.

1. Recently, at the request of Germanicus, a notable man, I inspected the church of Cantillus. He himself, by place easily first, and who in years behind him has already passed twelve lustra (60 years), yet daily by conspicuous dress and grooming not only does he not grow youthful but in a manner re-boyishens. For his garment is tight, his coturn drawn taut, his hair cut as a model of a wheel (tonsured), his beard plucked with forceps and shaved down to the skin into the hiding-places of his wrinkles.

2. ad hoc et munere superno membrorum solida coniunctio, integer visus, amplus in celeri gressus incessu, incorruptae lactea dentium compage gingivae. non illi stomachus nauseat, non vena flammatur, non cor incutitur, non pulmo suspirat, non riget lumbus, non iecur turget, non mollescit manus, non spina curvatur, sed praeditus sanitate iuvenali solam sibi vindicat de senectute reverentiam.

2. besides this, by a supernal gift a solid coniunctio of the limbs, unimpaired sight, ample step in a swift gait, the incorrupt milky compage of the teeth and gums. His stomach does not nauseate, no vein is inflamed, no heart is struck, no lung sighs, no loins grow rigid, no liver swells, the hands do not soften, the spine is not curved; but, endowed with youthful sanitas, he vindicates for himself alone reverence from senectude.

3. propter quae beneficia peculiaria dei, quoniam vobis iura amicitiae grandia vigent, quippe vicinis, obsecro ac moneo, ut consilio tuo, cui sequendo per conscientiam magnam maximam tribuis auctoritatem, non multum fidat ambiguis nec nimis nimiae credat incolumitati, sed tandem professione religionis arrepta viribus potius resurgentis innocentiae convalescat, faciat se vetustus annis meritis novum.

3. because of these particular benefits of God, since toward you the great rights of friendship prevail, I beg and admonish, especially for neighbors, that he not place much trust in ambiguous things by your counsel — to which, when followed, he assigns very great authority by conscience — nor too greatly confide in excessive safety; but rather, having been seized by the profession of religion, let him be strengthened by the powers of innocence rising up, and let him make himself, old by years, new by merits.

4. et quoniam nemo ferme est, qui plectibilibus careat occultis, ipse super his, quae clam commissa reminiscitur, palam fusa satisfactione solvatur. nam sacerdotis pater filiusque pontificis, nisi sanctus est, rubo similis efficitur, quem de rosis natum rosasque parientem et genitis gignentibusque floribus medium pungentibus comparanda peccatis dumorum vallat asperitas. vale.

4. and since there is hardly anyone who is free from punishible hidden things, he himself, over those things which were entrusted secretly, remembers, and is openly by a poured-out satisfaction absolved. For the priest, the father and son of the pontiff, unless he is holy, is made like a bramble, which, born from roses and bearing roses and flowers both begotten and begetting that prick the midst, the roughness of the thickets fences in, to be compared with sins. fare well.

EPISTULA XIV

EPISTLE 14

Sidonius Polemio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Polemio, greeting.

1. Gaius Tacitus unus e maioribus tuis, Ulpianorum temporum consularis, sub verbis cuiuspiam Germanici ducis in historia sua retulit dicens: 'cum Vespasiano mihi vetus amicitia; et, dum privatus esset, amici vocabamur.' 'quo respicit', ais, 'ista praefari?' ut scilicet memineris eo tempore, quo personam publicam portas, gratiae te privatae memorem semper esse oportere. biennium prope clauditur, quod te praefectum praetorio Galliarum non nova vestra dignatione sed nostro affectu adhuc vetere gaudemus, qui, si Romanarum rerum sineret adversitas, aegre toleraremus, nisi singulae personae, non dicam provinciae, variis per te beneficiis amplificarentur.

1. Gaius Tacitus, one of your elders, consular of the Ulpians’ times, in his history under the words of a certain Germanic leader related saying: 'since with Vespasian I had an old friendship; and, while he was a private man, we were called friends.' 'to what does that look back,' you say, 'to lead off?' namely so that you remember that at the time when you bear a public personae, you ought always to be mindful of private favors. The two-year period is nearly closed, in which we still rejoice at your prefecture of the praetorium of the Gauls not from your new elevation but from our old regard, which we would have endured with difficulty, if the adversities of Roman affairs had allowed it, unless individual personae, not to say provinces, were enlarged by various benefices through you.

2. et nunc, cum id, quod possibilitas tua non habet, verecundia non petatur, dicas velim, qualiter futurus fueris humanus in factis, qui perduras avarus in verbis. nam tuorum peritiae comparatus non solum Cornelios oratores sed Ausonios quoque poetas vincere potes. si te hactenus philosophantem nova subito ob iurisdictionem gloria capit: et nos aliquod nomenque decusque gessimus.

2. and now, since that which is not within your possibility is not sought from modesty, I would have you say how you will prove humane in deeds, who remain avaricious in words. For, compared with the expertness of your party, you can surpass not only Cornelian orators but even Ausonian poets. If hitherto, philosophizing, sudden glory seizes you on account of jurisdiction, we likewise have borne some name and honour.

3. at si videtur humilitas nostrae professionis habenda contemptui, quia Christo res humanas vitasque medicaturo putrium conscientiarum ultro squalens ulcus aperimus, quod in nostri ordinis viris, etsi adhuc aliquid de negligentia fetet, iam tamen nihil de superbia tumet, noveris volo non, ut est apud praesulem fori, sic esse apud iudicem mundi. namque ut is, qui propria vobis non tacuerit flagitia, damnatur, ita nobiscum qui eadem deo fuerit confessus absolvitur. unde liquido patet incongrue a partibus vestris nimis reum pronuntiari cuius causa plus spectat tribunal alienum.

3. but if the humility of our profession seems to be to be held in contempt, because, thinking to heal human affairs and lives for Christ, we freely expose the putrid ulcer of consciences, which in the men of our order, although it still reeks somewhat of negligence, nevertheless now swells with nothing of pride, I wish you to know—not, as it is before the prelate of the forum, so it is before the judge of the world. For just as he who does not hide his own scandals from you is condemned, so with us he who has confessed the same things to God is absolved. Whence it plainly appears that it is incongruous for you to pronounce one overly guilty whose cause looks rather to another tribunal.

4. quapropter imminentem querelam nostri doloris nequaquam valebis ulterius effundere, quia, succedentibus prosperis sive obliviscare seu neglegas gratiam antiquam, iuxta est acerbum. proinde si futura magni pensitas, scribe clerico, si praesentia, scribe collegae; et hanc in te ipse virtutem, si naturalis est, excole, si minus, ut insiticiam appone, qua sodales vetustos numquam pro consequentum novitate fastidias. porro autem videbere sic amicis uti quasi floribus, tamdiu gratis, donec recentibus.

