Sidonius Apollinaris: EPISTULARUM LIBRI IX

1. Audio, quod lectitandis epistulis meis voluptuosam patientiam inpendas. magnum hoc est et litterarum viro convenientissimum, cum studiis ipse maxumis polleas, ea in aliis etiam minima complecti. sed ex hoc ipso consummatissima tibi gloria reponderatur; nam satis eminet meritis ingenii proprii qui fuerit fautor alieni.

1. I hear that you bestow a pleasurable patience on reading my epistles. This is great and most fitting for a man of letters, since you yourself excel in the highest studies, and embrace even the smallest things in others. But from this very thing the most complete glory is repaid to you; for he who is a patron of another’s talent sufficiently shines by the merits of his own genius.

2. commendo Vindicium necessarium meum, virum religiosum et leviticae dignitati, quam nuper indeptus est, accommodatissimum. cui meis e pugillaribus transferre quae iusseras non vacans + perquam provinciam fuit, hic vobis aliquid neniarum munusculi vice detulit; quamquam, quae tua sanctitas, semper grandia litteras nostras praemia putes.

2. I commend Vindicium, my necessary man, a religious man and most fit for the Levitical dignity which he lately obtained. To whom to transfer from my pugillaribus the things you had ordered was, he being not at leisure, a very great province; here he has brought you something in the stead of trinkets, a small gift; although, as your sanctity always thinks, our letters are great rewards.

3. interea necessitatem praefati portitoris insinuo, quem traxit isto negotii oborti bipertita condicio. siquidem hac definitione perrexit, ut aut ineat litem aut adeat hereditatem. nam patrueli paterno caelibi intestatoque defuncto per agnationis praerogativam succedere parat, nisi tamen coeptis factiosa vis obviet.

3. meanwhile I intimate the necessity of the aforesaid porter, whom the twofold condition springing from that negotiation drew in. for by this definition he proceeded, that he should either enter suit or take up the inheritance. for he prepares to succeed his paternal cousin, the father having died childless and intestate, by the prerogative of agnation, unless, however, factious force oppose his undertakings.

contra quas tamen cunctas difficultates solus post opem Christi supplici tuo sufficis, cuius confido quod, si meruerit persona gratiam, consequetur causa victoriam. vale.

against which, however, you alone, after the aid of Christ, as your suppliant, suffice for all difficulties; in whom I trust that, if the person shall deserve grace, the cause will attain victory. farewell.

EPISTULA II

EPISTLE 2

Sidonius Nymphidio suo salutem.

Sidonius sends greetings to his Nymphidius.

1. Librum de statu animae tribus voluminibus inlustrem Mamertus Claudianus peritissimus Christianorum philosophus et quorumlibet primus eruditorum totis sectatae philosophiae membris artibus partibusque comere et excolere curavit, novem quas vocant Musas disciplinas aperiens esse, non feminas. namque in paginis eius vigilax lector inveniet veriora nomina Camenarum, quae propriam de se sibi pariunt nuncupationem. illic enim et grammatica dividit et oratoria declamat et arithmetica numerat et geometrica metitur et musica ponderat et dialectita disputat et astrologia praenoscit et architectonica struit et metrica modulatur.

1. A book on the state of the soul in three volumes by the illustrious Mamertus Claudianus, a most expert philosopher of the Christians and foremost of all the learned, took care to gather and cultivate with all the members, arts, and parts of the sect’s philosophy, declaring that the nine disciplines which they call the Muses are disciplines, not women. For in his pages the vigilant reader will find the truer names of the Camenae, which assign to themselves a name proper to themselves. Therein grammar divides, and oratory declaims, and arithmetic counts, and geometry measures, and music weighs, and dialectic disputes, and astrology foreknows, and architecture builds, and metrics modulates.

2. huius lectionis novitate laetatus excitatusque maturitate raptim recensendam transferendamque, ut videras, petisti, ut petieras, impetrasti sub sponsione citae redhibitionis. nec me falli nec te fallere decet. tempus est commodata restitui, quia liber ipse, si placuit, debuit exhibere satietatem, si displicuit, debuit movere fastidium.

2. rejoicing and roused by the novelty of this reading and by its maturity, you quickly requested that it be reviewed and transferred, as you had seen; as you requested, you obtained it under the pledge of a prompt restitution. Neither is it fitting that I be deceived nor that you deceive. It is time that loaned things be restored, for the book itself, if it pleased, ought to have shown satiety (satisfaction), if it displeased, ought to have moved disgust.

tu autem, quicquid illud est, fidem tuam celeriter absolve, ne si repetitum libellum serius reddere paras, membranas potius videaris amare quam litteras. vale.

you, however, whatever that is, quickly fulfil your pledge, lest, if you intend to return the borrowed little book too late, you seem to love the membranes rather than the letters. farewell.

EPISTULA III

EPISTULA 3

Sidonius Apollinari suo salutem.

Sidonius sends his greeting to his Apollinaris.

1. Par erat quidem garrulitatem nostram silentii vestri talione frenari. sed quoniam perfecta dilectio non tam debet recolere, quid officiorum solvat, quam meminisse, quid debeat, etiam nunc laxatis verecundiae habenis obsequium alloquii impudentis iteramus. cuius improbitas vel hinc maxime dinoscitur, quod tacetis.

1. It was indeed fitting that our loquacity be checked in retaliation by your silence. But since perfect affection ought not so much to reckon what it pays in duties as to remember what it owes, even now, with the reins of modesty relaxed, we renew the courtesy of address to an impudent correspondent. The impudence of whom is most clearly known from this, that you are silent.

ergone quid tempore hostilitatis ageretis, frater, nosse non merui? dissimulastis trepido pro vobis amico vel securitatem prodere vel timorem?

Therefore did I not deserve to know, brother, what you were doing in a time of hostility? Did you conceal from a friend trembling for you either safety or fear?

2. quid est aliud, si requirenti tuas supprimas actiones, quam suspicari eum, qui tui sollicitus existat, aut certe non gavisurum compertis prosperis aut tristem, si diversa cesserint, non futurum? facessat haec a bonis moribus impietatis opinio et a candore suo vera caritas naevum tam miserae suspicionis eliminet. namque, ut Crispus vester affirmat, idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est.