4. therefore you will by no means be able further to pour forth the impending complaint of our grief, because, with prosperous things succeeding, whether you forget or neglect the ancient grace, bitterness is near at hand. therefore if future matters are of great weight, write to the cleric; if the present, write to a colleague; and cultivate this virtue in yourself, if it is natural; if less, apply an implanted habit, by which you never disdain old comrades for the novelty of those who have succeeded. moreover, take heed to use friends as if they were flowers, freely so long as they are fresh.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA XV

EPISTLE 15

Sidonius Elaphio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Elaphus, greeting.

1. Epulum multiplex et capacissima lectisternia para: plurimis viis, pluribus turbis (ita bonorum contubernio sedit) ad te venitur, quippe postquam omnibus tempus futurae dedicationis inclaruit. nam baptisterium, quod olim fabricabamini, scribitis iam posse consecrari. ad quae festa vos voti nos ministerii, officii multos fidei totos causa sollicitat.

1. Prepare a manifold feast and very capacious lectisternia: people come to you by very many roads, in very many throngs (thus he sat in the companionship of good men), for since the time of the forthcoming dedication has become clear to all. For the baptistery, which you once were building, you write may now be consecrated. To those festivities your vows, and those of our ministry and of duty, and the many causes of faithful zeal, make us solicitous.

siquidem res est grandis exempli eo tempore a vobis nova ecclesiarum culmina strui, quo vix alius auderet vetusta sarcire.

since indeed it is a matter of great example at that time that new summits of churches are raised by you, when scarcely any other would dare to mend the old.

2. quod restat optamus, ut deo nostro per uberes annos, sicut vota redditis, ita reddenda voveatis, idque non solum religione celata, sed et conversione manifesta; mitigatoque temporum statu tam desiderio meo Christus indulgeat quam Rutenorum, ut possitis et pro illis offerre sacrificia, qui iam pro vobis offertis altaria.

2. what remains we desire, that to our God through fruitful years, just as you have rendered vows, so you vow that what is to be rendered be rendered, and that this not only with religion concealed but with conversion manifest; and, the state of times having been softened, may Christ grant indulgence both to my desire and to the Ruthenians, so that you may be able also to offer sacrifices for those who now for you offer altars.

3. de cetero quamquam [et] extremus autumnus iam diem breviat et viatorum sollicitas aures foliis toto nemore labentibus crepulo fragore circumstrepit inque castellum, ad quod invitas, utpote Alpinis rupibus cinctum, sub vicinitate brumali difficilius escenditur, nos tamen deo praevio per tuorum montium latera confragosa venientes nec subiectas cautes nec superiectas nives expavescemus, quamvis iugorum profunda declivitas aggere cocleatim fracto saepe redeunda sit, quia, etsi nulla sollemnitas, tu satis dignus es, ut est Tullianum illud, propter quem Thespiae visantur. vale.

3. henceforth, although even the last autumn now shortens the day and rustles at dusk with the crackle of leaves sliding through the whole grove around the anxious ears of travelers and into the castle to which you invite (it being girdled by Alpine rocks), which is climbed with more difficulty in wintry proximity, yet we, God going before, coming by the shattered flanks of your mountains, will not dread the lower crags nor the snows above, although the deep declivity of the ridges must often be returned by a rampart broken in a spiral fashion; for, although there is no ceremony, you are sufficiently worthy — as that Tullian saying is — for whom Thespiae are visited. Vale.

EPISTULA XVI

EPISTLE 16

Sidonius Ruricio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Ruricius, greetings.

1. Accepi per Paterninum paginam vestram, quae plus mellis an salis habeat incertum est. ceterum eloquii copiam hanc praefert, hos olet flores, ut bene appareat non vos manifesta modo verum etiam furtiva quoque lectione proficere. quamquam et hoc furtum quod deprecaris exemplati libelli non venia tam debeat respicere quam gloria.

1. I received your page through Paterninus; whether it has more honey or more salt is uncertain. Yet it presents this abundance of eloquence, it smells of these flowers, so that it may plainly appear that you profit not only by open but even by furtive reading. Although even that theft which you beg of the copied little book ought to be regarded as due not so much to pardon as to glory.

quid tu enim facias absque virtute, qui nec ipsa peccata sine laude committis?

for what do you do without virtue, you who do not even commit the very sins without praise?

2. ego vero quicquid impositum est fraudis mihi, utpote absenti, libens audio principalique pro munere amplector, quod quodammodo damnum indemne toleravi. neque enim quod tuo accessit usui, decessit hoc nostrae proprietati aut ad incrementa scientiae vestrae per detrimenta venistis alienae. quin potius ipse iure abhinc uberi praeconio non carebit, qui magis igneo ingenio naturam decenter ignis imitatus es, de quo si quid demere velis, remanet totus totusque transfertur.

2. as for me, whatever of fraud was imposed on me, being absent, I willingly hear and embrace as a principal gift, which I in a manner endured as an unharmed loss. for that which has come to your use did not depart from our property, nor have you come to the increases of your knowledge by the detriment of another's. nay rather himself by right henceforth will not lack a fertile proclamation, who, with a more fiery ingenium, has fittingly imitated nature of fire; of which, if you would take away anything, he remains whole and is transferred wholly.

unde iam parce trepidare deque moribus amici plusculum recto secus credere. namque in hoc facto nos magis vulnus polluit culpae, si feriat ictus invidiae. vale.

Therefore now cease to tremble, and as to a friend’s morals, be inclined to believe him a little more to be upright than otherwise. For in this deed the wound of guilt defiles us the more, if it be struck by the blow of envy. Farewell.

EPISTULA XVII

LETTER 17

Sidonius Arvogasti suo salutem.

Sidonius to Arvogastus, his greeting.

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.

1. Eminentius, your friend, my lord the elder, presented to me the well-lettered letters which you yourself dictated, and filled with the polish of a threefold shining grace. Of those virtues, charity is first, which compelled you to deem worthy of humility in us either strangers or already wishing to withdraw into hiding; then modesty (verecundia), by whose impulse, while you tremble undeservedly, you are rightly proclaimed; third, urbanity, whereby you most cleverly feign folly, and, sated from the Quirinal spring of eloquence, a drinker of the Mosella belches forth the Tiber — thus intimate with barbarians, yet ignorant of barbarisms, equal to ancient leaders in tongue and hand, though whose right hand was wont to wield no less the stylus than the sword.

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.

2. wherefore the pomp of Roman speech, if anywhere still exists, having once been abolished in the Belgian or Rhenish lands, has taken up residence in you; there, whether safe or discoursing, and although at the very border the Latin laws have fallen, the words do not falter. Wherefore, returning greeting in turn, I am greatly rejoiced at least in your illustrious breast that vestiges of letters vanishing have remained, which, if you continue with frequent reading, you will prove in the course of days: by how much men surpass beasts, by so much are cultivated institutions preferred to rustic customs.

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.

3. concerning the pages — indeed, that you wish some shameless interpreter to prattle about spiritual matters — these things are more justly demanded of priests: those near in place, advanced in age, clear in faith and made manifest in works, ready of mouth and tenacious of memory, in short superior in every lofty dower of merits. For as to leaving the episcopate of your city, a most consummate man, by the conscience and fame of all virtues next to the blessed, it is far more fitting that the illustrious fathers and proto‑mystae of the Gauls, to whom any questions are addressed to you, be consulted; neither is Lupus placed far enough off nor Auspicius too near, whose abundance of doctrine must be aired, and your single consultation does not suffice. Therefore, that I did not yield concerning this part of the petitions, forgive me — kind indeed but also just — for if it is proper that you avoid ignorance, it is likewise fitting that I avoid boastfulness.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA XVIII

LETTER 18

Sidonius Lucontio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Lucontius, greetings.

1. Oblivisceris quod rogaris eque contrario, si quid iniungas, ex asse meministi. repetere perlongum est de cito reditu quae tu tuique promiseritis mihi meisque, quorum omnium non sunt vel minima completa. quin potius, cum fugam a nobis machinaremini, quo reversuros ad sacrum pascha vos putaremus, nullae graves sarcinae ad praedium ex oppido ductae, nulla serraca, nulla esseda subvehendis oneribus attrahebantur.

1. You forget that you are being asked, and on the contrary, if you lay on anything you remembered it only for the value of an as. It is too long to rehearse concerning the swift return which you and yours promised to me and mine, of all which not even the smallest things have been fulfilled. Nay rather, since you were contriving flight from us, whereby I would have supposed you would return for the sacred Pascha, no heavy burdens were brought from the town to the estate, no serraca, no esseda were being dragged along for the carriage of loads.

2. utque de matronalium partium nil querar fraude, quas cum expeditis tulistis impedimentis, tuque fraterque communis Volusianus vix singulorum clientum puerorumque comitatu ambiebamini; per quod sollicitudinem prosequentum vana mox recurrendi spe fefellistis; certe frater Volusianus, qui forte pergens in praedia Baiocassina totam[que] provinciam Lugdunensem secundam pervagatur, expectationem nostram specie brevioris itineris elusit.

2. and lest I complain of any fraud about the matronal parts, which you bore with lightened impediments, you and your common brother Volusianus scarcely sought the companionship of even single clients and boys; by which, through anxiety for those seeing you off, you soon deceived them with a vain hope of returning; certainly our brother Volusianus, who by chance, proceeding to the estates of Baiocassina, ranges over the whole second province of Lugdunensis, eluded our expectation by the appearance of a shorter journey.

3. et nunc ipse sic multis contra fidem diebus otiabundus ais tibi si quas postea luserim metro nugas mitti oportere. annuo iniunctis, quia dignus es, ut talia legas; nam carmen ipsum, quod nunc e manibus elabitur, tam rusticanum est tamque impolitum, ut me non illud ad villam sed potius e villa mittere putes.

3. and now you yourself, thus idle against fidelity for so many days, say to me that if afterwards I have played any trifles in metre they ought to be sent. I nod assent to the injunction, because you are worthy, that you read such things; for the poem itself, which now slips from my hands, is so rustic and so unpolished, that you would think I send it not to the villa but rather from the farm.

4. basilicam sancti pontificis confessorisque Martini Perpetuus episcopus, dignissimus tanto praedecessore successor, multum priore quae fuit hactenus capaciorem novavit. magnum est, ut ferunt, opus nominandumque quod in honorem talis viri factum talis vir fecisse debuerit. huius me parietibus inscribere supradictus sacerdos hoc epigramma compellit, quod recensebis, ut est in his, quaecumque deposcit, privilegio caritatis imperiosissimus.

Perpetuus, bishop, most worthy successor to so great a predecessor, greatly renewed the basilica of the holy pontiff and confessor Martin, making it fuller (more capacious) than it had been hitherto. It is, as they say, a great work and one to be proclaimed — what was done in honor of such a man such a man ought to have done. The aforesaid priest compels me to inscribe this epigram on its walls, which you will review, since he, in these matters, whatever he demands, is most imperious by the privilege of charity.

5. atque utinam molis illius pompam sive donaria nihil huius obsequii turpet oblatio; quod secus fore plurimum timeo, nisi forsitan inter omnia venusta sic epigrammatis istius foeditas placeat, ut niger naevus candido in corpore, qui quidem solet sic facere risum quod accipere suffragium. sed quid hinc amplius? pone fistulas ipse pastorias et elegiae nostrae, quia pede claudicat, manum porrige.

5. and would that nothing of that building’s pomp or of the donaria be shamed by the oblation of this service; which I most greatly fear will be otherwise, unless perhaps among all the charms the foulness of this epigram so pleases, as a black mole on a white body, which indeed is wont thus to make a laugh where one should give assent. but what more from this? lay aside the pastoral pipes themselves and our elegies, since he limps in the foot; stretch out your hand.

Martini corpus totis venerabile terris,
     in quo post vitae tempora vivit honor,
texerat hic primum plebeio machina cultu,
     quae confessori non erat aequa suo.
nec desistebat cives onerare pudore
     gloria magna viri, gratia parva loci.
antistes sed qui numeratur sextus ab ipso
     longam Perpetuus sustulit invidiam,
internum removens modici penetrale sacelli
     amplaque tecta levans exteriore domo;
creveruntque simul valido tribuente patrono
      in spatiis aedis, conditor in meritis,
quae Salomoniaco potis est confligere templo,
     septima quae mundo fabrica mira fuit.

The body of Martin, venerable through all lands,
     in which, after the time of life, honor lives,
here first had clad it with a plebeian apparatus of cult,
     a thing not equal to its confessor.
nor did it cease to load the citizens with shame
     the great glory of the man, the small grace of the place.
but the bishop who is counted sixth from him, Perpetuus,
     lifted away long-standing envy,
removing the inner little sanctum of the chapel
     and raising large roofs into an outward house;
and they grew together, the founder in merits, the powerful patron bestowing,
     in the spaces of the edifice,
which can be compared to Solomon’s temple,
     which was the seventh wondrous work in the world.

nam gemmis auro argento si splenduit illud,
     istud transgreditur cuncta metalla fide.
livor, abi, mordax, absolvanturque priores,
     nil novet aut addat garrula posteritas;
dumque venit Christus, populos qui suscitet omnes,
     perpetuo durent culmina Perpetui.

for if that shone with gems, gold, and silver,
     this surpasses all metals by faith.
envy, begone, thou mordant one, and let the former be absolved,
     let talkative posterity neither alter nor add a thing;
and while Christ comes, who shall raise up all peoples,
     may the pinnacles of Perpetuus endure forever.