2. what else is it, if you conceal your deeds from one who asks, than to suspect him who is anxious for you—either certainly not to have rejoiced at proven prosperities, or, if contrary things have occurred, not to be sorrowful? May this opinion of impiety be removed from good manners, and may true charity, by its candor, purge away so foul a blot of miserable suspicion. For, as your Crispus affirms, to desire the same things and to be averse to the same things—this indeed is firm friendship.

3. interea si vel vos valetis, bene est. ego autem, infelicis conscientiae mole depressus, vi febrium nuper extremum salutis accessi, utpote cui indignissimo tantae professionis pondus impactum est, qui miser, ante compulsus docere quam discere et ante praesumens bonum praedicare quam facere, tamquam sterilis arbor, cum non habeam opera pro pomis, spargo verba pro foliis.

3. meanwhile, if even you are well, that is good. I, however, weighed down by the mass of an unhappy conscience, by the violence of fevers recently reached the extremity of health, namely one upon whom so great a weight of profession has been laid most undeservedly, who, wretched, is driven to teach before learning and, presuming, to preach the good before doing it; like a sterile tree, since I have not works for fruits, I scatter words for leaves.

4. quod restat, orate, ut operae pretium sit, quod ab inferna propemodum sede remeavimus, ne si in praeteritis criminibus manserimus, incipiat ad animae potius mortem pertinere quod vivimus. ecce quod agimus indicamus; ecce adhuc, quid agatis, inquirimus. fit a nostra parte quod pium est, vos deinceps facite quod videtur.

4. as for what remains, pray that the work be of profit which we have returned from almost the infernal seat, lest if we remain in past crimes, that which we live begin to pertain rather to the death of the soul. behold, we declare what we do; behold, still, what you should do, we inquire. on our part that which is pious is done; you henceforth do what seems right.

illud sane velut Atticas leges in aere credite incisum, nos sub ope Christi numquam admissuros amoris terminum, cuius studuimus fundare principium. vale.

that — believe it as if engraved on bronze like Attic laws — we, under the aid of Christ, will never admit any boundary of love, whose beginning we have striven to found. farewell.

EPISTULA IV

EPISTULA 4

Sidonius Simplicio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Simplicius, greeting.

1. Quod non recepi scripta qui miseram, imputo amicitiae, sed deputo plus pudori. nam, nisi praeter aequum autumo, ut salutatio mihi debita dissimularetur, non illud contumacia sed verecundia fuit. at si ulterius paginae garrienti forem claudis, pessulum opponis, quieti quidem tuae non invitus indulgeo, sed non procul a te reos meos inventurum me esse denuntio.

1. That I did not receive the writing which I had sent, I impute to friendship, but I reckon it more to modesty. For, unless I judge beyond fairness that the greeting owed me was being withheld, that was not obstinacy but bashfulness. But if furthermore you, closing the garrulous page, set a bolt, you place an obstacle; to your quiet I indeed do not unwillingly yield, but I warn that I shall find my accused not far from you.

2. nam totam silentii vestri invidiam verti non iniurium est ad superbiam filiorum, qui se diligi sentientes quoddam patiuntur de nostra sedulitate fastidium. quos monere pro patria auctoritate debebitis, ut contractae apud nos offensae amaritudinem politis affatibus dulcare non desinant. vale.

2. for it is no injustice to turn the whole ill-will of your silence against the pride of sons, who, feeling themselves loved, suffer a certain disdain on account of our sedulity. Whom you ought to admonish with the authority of the fatherland, so that they do not cease to sweeten by polished speeches the bitterness of the offences contracted against us. Vale.

EPISTULA V

LETTER 5

Sidonius Syagrio suo salutem.

Sidonius. To his Syagrius, greetings.

1. Cum sis consulis pronepos idque per virilem successionem (quamquam id ad causam subiciendam minus attinet), cum sis igitur e semine poetae, cui procul dubio statuas dederant litterae, si trabeae non dedissent (quod etiam nunc auctoris culta versibus verba testantur), a quo studia posterorum ne parum quidem, quippe in hac parte, degeneraverunt, immane narratu est, quantum stupeam sermonis te Germanici notitiam tanta facilitate rapuisse.

1. Since you are the great‑grandson of a consul and that by male succession (although that pertains less to the matter of standing for office), since therefore you are of the seed of a poet, to whom beyond doubt letters would have given statues, if the trabeae had not conferred them (which even now the cultured words of the author attest in his verses), from whom the studies of posterity in no wise degenerated, especially in this respect, it is monstrous to relate how much I am astonished that you have seized the knowledge of the Germanic speech with such facility.

2. atqui pueritiam tuam competenter scholis liberalibus memini imbutam et saepenumero acriter eloquenterque declamasse coram oratore satis habeo compertum. atque haec cum ita sint, velim dicas, unde subito hauserunt pectora tua euphoniam gentis alienae, ut modo mihi post ferulas lectionis Maronianae postque desudatam varicosi Arpinatis opulentiam loquacitatemque quasi de + harilao vetere novus falco prorumpas?

2. And yet I recall your boyhood properly imbued with liberal schools, and I am well assured that you oftentimes declaimed sharply and eloquently before an orator. And since these things are so, I would like you to say whence suddenly your breast has drawn the euphonics of a foreign people, so that just now, after the rods of Maronian reading and after the sweat-won opulence and loquacity of the varicose Arpinates, you, as if from the old Harilao, burst forth a new hawk?

3. aestimari minime potest, quanto mihi ceterisque sit risui, quotiens audio, quod te praesente formidet linguae suae facere barbarus barbarismum. adstupet tibi epistulas interpretanti curva Germanorum senectus et negotiis mutuis arbitrum te disceptatoremque desumit. novus Burgundionum Solon in legibus disserendis, novus Amphion in citharis, sed trichordibus, temperandis amaris frequentaris, expeteris oblectas, eligeris adhiberis, decernis audiris.

3. It can scarcely be estimated how great a cause of laughter it is to me and others whenever I hear that, with you present, a barbarian fears to commit a barbarism of his tongue. The bent old age of the Germans stands agape at you, interpreting letters, and from mutual affairs takes you up as arbiter and disputant. You are the new Solon of the Burgundians in discoursing on laws, the new Amphion in lyres — but with trichords — you are much employed in tempering bitters; you are sought, you are chosen, you are called in, you decide, you are listened to.

et quamquam aeque corporibus ac sensu rigidi sint indolatilesque, amplectuntur in te pariter et discunt sermonem patrium, cor Latinum.

and although equally rigid in body and dull of sense and indolent, they alike embrace you and learn the native speech, a Latin heart.