6. Obtulimus, ut cernis, quod cantilenae recentis obvium manui fuit; sed nec hoc minus, si moras nectis, astra quatiemus, versibus quoque satirographis, si res exegerit, usuri, quos huic carmini lenitate adaequandos falso putabis. namque efficacius citius ardentius natura mortalium culpat aliqua quam laudet. vale.

6. We offered, as you see, what was at hand for a fresh cantilena; but no less—if you weave delays—we will shake the stars, and likewise with satirical verses, if the matter demands, to be employed, which you will falsely think ought by mildness to be made equal to this song. For nature more efficaciously, more swiftly, more ardently blames some things of mortals than praises them. Farewell.

EPISTULA XIX

EPISTLE 19

Sidonius Florentino suo salutem.

Sidonius to Florentinus, his greeting.

1. Et moras nostras et silentium accusas. utrumque purgabile est; namque et venimus et scribimus. vale.

1. You accuse both our delays and our silence. Both are pardonable; for we have come and we write. Farewell.

EPISTULA XX

EPISTLE 20

Sidonius Domnitio suo salutem.

Sidonius sends greeting to his Domnitio.

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.

1. You, to whom it is often pleasant to behold arms and armed men, what pleasure, we suppose, would you have conceived in your mind if you had seen Sigismerus, a royal youth, adorned in the rite and dress of the gentiles, as it were a sponsus or petitioner, seeking the praetorium of his father‑in‑law! Indeed that man was preceded — nay, the horses, decked with phaleræ, even laden with radiant gems, went before or even followed after him — yet what was deemed more decorous there was that he himself, amid his runners or footmen, walked in the middle; his garment flame‑coloured with kermes, ruddy with gold, milky with silk; and his hair, so great a coiffure, of a redness equal to his skin, was of the same colour as his complexion.

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.

2. The aspect of the reguli and of their accompanying allies was terrible even in peace; the feet of the foremost were bound with bristly perone up to the ankles; the knees, shins, and calves were without covering; besides this a tall, tight, multicolored garment scarcely approaching the popliteal regions exposed; sleeves covering only the uppermost parts of the arms; a greenish saga edged with crimson borders; pendulous baltei from the shoulder running over the sword had closed the sides, tightened with bullate rhenones.

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?

3. therewith the attire with which they were adorned served to fortify them; with hooked lances and throwing-axes their right hands were laden, shields shading the left side, whose sheen on the orbs was snowy, on the umbos tawny, thus proclaiming rank and ardor. all things entirely of such a sort that in the performance of nuptial rites the pomp of Mars would not seem less than that of Venus. but why say more of these things?

spectaculo tali sola praesentia tua defuit. nam cum viderem quae tibi pulchra sunt non te videre, ipsam eo tempore desiderii tui inpatientiam desideravi. vale.

Only your presence was lacking at such a spectacle. For when I saw those things that are beautiful to you and did not see you, at that time I longed for you herself with the impatience of your own desire. vale.

EPISTULA XXI

EPISTLE 21

Sidonius Apro suo salutem.

Sidonius. To his Apro, greetings.

1. Est quidem princeps in genere monstrando partis paternae praerogativa, sed tamen multum est, quod debemus et matribus. non enim a nobis aliquid exilius fas est honorari quod pondera illarum quam quod istorum semina sumus. sed originis nostrae definiendae materia vel ratio sit penes physicos: nos, unde haec ipsa praemisimus, persequamur.

1. There is indeed a chief principle, in the genus, that the paternal prerogative is shown, yet nevertheless much is owed also to mothers. For it is not lawful that anything be esteemed by us as more alien, since we are rather the substance of them than the seeds of those men. But let the matter or reason for defining our origin be with the physici; we, from whom we have prefaced these very things, will pursue.

2. Haeduus pater tibi, mater Arverna est. primis Haeduis deberis, ergo non solis, vel propter illud exemplum nostri Maronis, quo teste Pallas, sic habitus Arcas quod pariter et Samnis, in Mezentium movere potuisset ut peregrinus arma Etruscorum, ni mixtus matre Sabella partem quoque patriae inde traxisset. ecce habes magnum maximo auctore documentum, quod patriae pars computanda sit et regio materna, nisi poetas et cum ab historia non recedunt mentiri existimabis.

2. Your father is Aeduan, your mother Arvernian. You should owe first allegiance to the Haedui, therefore not only to them, or — by reason of that example of our Maro, whom Pallas attests — thus the Arcadians were regarded that equally a Samnite could have moved against Mezentius as a stranger bearing Etruscan arms, if, mixed with a Sabellian mother, he had not thence drawn also a portion of his patria. Behold, you have a great proof from a most eminent author that a part of one’s country should be reckoned the maternal region also, unless you will suppose that poets, when they do not depart from history, are lying.

3. igitur Arverni si portionem tui saltim vicissim iure sibi vindicant, patienter admitte querimoniam desiderantum, qui tibi per unius oris officium non unius pectoris profudere secretum. quos palam et coram dicere puta: 'quid in te mali tantum, ingrate, commisimus, ut per tot annos quondam humum altricem nunc velut hosticum solum fugias? hic incunabula tua fovimus; hic vagientis infantiae lactantia membra formavimus; hic civicarum baiulabare pondus ulnarum.

3. therefore, if the Arverni at least in turn lawfully claim a portion of you for themselves, patiently receive the complaint of those desiring you, who by the office of one mouth poured forth a secret not of one breast. Think to say them openly and in public: 'what so great evil have we done to you, ungrateful one, that through so many years you once fled the nourishing soil, and now as if it were hostile ground? here we cherished your cradle; here we formed the suckling limbs of your crying infancy; here we bore on our arms the burden of civic duties.'

4. hinc avus Fronto, blandus tibi sibi severus, qui exemplo esse potuisset his, quos habemus nos in exemplo; hinc avia Auspicia, quae tibi post tuae matris orbato decessum dependit una curam duarum. sed et matertera tua hinc, [et] hinc fuit sanctior sanctis Frontina virginibus, quam verebatur mater pater venerabatur, summae abstinentiae puella, summi rigoris, ac fide ingenti sic deum timens, ut ab hominibus metueretur. hic te imbuendum liberalibus disciplinis grammatici rhetorisque studia florentia monitu certante foverunt, unde tu non tam mediocriter institutus existi, ut tibi liceat Arvernos vel propter litteras non amare.

4. From here your grandfather Fronto, gentle to you, harsh to himself, who could have served as an example to those whom we hold up as an example; from here your grandmother Auspicia, who, after the death that left you bereft of your mother, alone took upon herself the care of the two. But also your maternal aunt from here — and here was more holy than the holy Frontina virgins, whom your mother feared, your father revered — a girl of the utmost abstinence, of the strictest rigour, and of vast faith, so fearing God that she was feared by men. Here they fostered you to be imbued with the liberal disciplines, the flourishing studies of the grammarian and the rhetorician contending by admonition, whence you were trained not merely moderately, so that it is allowable for you not to love the Arverni even for the sake of letters.

5. taceo territorii peculiarem iucunditatem; taceo illud aequor agrorum, in quo sine periculo quaestuosae fluctuant in segetibus undae, quod industrius quisque quo plus frequentat, hoc minus naufragat; viatoribus molle, fructuosum aratoribus, venatoribus voluptuosum; quod montium cingunt dorsa pascuis latera vinetis, terrena villis saxosa castellis, opaca lustris aperta culturis, concava fontibus abrupta fluminibus; quod denique huiusmodi est, ut semel visum advenis multis patriae oblivionem saepe persuadeat.

5. I pass over the peculiar pleasantness of the territory; I pass over that expanse of fields, in which, without danger, profit-bearing waves ripple through the crops, where the more industrious one frequents it, the less he shipwrecks; soft for travelers, fruitful for ploughmen, delightful for hunters; whose mountain ridges are girded with pastures, whose slopes with vineyards, the lowlands with villas, the rocky with castles, shady with forests, open with cultivation, hollowed with springs, steep with rivers; which, finally, is of such a kind that, once seen by an arrival, it often persuades many to forget their fatherland.

6. taceo civitatem ipsam tui semper sic amantissimam, ut sedulo nobilium contubernio praeferre nil debeas, cui tu manu iniecta feliciter raptus inserebare; sicque omnes praesentiae vestrae voluptas, quod tamen nullum satias cepit. iam quid istic de re familiari tua dicam, cuius hic status est, ut tuam expensam hoc sit facilius toleratura, quo crebrius? nam dominus agricola, si larem hic foveat, sic facit sumptum, quod auget et reditum.' haec unus tibi omnium civium, certe bonorum, voto petitu vice garrio; qui cum tanto honore te poscant, tanto amore desiderent, intellegi datur gaudii plus te, dum tribuis quod rogaris, assecuturum.

6. I omit the city itself, ever so most loving of you, that you should diligently prefer nothing to the companionship of the nobles, to whom, with your hand laid upon him, you were happily snatched and settled; and so all the delights of your presence, which nevertheless took no satiety. Now what shall I say there of your household affair, whose state is such that it will the more easily endure your expenditure, the more frequent? For the master, the farmer, if he cherishes the hearth here, thus makes an outlay which increases and returns. These things I alone of all the citizens, certainly of the good, in a votive petition babble in your stead; who, when they ask you with so great honor, desire you with so great love, it is manifest that you will gain more joy while you grant what is asked.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA XXII

EPISTLE 22

Sidonius Leoni suo salutem.

Sidonius. To his Leo, greetings.

1. Vir magnificus Hesperius, gemma amicorum litterarumque, nuper urbe cum rediit e Tolosatium, praecipere te dixit, ut epistularum curam iam terminatis libris earum converteremus ad stilum historiae. reverentia summa, summo et affectu talem atque tantam sententiam amplector; idoneum quippe pronuntias ad opera maiora quem mediocria putas deserere debere. sed, quod fatendum est, facilius audeo huiusmodi suspicere iudicium quam suscipere consilium.

1. The magnificent man Hesperius, a gem of friends and of letters, recently, when he returned to the city from Toulouse, bade you to command that, the books of those letters now completed, we should turn their care to the stylus of history. With the utmost reverence and with the highest affection I embrace such and so great a sentiment; for you rightly pronounce it fitting that one ought to abandon mediocre things for greater works. But, which must be confessed, I more readily dare to suspect such a judgment than to undertake the resolve.

2. res quidem digna quam tu iuberes sed non minus digna quam faceres. mamque et antiquitus, cum Gaius Cornelius Gaio Secundo paria suasisset, ipse postmodum quod iniunxit arripuit, idque ab exemplo nunc melius aggrederis, quia et ego Plinio ut discipulus assurgo et tu vetusto genere narrandi iure Cornelium antevenis, qui saeculo nostro si revivisceret teque qualis in litteris et quantus habeare conspicaretur, modo verius Tacitus esset.

2. a matter indeed worthy of what you would bid, but no less worthy of what you would do. For even from olden time, when Gaius Cornelius had promised equal honours to Gaius Secundus, he himself afterward seized what he had imposed; and you will now undertake this by example more effectively, because I rise up to Pliny as a disciple and you, by the ancient kind of narrating, rightly surpass Cornelius—who, if he were to revive in our age and behold what sort and how great you would be regarded in letters, would be the more truly Tacitus.

3. itaque tu molem thematis missi recte capessis, cui praeter eloquentiam singularem scientiae ingentis magna opportunitas. cotidie namque per potentissimi consilia regis totius sollicitus orbis pariter [eius] negotia et iura, foedera et bella, loca spatia merita cognoscis. unde quis iustius sese ad ista succinxerit, quam ille, quem constat gentium motus legationum varietates, facta ducum pacta regnantum, tota denique publicarum rerum secreta didicisse, quique praestanti positus in culmine non necesse habet vel supprimere verum vel concinnare mendacium?

3. therefore you rightly undertake the mass of themes sent you, to whom, besides a singular eloquence, of vast scientia there is great opportunity. for daily through the councils of the most powerful king of the whole world you, equally solicited, learn [his] affairs and laws, treaties and wars, places, distances, merits. whence who more justly would gird himself to these things than he whom it is acknowledged to have learned the movements of peoples, the varieties of legations, the deeds of leaders, the pacts of rulers, and indeed all the secrets of public affairs, and who, placed outstandingly on the summit, does he not find it necessary either to suppress the truth or to fashion a mendacious tale?

4. at nostra longe condicio dispar, quibus dolori peregrinatio nova nec usui lectio vetus, tum religio professioni est, humilitas appetitui, mediocritas obscuritati, nec in praesentibus rei tantum, quantum in futuris spei locatum, postremo languor impedimento iamque vel sero propter hunc ipsum desidia cordi; aequaeva certe iam super studiis nulla laus curae, sed ne postuma quidem.