4. restat hoc unum, vir facetissime, ut nihilo segnius, vel cum vacabit, aliquid lectioni operae impendas custodiasque hoc, prout es elegantissimus, temperamentum, ut ista tibi lingua teneatur, ne ridearis, illa exerceatur, ut rideas. vale.

4. one thing remains, most witty man, that you, not at all more slowly, or when you have leisure, should expend some labour on reading and keep watch over this, according as you are most elegant, the temperament, so that this tongue be held by you, lest you be laughed at, that be exercised, so that you may laugh. farewell.

EPISTULA VI

LETTER 6

Sidonius Apollinari suo salutem.

Sidonius. To his Apollinaris, greetings.

1. Cum primum aestas decessit autumno et Arvernorum timor potuit aliquantisper ratione temporis temperari, Viennam veni, ubi Thaumastum, germanum tuum, quem pro iure vel sanguinis vel aetatis reverenda familiaritate complector, maestissimum inveni. qui quamquam recenti caelibatu granditer afficiebatur, pro te tamen parum minus anxius erat: timebat enim verebaturque, ne quam tibi calumniam turbo barbaricus aut militaris concinnaret improbitas.

1. As soon as summer had withdrawn into autumn and the fear of the Arverni could be moderated somewhat by the season’s course, I came to Vienna, where I found Thaumastus, your brother, whom I embrace with a reverend familiarity as if by right either of blood or of age, most sorrowful. He, although much afflicted by his recent celibacy, was nevertheless scarcely less anxious on your behalf: for he feared and was apprehensive that some calumny, wrought by barbaric or military tumult, might be fashioned against you by wickedness.

2. namque confirmat magistro militum Chilperico, victoriosissimo viro, relatu venenato quorumpiam sceleratorum fuisse secreto insusurratum tuo praecipue machinatu oppidum Vasionense partibus novi principis applicari. si quid hinc tibi tuisque suspicionis incutitur, raptim doce recursu familiarium paginarum, ne vobis sollicitudinis aut praesentiae meae opportunitas pereat. curae mihi peculiariter erit, si quid tamen cavendum existimabis, ut te faciat aut gratia impetrata securum aut explorata iracundia cautiorem.

2. for he reports to the magister militum Chilperic, a most victorious man, that by a poisoned report of certain malefactors it had been secretly whispered that, by your especial machination, the town Vasionense was being attached to the party of the new prince. If any suspicion thereby arises against you and yours, swiftly inform me by the return of household letters, lest the opportunity for your concern or for my presence be lost. It will be a particular care to me, if you judge that anything nevertheless must be guarded against, that either favor obtained may make you secure or discovered anger may make you more cautious.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA VII

LETTER 7

Sidonius Thaumasto suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Thaumastus, greetings.

1. Indagavimus tandem, qui apud tetrarcham nostrum germani tui et e diverso partium novi principis amicitias criminarentur, si tamen fidam sodalium sagacitatem clandestina delatorum non fefellere vestigia. hi nimirum sunt, ut idem coram positus audisti, quos se iamdudum perpeti inter clementiores barbaros Gallia gemit. hi sunt, quos timent etiam qui timentur.

1. We have at last traced those who, at our tetrarch’s, were accusing your germani and, from different quarters, the friendships of the new prince; if, however, the trusty sagacity of sodalium has not secretly misled the traces of the delatorum. These, truly, are — as you yourself heard set forth in the same presence — those whom Gaul long laments to endure among the more clement barbaros. These are the men whom even those who are feared themselves fear.

hi sunt, quos haec peculiariter provincia manet, inferre calumnias deferre personas, afferre minas auferre substantias.

these are the men whom this province peculiarly awaits to inflict calumnies upon, to bring charges against persons, to utter threats, to seize possessions.

2. hi sunt, quorum laudari audis in otio occupationes in pace praedas, inter arma fugas inter vina victorias. hi sunt, qui causas morantur adhibiti impediunt praetermissi, fastidiunt admoniti obliviscuntur locupletati. hi sunt, qui emunt lites vendunt intercessiones, deputant arbitros iudicanda dictant dictata convellunt, attrahunt litigaturos protrahunt audiendos, trahunt addictos retrahunt transigentes.

2. These are they whose occupations are praised in leisure, whose spoils in peace are lauded, whose flights are celebrated amid arms, whose victories are sung amid wines. These are they who, when engaged, delay causes; when employed, impede; when passed over, are offended; when admonished, loathe; when enriched, forget. These are they who buy lawsuits, sell intercessions, appoint arbitrators, dictate what is to be judged and rend the dictated; they draw in would‑be litigants, prolong those to be heard, summon the addicted and repel those seeking to compromise.

hi sunt, quos si petas etiam nullo adversante beneficium, piget promittere pudet negare paenitet praestitisse.

These are the ones whom, if you ask for a beneficium even with no adversary opposing, it pains them to promise, it shames them to deny, they regret to have bestowed it.

3. hi sunt, quorum comparationi digitum tollerent Narcissus Asiaticus, Massa Marcellus, Carus Parthenius, Licinus et Pallas. hi sunt, qui invident tunicatis otia stipendia paludatis, viatica veredariis mercatoribus nundinas, munuscula legatis portoria quadruplatoribus, praedia provincialibus flamonia municipibus, arcariis pondera mensuras allectis salaria tabulariis, dispositiones numerariis praetorianis sportulas, civitatibus indutias vectigalia publicanis, reverentiam clericis originem nobilibus, consessum prioribus congressum aequalibus, cinctis iura discinctis privilegia, scholas instituendis mercedes instituentibus litteras institutis.

3. these are they, to whose comparison Narcissus Asiaticus, Massa Marcellus, Carus Parthenius, Licinus and Pallas would lift a finger. these are they who envy tunic-wearers their otium, stipends to those in robes, travelling money to mounted merchants, market-duties to legates, portoria to extortioners, estates to provincial tax-farmers, flameonia to municipalities, weights and measures to treasurers, salaries to ledger-clerks, dispositions to accountants, sportulae to the praetorians, exemptions to cities, tributes to publicani, reverence to clerics, noble origin to the nobly born, precedence to elders, fellowship to equals, rights to the girded, privileges to the ungirt, schools to those founding them, rewards to those instituting, letters to the instituted.