4. but my condition is far unlike: to me peregrination is a new grief and old reading of no use; then religion is for profession, humility for appetite, mediocrity for obscurity, and not so much in present things as placed in the hopes of future things; finally, languor is an impediment and already — or even too late — through this very desidia to the heart; certainly, being of equal age, there is now no praise for zeal over studies, not even posthumous.

5. praecipue gloriam nobis parvam ab historia petere fixum, quia per homines clericalis officii temerarie nostra iactanter aliena, praeterita infructuose praesentia semiplene, turpiter falsa periculose vera dicuntur. est enim huiusmodi thema [vel opus], in quo bonorum si facias mentionem, modica gratia paratur, si notabilium, maxuma offensa. sic se illi protinus dictioni color odorque satiricus admiscet.

5. especially we seek a small glory fixed for us from history, because through men of the clerical office our things are rashly and boastfully made another’s; past things are reported fruitlessly, present things half-complete, shamefully false things and perilously true things are told. For this is a theme [or work] of that sort, in which, if you make mention of the good, a modest grace is procured; if of the notable, a very great offense. Thus at once a satirical hue and odor is mingled with the diction.

ilicet: scriptio historica videtur ordine a nostro multum abhorrere, cuius inchoatio invidia, continuatio labor, finis est odium.

namely: historical writing seems to stand very much at variance with our order, whose commencement is envy, whose continuation is labor, and whose end is hatred.

6. sed tunc ista proveniunt, clericis si aliquid dictetur auctoribus; qui colubrinis oblatratorum molaribus fixi, si quid simpliciter edamus, insani, si quid exacte, praesumptiosi vocamur. at si tu ipse, cui datum est saltibus gloriae proterere posse cervices vituperonum seu supercurrere, materiae istius libens provinciam sortiare, nemo te celsius scripserit, nemo et antiquius, etiamsi placeat recentia loqui; quandoquidem sermonum copia impletus ante, nunc rerum non reliquisti, cur venenato morsu secere. atque ideo te in posterum consuli utilitas, audiri voluptas, legi auctoritas erit.

6. but then these things arise, if anything is said to clerics as authors; who, fixed like serpentine teeth to the molars of flatterers, if we publish anything simply are called insane, if anything exactly, presumptuous. but if you yourself, to whom it is given by the leaps of glory to trample the necks of revilers or to run over them, willingly choose the province of this subject‑matter, no one will have written of you more warmly, no one more anciently, even if it pleases to speak of recent things; since you, once filled with an abundance of words, now have not left off from matters, why cut with a venomous bite. and therefore for the future usefulness will be counsel to you, the pleasure to be heard, the authority to be read.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA XXIII

EPISTULA 23

Sidonius Proculo suo salutem.

Sidonius. To his Proculus, greetings.

1. Filius tuus, immo communis ad me cucurrit, qui te relicto deliquisse se maeret, obrutus paenitendi pudore transfugii. igitur audito culpae tenore corripui latitabundum verbis amaris vultu minaci et mea quidem voce sed vice tua dignum abdicatione cruce culleo clamans ceterisque suppliciis parricidalibus. ad haec ille confusus inrubuit, nil impudenti excusatione deprecatus errorem, sed ad cuncta convictum cum redarguerem, verecundiae iunxit comites lacrimas ita profluas ubertimque manantes, ut secuturae correctioni fidem fecerint.

1. Your son, nay one common to me, ran to me, who, having left you, lamented that he had sinned, overwhelmed by the shame of repenting and having fled. Therefore, when I heard the tenor of the fault I rebuked the lurking one with bitter words, a menacing countenance, and with my voice—but in your stead—proclaiming that he deserved abdication, the cross, the sackcloth, and other parricidal punishments. At these things he, confounded, blushed, offered no shameless excuse to avert the error, but when I refuted him about everything, convicted, he joined tears as companions of modesty, so profuse and copiously flowing that they made believable a correction to follow.

2. rogo ergo sis clemens in se severo et deum sequens non habeas te iudice reum se profitente damnabilem; quem si inaudita genera poenarum iubeas inexoratus excipere, non potest amplius per te dolore quam per se pudore torqueri. libera metu desperationem suam, libera confidentiam meam et, pietatis paternae necessitatem si bene interpretor, te quoque absolve, qui conficeris occulto, quod filius publico maerore conficitur. cui fecisse me constat plurimum iniuriae, si tu tamen vel parum feceris, quam certe, ut spero, non facies, nisi scopulis durior duras aut adamantibus rigidior perseveras insecabilibus.

2. I therefore beg that you be merciful to one severe with himself, and, following God, do not regard yourself as judge while he proclaims himself guilty and condemnable; for if you, unappeased, command him to endure unheard-of kinds of punishments, he cannot be tormented by you with more pain than he torments himself with shame. Free his despair from fear, free my confidence, and—if I rightly interpret the father's need of pity—absolve also yourself, who are consumed secretly, that which the son is consumed by public sorrow. It is clear that he has done me very great wrong, yet if you do even little, which certainly, as I hope, you will not do, unless you persist harder than rocks or stiffer than adamant in unbreakable harshness.

3. ergo si de moribus tuis deque amicitiis iuste meliora praesumo, excusato propitius indulge, quem reconcilians fore fidelem constanter in posterum spondeo, quoque velociter culpa soluto ego beneficio ligor, magnopere deposcens, non ut ignoscas modo verum ut et protinus, et revertentem non domo solum sed et pectore admittas. deus magne, quam laetus orietur tibi dies, mihi nuntius, animus illi, cum paternis pedibus affusus ex illo ore laeso, ore terribili, dum convicium expectat, osculum exceperit! vale.

3. therefore if I justly presume better things concerning your morals and your friendships, excuse him and kindly indulge him, whom, reconciled, I solemnly pledge will be faithful henceforth; and whom, the fault being loosed, I am bound to by a benefit, I greatly beg—not that you merely forgive, but that you also immediately and at once, and on his return, admit him not only to your house but also to your heart. Great god, how joyful a day will dawn for you, for me a messenger, for him a spirit, when, having thrown himself at his father’s feet, from that injured mouth—terrible of aspect—while he expects reproach, he shall receive a kiss! farewell.

EPISTULA XXIV

EPISTLE 24

Sidonius Turno suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Turnus, greetings.

1. Bene nomini, bene negotio tuo congruit Mantuani illud:

1. That saying of the Mantuan well befits your good name and your good business:

Turne, quod optanti divum promittere nemo

Turne, that which, to the desiring one, no one of the gods will promise.

auderet, volvenda dies en attulit ultro.