4. hi sunt, qui novis opibus ebrii, ut et minima cognoscas, per utendi intemperantiam produnt imperitiam possidendi; nam libenter incedunt armati ad epulas, albati ad exsequias, pelliti ad ecclesias, pullati ad nuptias, castorinati ad litanias. nullum illis genus hominum ordinum temporum cordi est. in foro Scythae, in cubiculo viperae, in convivio scurrae, in exactionibus Harpyiae, in conlocutionibus statuae, in quaestionibus bestiae, in tractatibus cocleae, in contractibus trapezitae; ad intelligendum saxei, ad iudicandum lignei, ad suscensendum flammei, ad ignoscendum ferrei, ad amicitias pardi, ad facetias ursi, ad fallendum vulpes, ad superbiendum tauri, ad consumendum minotauri.

4. these are they who, drunken with new opulence, — that you may know even the smallest things — by an intemperance of using betray an imperity of possessing; for they gladly march armed to feasts, whitened to funerals, furred to churches, dark-clad to weddings, beaver-capped to litanies. no kind of men, orders, or times is to their heart. in the forum they are Scythians, in the bedroom vipers, at the table buffoons, in exactions Harpies, in conversations statues, in trials beasts, in negotiations snails, in contracts money-changers; fit to understand the stony, to judge the wooden, to be enraged at the fiery, to pardon the iron, to make friendships with the leopard, to relish the jests of the bear, to trick the fox, to be haughty as the bull, to consume the minotaur.

5. spes firmas in rerum motibus habent, dubia tempora certius amant, et ignavia pariter conscientiaque trepidantes, cum sint in praetoriis leones, in castris lepores, timent foedera, ne discutiantur, bella, ne pugnent. quorum si nares afflaverit uspiam robiginosi aura marsupii, confestim videbis illic et oculos Argi et manus Briarei et Sphingarum ungues et periuria Laomedontis et Ulixis argutias et Sinonis fallacias et fidem Polymestoris et pietatem Pygmalionis adhiberi.

5. they hold firm hopes amid the motions of things, they love doubtful times more surely, and cowardice and conscience alike trembling, although they are lions in the praetoria, hares in the camps; they fear treaties, lest they be broken, wars, lest they fight. if anywhere the nostrils of these should be breathed upon by a rusty breeze of the purse, immediately you will see there both the eyes of Argus and the hands of Briareus and the talons of the Sphinges and the perjuries of Laomedon and the arguties of Ulysses and the fallacies of Sinon and the faith of Polymestor and the piety of Pygmalion applied.

6. his moribus obruunt virum non minus bonitate quam potestate praestantem. sed quid faciat unus, undique venenato vallatus interprete? quid, inquam, faciat, cui natura cum bonis, vita cum malis est?

6. by these manners they overwhelm a man no less outstanding in goodness than in power. But what can one man do, besieged on all sides by a venomous interpreter? What, I say, can he do, to whom nature is with the good, but life is with the bad?

ad quorum consilia Phalaris cruentior Mida cupidior, Ancus iactantior Tarquinius superbior, Tiberius callidior Gaius periculosior, Claudius socordior Nero impurior, Galba avarior Otho audacior, Vitellius sumptuosior Domitianus truculentior redderetur.

by whose counsels Phalaris would be rendered bloodier, Mida more covetous, Ancus more boastful, Tarquinius more proud, Tiberius craftier, Gaius more dangerous, Claudius more slothful, Nero more impure, Galba more avaricious, Otho bolder, Vitellius more sumptuous, Domitian more truculent.

7. sane, quod principaliter medetur afflictis, temperat Lucumonem nostrum Tanaquil sua et aures mariti virosa susurronum faece completas opportunitate salsi sermonis eruderat. cuius studio [factum] scire vos par est nihil interim quieti fratrum communium apud animum communis patroni iuniorum Cibyratarum venena nocuisse neque quicquam deo propitiante nocitura, si modo, quamdiu praesens potestas Lugdunensem Germaniam regit, nostrum suumque Germanicum praesens Agrippina moderetur. vale.

7. certainly, since she chiefly heals the afflicted, Tanaquil had tempered our Lucumo by her opportunity of witty speech and had schooled the husband’s ears, filled with the poisonous dregs of whispers. By whose zeal it is fitting that you know the fact: meanwhile the poisons of the common patron of the common brothers of the younger Cibyratae have harmed nothing in spirit, nor will anything harm, God being propitious, provided only that, so long as the present power governs Lugdunensis Germania, present Agrippina may govern our Germanic and her own. farewell.

EPISTULA VIII

EPISTLE 8

Sidonius Secundino suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Secundinus, greetings.

1. Diu quidem est, quod te hexametris familiarius inservientem stupentes praedicantesque lectitabamus. erat siquidem materia iucunda, seu nuptiales tibi thalamorum faces sive perfossae regiis ictibus ferae describerentur. sed triplicibus trochaeis nuper in metrum hendecasyllabum compaginatis nihil, ne tuo quidem iudicio, simile fecisti.

1. It is indeed long since we used to read you aloud, attending more familiarly to your hexameters, astonished and proclaiming. For the subject was pleasant, whether the nuptial torches of your bridal chambers or the beast pierced by royal blows were to be depicted. But lately, with triple trochees fitted into the hendecasyllabic meter, you produced nothing like that, not even in your own judgment.

2. deus bone, quid illic inesse fellis leporis piperataeque facundiae minime tacitus inspexi! nisi quod ferventis fulmen ingenii et eloquii salsa libertas plus personis forte quam causis impediebantur; ut mihi non figuratius Constantini domum vitamque videatur vel pupugisse versu gemello consul Ablabius vel momordisse disticho tali clam Palatinis foribus appenso:

2. good god, how I did not passively inspect what there was in that mixture of bile, of hare, and of peppered eloquence! except that the blazing bolt of talent and of eloquence, and the salty liberty, were perhaps impeded more by persons than by causes; so that it seems to me not merely figuratively that Ablabius the consul has either kicked at Constantine’s house and life with a twin verse or has bitten them with such a distich, secretly hung on the Palatine doors:

Saturni aurea saecla quis requirat?
Sunt haec gemmea, sed Neroniana.

Who will ask for the golden ages of Saturn?
These are gemlike, but Neronian.

quia scilicet praedictus Augustus isdem fere temporibus extinxerat coniugem Faustam calore balnei, filium Crispum frigore veneni.

because, of course, the aforesaid Augustus at almost the same time had put out his wife Fausta by the heat of a bath, and his son Crispus by the chill of poison.

3. tu tamen nihilo segnius operam saltim facetis satirarum coloribus intrepidus impende. nam tua scripta nostrorum vitiis proficientibus tyrannopolitarum locupletabuntur. non enim tam mediocriter intumescunt quos nostra iudicia saeculi culpa fortunatos putant, ut de nominibus ipsorum quandoque reminiscendis sit posteritas laboratura: namque improborum probra aeque ut praeconia bonorum immortalia manent.

3. yet you, by no means less, at least with the facetious colors of your satires, intrepidly bestow your labour. for your writings, advancing by the vices of our age, will enrich the tyrannopolitan annals. not merely do those swell whom the judgments of our century, through fault, deem fortunate, so that posterity will sometime have to toil in recalling their names; for the outrages of the wicked endure as immortally as the praises of the good.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA IX

LETTER 9

Sidonius Aquilino suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Aquilinus, greeting.

1. In meo aere duco, vir omnium virtutum capacissime, si dignum tu quoque putas, ut quantas habemus amicitiarum causas, tantas habeamus ipsi amicitias. avitum est quod reposco; testes mihi in praesentiarum avi nostri super hoc negotio Apollinaris et Rusticus advocabuntur, quos laudabili familiaritate coniunxerat litterarum dignitatum, periculorum conscientiarum similitudo, cum in Constantino inconstantiam, in Iovino facilitatem, in Gerontio perfidiam, singula in singulis, omnia in Dardano crimina simul execrarentur.

1. I hold in my esteem a man most fully endowed with all virtues, if you too deem him worthy, that as many as are our causes of friendships, so many may we have friendships themselves. What I claim is ancestral; as witnesses for me in these present proceedings about our grandfather Apollinaris and Rusticus will be summoned, whom a laudable familiarity of letters and dignities had joined, a likeness of consciences in dangers, since together they execrated the inconstancy in Constantinus, the facility in Iovinus, the perfidy in Gerontius — singula in singulis — and together denounced all the crimes of Dardanus.

2. aetate, quae media, patres nostri sub uno contubernio, vixdum a pueritia in totam adulescentiam evecti, principi Honorio tribuni notariique militavere tanta caritate peregrinantes, ut inter eos minima fuerit causa concordiae, quod filii amicorum commemorabantur, in principatu Valentiniani imperatoris unus Galliarum praefuit parti, alter soliditati; sed ita se quodam modo tituli amborum compensatione fraterna ponderaverunt, ut prior fuerit fascium tempore qui erat posterior dignitate.

2. In middle age, our fathers under one contubernium, scarcely advanced from boyhood into full adolescence, served as tribunes and notaries to the prince Honorius with such peregrinating affection that there was the smallest cause of discord between them, since the sons of friends were commemorated; in the principate of Emperor Valentinian one presided over the Galliae, the other over the soliditas; but in a certain way they balanced themselves by a fraternal compensation of title, so that he who was posterior in dignity was prior in the time of the fasces.

3. ventum ad nos id est ventum est ad nepotes, quos nil decuerit plus cavere quam ne parentum antiquorumque nostrorum per nos forte videatur antiquata dilectio. ad hoc in similem familiaritatem praeter hereditariam praerogativam multifaria opportunitate compellimur; aetas utrique non minus iuncta quam patria; unus nos exercuit ludus, magister instituit; una nos laetitia dissolvit, severitas cohercuit, disciplina formavit.

3. it has come to us — that is, it has come to the nepotes, for whom nothing would be more fitting than to take greater care that by us the ancient affection of our parents and forebears not perhaps appear antiquated. besides the hereditary prerogative we are compelled into similar familiarity by manifold opportunity; age joined us no less than country; one game trained us, a master instituted us; one joy dissolved us, severity checked us, discipline formed us.

4. de cetero, si deus annuit in annis iam senectutis initia pulsantibus, simus, nisi respuis, animae duae, animus unus, imbuamusque liberos invicem diligentes idem velle nolle, refugere sectari. hoc patrum vero iam supra vota, si per Rusticum Apollinaremque, proavorum praedicabilium tam reformentur corda quam nomina. vale.

4. henceforth, if God nods assent in years now knocking at the beginnings of old age, let us — unless you refuse — be two souls, one mind, and let us instill in our children, mutually affectionate, to will and not will the same things, to flee and not to pursue. This indeed would be beyond the fathers’ wishes, if, by Rusticus and Apollinaris, the hearts of our ancestors fit to be praised were renewed as much as their names. Vale.

EPISTULA X

LETTER 10

Sidonius Sapaudo suo salutem.

Sidonius sends greeting to his Sapaudus.

1. Si quid omnino Pragmatius illustris, hoc inter reliquas animi virtutes optime facit, quod amore studiorum te singulariter amat, in quo solo vel maxume animum advertit veteris peritiae diligentiaeque resedisse vestigia. equidem non iniuria tibi fautor est; nam debetur ab eo percopiosus litteris honor.

1. If indeed Pragmatius the illustrious has any merit at all, among the rest of his virtues of mind he does this best, that he loves you singularly with a love of studies, in whom alone or especially he turns his mind to see the footprints of ancient skill and diligence resting. I for my part am not unjustly your supporter; for honour is owed to you by one copious in letters.

2. hunc olim perorantem et rhetorica sedilia plausibili oratione frangentem socer eloquens ultro in familiam patriciam ascivit, licet illi ad hoc, ut sileam de genere vel censu, aetas venustas pudor patrocinarentur. sed, ut comperi, erubescebat iam tunc vir serius et formae dote placuisse, quippe cui merito ingenii suffecisset adamari. et vero optimus quisque morum praestantius pulchritudine placet; porro autem praetervolantia corporis decoramenta currentis aevi profectu defectuque labascunt.