Turnus, what no one dared to promise to one imploring the gods, behold, the day for rolling on brought it forth of its own accord.

pecuniam pater tuus Turpio, vir tribunicius, mutuam pridem, si recordaris, a Maximo Palatino postulavit impetravitque, nil quidem loco fiduciae pignorisque vel argenti sequestrans vel obligans praediorum; sed, ut chirographo facto docetur, cauta centesima est faeneratori, quae per bilustre producta tempus modum sortis ad duplum adduxit.

Your father Turpio, a man of tribunician rank, long since demanded and obtained a loan of money from Maximus the Palatine, if you remember; not indeed in the form of trust, pledge, sequestration of silver, or the binding of estates; but, as is shown by the chirograph made, a secured centesima was granted to the moneylender, which, advanced through the bilustre, brought the term—the measure of the lot—to a double.

2. sed cum pater tuus morti propinquae morbo incumbente succumberet atque ob hoc ipsum publica auctoritas male valentem patremfamilias violentius ad reformandum debitum artaret nec sustineri valeret improbitas executorum, proficiscenti mihi Tolosam iam desperatus litteris imperavit, ut me rogante creditor vester modicas saltim largiretur indutias. precibus orantis citus annui, quia cum Maximo mihi non notitiae solum verum et hospitii vetera iura. igitur ad amicum libens ex itinere perrexi, quamquam villa non paucis aggere a publico milibus abesset.

2. but when your father, succumbing to a disease of imminent death, yielded, and because of this the public authority pressed the ailing paterfamilias more violently to reform his debt — and the dishonesty of the executors could not be endured — already despairing he commanded me in letters as I was setting out for Toulouse that, at my asking, your creditor grant at least modest delays. Moved by the prayers of the petitioner, he promptly granted a year’s respite, for with Maximus I had not only acquaintance but also the ancient rights of hospitality. Therefore I gladly made my way from the journey to the friend, although the villa was not a few miles removed from the public road.

3. ut veni, occurrit mihi ipse, quem noveram anterius corpore erectum gressu expeditum, voce liberum facie liberalem, multum ab antiquo dissimilis incessu. habitus viro, gradus pudor, color sermo religiosus, tum coma brevis barba prolixa, tripodes sellae, Cilicum vela foribus appensa, lectus nil habens plumae, mensa nil purpurae, humanitas ipsa sic benigna quod frugi, nec ita carnibus abundans ut leguminibus; certe si quid in cibis unctius, non sibi sed hospitibus indulgens.

3. when I came, he himself met me, whom I had known before upright in body, swift in step, free in voice, liberal in countenance, in gait much unlike his former self. His dress was manly, his bearing modest, his complexion and speech reverent; then his hair short and beard long, tripods and the chair, Cilician sails hung at the doors, a bed having no feather, a table having no purple, humanity itself so kindly as to be frugal, not so lavish in meats as in legumes; certainly if anything in the foods was oilier, he indulged it not for himself but for his guests.

4. cum surgeremus, clam percontor adstantes, quod genus vitae de tribus arripuisset ordinibus, monachum ageret an clericum paenitentemve. dixerunt nuper impacto sacerdotio fungi, quo recusantem factiose ligasset civicus amor. luce revoluta, dum pueri clientesque capiendis animalibus occuparentur, secretae conlocutionis peto copiam.

4. when we rose, I secretly asked those standing by what sort of life he had taken up from the three orders—whether he lived as a monk, or as a cleric, or as a penitent. they said that recently he had been discharging the thrust-upon priesthood, by which civic love had factiously bound him though he was resisting. with daybreak come, while the boys and clients were busied in catching animals, I sought an opportunity for private conversation.

praestat: amplector nil opinantem gratularique me primum pro sui status apice confirmo, tum consequentes misceo preces.

It is preferable: I embrace him, unsuspecting, and I first congratulate and confirm him upon the apex of his status, then I mingle in the ensuing prayers.

5. Turpionis nostri rogata profero, allego necessitates, extrema deploro, quae duriora maerentibus amicis hinc viderentur, quod faenore ligatus corpore solveretur: meminisset ergo professionis novae, sodalitatis antiquae, exactorumque circumlatrantum barbaram instantiam indultis tantisper indutiis moderaretur; et, si decessisset aeger, tribueret heredibus annui luctus tempus immune; si, quod optarem, pristinam Turpio salutem recuperasset, indulgeret exhausto per otium facultatem convalescendi.

5. I bring forward the petitions asked on behalf of our Turpio, I adduce the necessities, I deplore the extremities, which would have seemed the harsher to mourning friends here because, bound by usury, he was to be ransomed from the body: therefore let him remember his new profession, his ancient sodality, and temper, for the while the respite is granted, the barbarous insistence of the exactors and their barking circuit; and, if he were to depart sick, grant to the heirs an annual period of mourning free; if, as I would wish, he should recover his former health, indulge him, exhausted, with the leisurely opportunity of convalescence.

6. adhuc rogabam, cum repente vir caritatis flere granditer coepit non moram debiti sed periculum debitoris; frenatoque singultu: 'absit a me', inquit, 'ut haec reposcam clericus ab aegro, quae vix petissem miles a sospite. sed et liberos eius ita diligo, ut etiam, si quid adversum cesserit amico, nil sim ab his amplius postulaturus quam mei officii ratio permittit. quapropter scribe sollicitis quoque plus credant litteris tuis, meas iunge, quisquis ille fuerit languoris eventus, quem tamen fratri prosperum optamus, quod et annuum solutioni spatium prorogabo et superpositam medietatem, quae per usurae nomen accrevit, indulgeam, sola simpli restitutione contentus.'

6. I was still entreating, when suddenly a man of charity began to weep greatly — not for the delay of the debt but for the peril of the debtor; and, his sob checked, he said, "Far be it from me that I should reclaim these things of a cleric from a sick man, which I would scarcely have demanded of a soldier who had been preserved. But I love his children so much that even if anything should fall out against my friend, I will not be about to exact from them more than the rule of my duty permits. Wherefore write that the anxious also place more trust in your letters; join mine to them — whoever that result of illness may be, which nevertheless we wish prosperous for his brother — and I will extend the annual time for payment and remit the superadded half which has grown under the name of usury, being content with simple restitution alone."

7. egi ad haec gratias deo maximas, hospiti magnas, qui sic amaret tam suam famam quam conscientiam, confirmans amicum praemittere sibi quod dimitteret vobis, atque hinc superna regna mercari, quod beneficia terrena non venderet. ergo quod restat enitere, ut auctore te protinus saltim commodata summa solvatur, sic ut ingentes nihilominus gratias agas etiam nomine illorum, qui tibi germanitate coniuncti fors per aetatem sapere non possunt, quid muneris consequantur.