2. This man, once declaiming and shattering the rhetorical benches with plausible oratory, his eloquent father‑in‑law of his own accord admitted into the patrician household, although for that purpose—let me be silent about birth or wealth—age, charm, and modesty would have pleaded his cause. But, as I learned, he even then blushed that he had pleased rather late and by the dowry of beauty, for to him deservedly the talent of his mind would have sufficed to be loved. And truly the best of men pleases more by excellence of morals than by outstanding beauty; moreover the adornments of the body, passing with the progress and decay of advancing age, fade away.

hunc quoque manente sententia Galliis post praefectus Priscus Valerianus consiliis suis tribunalibusque sociavit, iudicium antiquum perseverantissime tenens, ut cui scientiae obtentu iunxerat sobolem, iungeret et dignitatem.

with this opinion likewise remaining, afterwards in Gaul he associated Priscus Valerianus, the prefect, with his counsels and tribunals, holding most steadfastly to the ancient judgment, so that to him to whom by the show of learning he had joined a scion, he might also join dignity.

3. tua vero tam clara, tam spectabilis dictio est, ut illi divisio Palaemonis gravitas Gallionis, abundantia Delphidii Agroecii disciplina, fortitudo Alcimi Adelphii teneritudo, rigor Magni dulcedo Victorii non modo non superiora sed vix aequiperabilia scribant. sane ne videar tibi sub hoc quasi hyperbolico rhetorum catalogo blanditus quippiam gratificatusque, solam tibi acrimoniam Quintiliani pompamque Palladii comparari non ambio sed potius adquiesco.

3. your diction indeed is so clear, so spectaculous, that the divisio of Palaemon, the gravitas of Gallio, the abundantia of Delphidius, the disciplina of Agroecius, the fortitudo of Alcimus, the teneritudo of Adelphius, the rigor of Magnus, the dulcedo of Victorinus are not only not superior but are scarcely written as equable to it. indeed, lest I seem to you under this, as with a hyperbolic catalog of rhetors, to have flattered or gratified you in any way, I do not desire that merely Quintilian’s acrimony and Palladius’ pomp be compared to you; rather I acquiesce.

4. quapropter si quis post vos Latiae favet eruditioni, huic amicitiae gratias agit et sodalitati vestrae, si quid hominis habet, tertius optat adhiberi. quamquam, quod est gravius, non sit satis ambitus iste fastidium vobis excitaturus, quia pauci studia nunc honorant, simul et naturali vitio fixum est radicatumque pectoribus humanis, ut qui non intelligunt artes non mirentur artifices. vale.

4. wherefore if any one after you favors Latin learning, he gives thanks to this friendship and to your fellowship; if he has aught of a man, he wishes to be admitted as a third. although — and this is the graver matter — this very ambition may not be sufficient to keep from exciting disgust in you, because few now honor studies, and at the same time it is a natural vice, fixed and rooted in human breasts, that those who do not understand the arts do not admire the artisans. vale.

EPISTULA XI

LETTER 11

Sidonius Potentino suo salutem.

Sidonius sends greeting to his Potentinus.

1. Multum te amamus; et quidem huiusce dilectionis non est erroneus aut fortuitus affectus. namque ut sodalis tibi devinctior fierem, iudicavi. est enim consuetudinis meae, ut eligam ante, post diligam.

1. We love you greatly; and indeed the affection of this devotion is neither erroneous nor fortuitous. For that I might become more closely bound to you as a companion I resolved. For it is the custom of my intimacy to choose first and to love afterwards.

quaenam, inquis, in me tibi probanda placuere?

Which things, you ask, in me have pleased you as worthy of approval?

2. dicam libenter et breviter, quorum unum fieri gratia, alterum charta conpellit. veneror in actionibus tuis, quod multa bono cuique imitabilia geris. colis ut qui sollertissime; aedificas ut qui dispositissime; venaris ut qui efficacissime; pascis ut qui exactissime; iocaris ut qui facetissime; iudicas ut qui aequissime; suades ut qui sincerissime; commoveris ut qui tardissime; placaris ut qui celerrime; redamas ut qui fidelissime.

2. I will speak gladly and briefly: one of these things urges me for the sake of being done, the other the paper compels. I venerate in your actions that you perform many things imitable by any good man. You cultivate as one most shrewd; you build as one most methodical in disposition; you pursue as one most efficacious; you nourish as one most exact; you jest as one most facetious; you judge as one most equitable; you advise as one most sincere; you are moved as one most slow to be stirred; you appease as one most swift; you repay as one most faithful.

3. haec omnia exempla vivendi iam hinc ab annis puberibus meus Apollinaris si sequitur, gaudeo; certe ut sequatur, admoneo. in quo docendo instituendoque, modo sub ope Christi disposita succedant, plurimum laetor maximam me formulam vitae de moribus tuis mutuaturum. vale.

3. if my Apollinaris has followed these all as examples of living now from these adolescent years, I rejoice; certainly, that he should follow them I admonish. in teaching and training him, provided only that the things arranged under the help of Christ succeed, I am very glad — indeed exceedingly glad — that I shall borrow the greatest formula of life from your morals. farewell.

EPISTULA XII

LETTER 12

Sidonius Calminio suo salutem.

Sidonius sends greetings to his Calminius.

1. Quod rarius ad vos a nobis pagina meat, non nostra superbia sed aliena impotentia facit. neque super his quicquam planius quaeras, quippe cum silentii huius necessitatem par apud vos metus interpretetur. hoc solum tamen libere gemo, quod turbine dissidentium partium segreges facti mutuo minime fruimur aspectu.

1. That a page comes more rarely to you from us is caused not by our pride but by another's impotence. Nor seek anything clearer about these matters, since you interpret the necessity of this silence as equal to fear. Yet this alone I freely lament: that, by a whirlwind of dissident parties made separated, we scarcely at all enjoy the sight of one another.

neque umquam patriae sollicitis offerris obtutibus, nisi forsitan cum ad arbitrium terroris alieni vos loricae, nos propugnacula tegunt. ubi ipse in hoc solum captivus adduceris, ut pharetras sagittis vacuare, lacrimis oculos implere cogaris, nobis quoque non recusantibus, quod tua satis aliud moliuntur vota quam iacula.

nor are you ever offered to the anxious eyes of the patria, unless perhaps when, at the arbitrium of another’s terror, your loricae cover you, our propugnacula. when you yourself are led captive to this one thing, so that you are forced to empty quivers with arrows, to fill your eyes with tears, we also, not refusing, since your vows strive at quite other things than javelins.

2. sed quia interdum etsi non per foederum veritatem, saltim per indutiarum imaginem quaedam spei nostrae libertatis fenestra resplendet, impense flagito, uti nos, cum maxime potes, affatu paginae frequentis impertias, sciens tibi in animis obsessorum civium illam manere gratiam, quae obliviscatur obsidentis invidiam. vale.

2. but because sometimes, albeit not by the truth of treaties, at least by the semblance of truces, a certain window of hope for our liberty shines, I earnestly beseech you that, when you are most able, you grant the address of a frequent page to us, knowing that in the minds of besieged citizens that favour remains for you which forgets the envy of the besieger. farewell.

EPISTULA XIII

EPISTLE 13

Sidonius Pannychio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Pannychius, greetings.

1. Seronatum Tolosa nosti redire; si nondum, et credo quod nondum, vel per haec disce. iam Clausetiam pergit Euanthius iamque contractas operas cogit eruderare, si quid forte deiectu caducae frondis agger insorduit. certe si quid voraginosum est, ipse humo advecta scrobibus oppletis trepidus exaequat, utpote beluam suam de valle Tarnis ducaliter antecessurus, musculis similis inter saxosa vel brevia ballaenarum corpulentiam praegubernantibus.

1. You know that Seronatus has returned to Toulouse; if not yet—and I believe not yet—learn it from these tidings. Euanthius now proceeds to Clausetia and already plans to clear away the contracted works, in case perchance a mound of fallen, withering foliage has become clogged. Certainly if there is any chasm, he himself, anxious, evens it with earth brought up and the pits filled, since he is about to advance his beast from the valley of the Tarn in a ducal manner, like a mussel among rocks or shallows piloting the bulk of whales.

2. at ille sic ira celer, quod piger mole, seu draco e specu vix evolutus iam metu exanguibus Gabalitanis e proximo infertur; quos singulos sparsos inoppidatos nunc inauditis indictionum generibus exhaurit, nunc flexuosa calumniarum fraude circumretit, ne tum quidem domum laboriosos redire permittens, cum tributum annuum datavere.

2. but he, swift in anger though sluggish in bulk, or like a dragon scarcely flown forth from its lair, is now hurled against the nearby Gabalitans, bloodless with fear; whom, scattered and without towns, he drains off one by one—now with unheard kinds of indictions, now he winds about them with the sinuous fraud of calumnies—nor even then permitting the hardworking to return home, when they had paid the annual tribute.

3. signum et hoc certum est imminentis adventus, quod catervatim, quo se cumque converterit, vincti trahuntur vincula trahentes; quorum dolore laetatur, pascitur fame, praecipue pulchrum arbitratus ante turpare quam punire damnandos; crinem viris nutrit, mulieribus incidit; e quibus tamen si rara quosdam venia respexerit, hos venalitas solvit, vanitas illos, nullos misericordia. sed explicandae bestiae tali nec oratorum princeps Marcus Arpinas nec poetarum Publius Mantuanus sufficere possunt.

3. and this is also a certain sign of an imminent advent, that in companies, whichever way each has turned himself, the bound are dragged, dragging chains; whose pain he delights in, he feeds upon their hunger, esteeming it especially beautiful to disgrace the damned rather than to punish them; he fosters hair on men, he shears it from women; of whom, however, if by rare clemency he has looked back upon some, venality redeems these, vanity those, mercy none. But to unfold such a beast neither the prince of orators Marcus Arpinas nor the poet Publius Mantuanus can suffice.

4. proinde quia dicitur haec ipsa pernicies appropinquare, cuius proditionibus deus obviet, praeveni morbum providentiae salubritate contraque lites iurgiosorum, si quae moventur, pactionibus consule, contra tributa securitatibus, ne malus homo rebus bonorum vel quod noceat vel quod praestet inveniat. in summa, de Seronato vis accipere quid sentiam? ceteri affligi per suprascriptum damno verentur; mihi latronis et beneficia suspecta sunt.

4. therefore, since it is said that this very pernicies is drawing near, against whose betrayals God will set himself, anticipate the malady by the salubrity of providence and, against the quarrels of wranglers, if any are stirred up, provide by pactions; against levies, by securities, lest an evil man among the goods of the estate find either something to harm or something to appropriate. in sum, do you wish to receive what I think about Seronato? the others fear to be afflicted by the above‑written damage; to me the robber and his beneficia are suspect.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA XIV

LETTER 14

Sidonius Apro suo salutem.

SIDONIUS. To his Apro, greeting.

1. Calentes nunc te Baiae et scabris cavernatim ructata pumicibus aqua sulpuris atque iecorosis ac phthisiscentibus languidis medicabilis piscina delectat? an fortasse montana sedes circum castella et in eligenda sede perfugii quandam pateris ex munitionum frequentia difficultatem? quicquid illud est, quod vel otio vel negotio vacas, in urbem tamen, nisi fallimur, rogationum contemplatione revocabere.

1. Does the warm medicinal pool at Baiae now delight you, its water belched up through scabrous, cavernous pumice, sulphurous and liver‑afflicted and healing for those languid with consumption? Or perhaps a mountain seat, with castles all around, and in choosing a place of refuge do you suffer some difficulty from the crowding of fortifications? Whatever it is in which you occupy yourself, whether in leisure or in business, it will nevertheless, unless we are mistaken, summon you back to the city by the contemplation of petitions.

2. quarum nobis sollemnitatem primus Mamertus pater et pontifex, reverendissimo exemplo, utilissimo experimento invenit instituit invexit. erant quidem prius, quod salva fidei pace sit dictum, vagae tepentes infrequentesque utque sic dixerim oscitabundae supplicationes, quae saepe interpellantum prandiorum obicibus hebetabantur, maxime aut imbres aut serenitatem deprecaturae; ad quas, ut nil amplius dicam, figulo pariter atque hortuloni non oportuit convenire.

2. of which solemnity our father and pontiff Mamertus first discovered, instituted, and introduced, by the most useful experiment and by his most reverend example. There had indeed been before, truth be told and with the peace of faith preserved, wandering, tepid, and infrequent—so to speak yawning—supplications, which were often dulled by the interruptions and impediments of luncheon affairs, beseeching most of all either rains or fair weather; to which, to say no more, it was not fitting that a potter and a little gardener should alike resort.