7. I rendered greatest thanks to God for these things, and great thanks to the guest, who so loved both his own fame and his conscience, assuring that he would send forward to me what he would remit to you, and thus trade for the heavenly realms, in that he would not vend earthly benefices. Therefore endeavor for the rest, that with you as guarantor immediately at least the lent sum be repaid, and so that you may nevertheless give enormous thanks also in the name of those who, joined to you by brotherhood and perhaps by age unable to be prudent, may see what reward they obtain.

8. non est cur dicere incipias: 'habeo consortes necdum celebrata divisio est; avarius me constat esse tractatum quam coheredes; frater ac soror sub annis adhuc tutelaribus agunt; sorori necdum maritus, fratri necdum curator, curatori necdum satisdator inventus est.' quod quidem totum creditoribus bene, sed malis dicitur; at cum habet talis persona contractum, quae velit medium relaxare, cum totum possit exigere, si moram patitur, quicquid propter misericordiam concesserat pie, iuste reposcit propter iniuriam. vale.

8. there is no reason that you should begin to say: 'I have consorts; a division has not yet been celebrated; I am regarded more as an avaricious person than as a co‑heir; brother and sister still act under guardianship because of their years; the sister not yet a husband, the brother not yet a curator, for the curator no sufficient satisfier has yet been found.' All of which indeed is well said to creditors, but is said to bad men; yet when such a person has a contract, who wishes to relax the middle payment, when he can exact the whole if he suffers delay, whatever he had piously conceded out of mercy he justly reclaims because of the wrong. Farewell.

EPISTULA XXV

EPISTLE 25

Sidonius Domnulo suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Domnulus, greeting.

1. Nequeo differre, quin grandis communione te gaudii festinus inpertiam, nimirum nosse cupientem, quid pater noster in Christo pariter et pontifex Patiens Cabillonum profectus more religionis, more constantiae suae fecerit. cum venisset in oppidum suprascriptum provincialium sacerdotum praevio partim, partim comitante collegio, scilicet ut municipio summus aliquis antistes ordinaretur, cuius ecclesiae disciplina nutabat, postquam iunior episcopus Paulus discesserat decesseratque, exceperunt pontificale concilium variae voluntates oppidanorum,

1. I cannot delay but must promptly share with you a great participation of joy, since you desire to know what our father in Christ and likewise pontiff Patiens of Cabillonum, setting out in the manner of religion and in the manner of his constancy, did. When he had come into the town named above with the provincial priests partly preceding and partly accompanying the college, namely so that a chief prelate might be ordained for the municipality, whose church discipline was tottering, after the younger bishop Paulus had withdrawn and had departed, the pontifical council received the various wishes of the townspeople,

2. nec non et illa, quae bonum publicum semper evertunt studia privata; quae quidam triumviratus accenderat conpetitorum, quorum hic antiquam natalium praerogativam reliqua destitutus morum dote ructabat, hic per fragores parasiticos culinarum suffragio comparatos Apicianis plausibus ingerebatur, hic, apice votivo si potiretur, tacita pactione promiserat ecclesiastica plosoribus suis praedae praedia fore.

2. nor indeed those things also, which private ambitions always overthrow the public good; which a certain triumvirate of competitors had kindled: one of whom here, stripped of the remaining dowry of manners, belched forth his ancient natal prerogative; another was borne along by the clamours of parasitic kitchen-partisans, brought together by culinary suffrages and Apician plaudits; a third, if he could obtain the votive apex, had by a tacit compact promised that the church’s estates should be booty for his applauders.

3. quod ubi viderunt sanctus Patiens et sanctus Euphronius, qui rigorem firmitatemque sententiae sanioris praeter odium gratiamque primi tenebant, consilio cum coepiscopis prius clam communicato quam palam prodito strepituque despecto turbae furentis iunctis repente manibus arreptum nihilque tum minus quam quae agebantur optantem suspicantemque sanctum Iohannem, virum honestate humanitate mansuetudine insignem

3. When Saint Patiens and Saint Euphronius, who, besides the hatred and favour of the first, retained the rigor and firmness of a sounder judgement, saw this, after a plan had been secretly communicated with the fellow-bishops rather than proclaimed openly, and the uproar having been scorned and the crowd raging, with joined hands they suddenly seized Saint John — who was by no means desiring or suspecting the things being done — a man distinguished by honesty, humanity, and meekness

4. (lector hic primum, sic minister altaris, idque ab infantia, post laborum temporumque processu archidiaconus, in quo seu gradu seu ministerio multum retentus propter industriam diu dignitate non potuit augeri, ne potestate posset absolvi): attamen hunc iam secundi ordinis sacerdotem dissonas inter partium voces, quae differebant laudare non ambientem sed nec audebant culpare laudabilem, stupentibus factiosis erubescentibus malis, acclamantibus bonis reclamantibus nullis collegam sibi consecravere.

4. (the lector here first, thus minister of the altar, and that from infancy, afterwards by the course of labors and times archdeacon, in whom, whether by grade or by ministry, much detained because of industriousness long could not be raised in dignity, lest he might be absolved by power): nevertheless this now priest of the second order, amid discordant voices of the factions, which differed — not praising from envy nor yet daring to blame the praiseworthy — the factious stupefied and blushing at evils, the good acclaiming and the bad making no protest, they consecrated a colleague to themselves.

5. nunc ergo Iurensia si te remittunt iam monasteria, in quae libenter solitus escendere iam caelestibus supernisque praeludis habitaculis, gaudere te par est de communium patrum vel patronorum seu sic sentiente concordia seu sic concordante sententia. illius quoque nomine exulta, quem creaverunt Euphronius testimonio, manu Patiens, ambo iudicio. in quo fecit Euphronius quod conveniret non senectutis modo suae verum etiam dignitatis longaevitati, fecit et Patiens, vir quamlibet magnis par tamen laudibus, quod satis decuit facere personam, quae caput est civitati nostrae per sacerdotium, provinciae vero per civitatem.

5. now therefore, if the monasteries of Iurensia already release you, into which you were wont gladly to retire, even unto heavenly and supernal dwellings, it is fitting that you rejoice with the concord of the common fathers or patrons, whether thus feeling in concord or thus agreeing in judgment. Rejoice also in that name which they conferred: Euphronius by testimony, Patiens by the hand, both by judgment. In this office Euphronius did what was fitting not only for his own old age but also for the longevity of his dignity; and Patiens also did, a man equal in any great praises yet worthy of like commendation, which was sufficiently proper to do for the person who is the head of our city by the priesthood, and indeed of the province through the city.

vale.

Farewell.