3. in his autem, quas suprafatus summus sacerdos nobis et protulit pariter et contulit, ieiunatur oratur, psallitur fletur. ad haec te festa cervicum humiliatarum et sternacium civium suspiriosa contubernia peto; et, si spiritalem animum tuum bene metior, modo citius venies, quando non ad epulas sed ad lacrimas evocaris. vale.

3. in these things, however, which the aforesaid high priest both set before us and conferred, there is fasting, there is prayer, there is psalmody, there is weeping. to these I entreat you as to the festa of bowed‑necked and prostrate citizens’ sighing contubernia; and, if I measure your spiritual mind rightly, you will come soon enough, provided that you are summoned not to banquets but to tears. vale.

EPISTULA XV

EPISTLE 15

Sidonius Ruricio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Ruricius, greetings.

1. Officii sermone praefato bybliopolam nostrum non gratiose sed iudicialiter expertus insinuo, cuius ut fidem in pectore, sic in opere celeritatem circa dominum [te] mihi sibique communem satis abunde probavi. librum igitur hic ipse deportat heptateuchi, scriptum velocitate summa, summo nitore, quamquam et a nobis relectum et retractatum. defert volumen et prophetarum, licet me absente decursum, sua tamen cura manuque de supervacuis sententiis eruderatum, nec semper illo contra legente, qui promiserat operam suam; credo, quia infirmitas fuerit impedimento, quominus pollicita compleret.

1. In a prefatory speech on duty I have tried our bookseller not graciously but judicially, I insinuate, whose fidelity in the heart and likewise celerity in the work regarding the lord [you], common to me and to himself, I have proved more than sufficiently. Therefore this same man carries a book, the Heptateuch, written with the utmost speed, with the highest polish, although also reread and revised by me. He brings forward a volume of the Prophets, although run through in my absence, yet by his own care and hand purged of superfluous opinions, and not always reading against him who had promised his labor; I think that infirmity was the impediment by which he did not complete what he had promised.

2. restat, ut exhortatio vestra seu sponsio famulum sic vel studentem placere vel meritum gratia competenti remuneretur; quae utique pro tali labore si solvitur, incipiet ad vestram respicere mercedem. sed cum hoc ego de sola gratia precer, vos quid mereatur aspicite quem constat affectum domini magis ambire quam praemium. vale.

2. It remains that your exhortation or pledge be such that the servant thus, whether striving to please or deserving by merit, be suitably remunerated; which indeed, if paid for such labor, will begin to look to your reward. But since I pray this thing from pure grace, consider what he deserves—him whose affection plainly covets the master more than the prize. Farewell.

EPISTULA XVI

LETTER 16

Sidonius Papianillae suae salutem.

Sidonius to his Papianilla, greeting.

1. Ravenna veniens quaestor Licinianus, cum primum tetigit Alpe transmissa Galliae solum, litteras adventus sui praevias misit, quibus indicat esse se gerulum codicillorum, quorum in adventu fratri etiam tuo Ecdicio, cuius aeque titulis ac meis gaudes, honor patricius accedit, celerrime, si cogites eius aetatem, si merita, tardissime. namque ille iam pridem suffragium dignitatis ineundae non solvit in lance sed in acie, aerariumque publicum ipse privatus non pecuniis sed manubiis locupletavit.

1. Coming to Ravenna, the quaestor Licinianus, as soon as he touched the Alps and set foot on Gaul, sent letters announcing his arrival beforehand, in which he indicates that he is the bearer of codicils, of which, on his coming, the patrician honor will also attach to your brother Ecdicius, of whom you rejoice in titles as much as you do in mine — very swiftly, if you reckon his merits; very late, if you consider his age. For he long since discharged the suffrage for undertaking dignity not in the auction-bench but on the battle-line, and as a private man he enriched the public aerarium not with monies but with manubiae.

2. hoc tamen sancte Iulius Nepos, armis pariter summus Augustus ac moribus, quod decessoris Anthemii fidem fratris tui sudoribus obligatam, quo citior, hoc laudabilior absolvit; siquidem iste complevit, quod ille saepissime pollicebatur. quo fit, ut deinceps pro republica optimus quisque possit ac debeat, si quid cuipiam virium est, quia securus, hinc avidus impendere, quandoquidem mortuo quoque imperatore laborantum devotioni quicquid spoponderit princeps, semper redhibet principatus.

2. Yet this pious Julius Nepos, supreme Augustus alike in arms and in morals, more swiftly — and therefore more laudably — discharged the fidelity of your brother, which had been bound by the toils of the late Anthemius; for this man fulfilled what that one very often promised. From which it follows that henceforth the very best man for the republic can and ought, if he has any strength at all, being secure, to be eager to expend it; since, even when the emperor is dead, the principate always restores to the devotion of those who labored whatever the prince has pledged.

3. interea tu, si affectum tuum bene colligo, hisce compertis magnum solacium inter adversa maxima capis nec animum tuum a tramite communium gaudiorum vicinae quoque obsidionis terror exorbitat. novi enim probe ne meo quidem te, quem ex lege participas, sic honore laetatam, quia, licet sis uxor bona, soror optima es. qua de re propitio deo Christo ampliatos prosapiae tuae titulos ego festinus gratatoriis apicibus inscripsi, pariter absolvens sollicitudinem tuam, fratris pudorem; quem nil de propria dignitate indicaturum, si verecundum forte nescires, nec sic impium iudicares.

3. meanwhile you, if I gather your feeling rightly, in these discoveries take great solace amid the greatest adversities, nor does the terror of a nearby siege wrench your mind from the track of common joys. For I know well that you are not even to my (benefit) so rejoiced by honour as you are, whom by law you share, because, although you are a good wife, you are an excellent sister. Wherefore, to the propitious God Christ I hastily inscribed the enlarged titles of your family with congratulatory apices, simultaneously absolving your solicitude and your brother’s modesty; which would indicate nothing about his own dignity, if perhaps you did not know him to be modest, nor would you judge him so impious.

4. ego vero non tantum insignibus vestris, quae tu hactenus quanto liberius, tanto inpatientius praestolabare (quamquam his quoque granditer), quantum concordia fruor; quam parem nostris suisque liberis in posterum exopto, votis in commune deposcens, ut sicut nos utramque familiam nostram praefectoriam nancti etiam patriciam divino favore reddidimus, ita ipsi quam suscipiunt patriciam faciant consularem.

4. I, however, rejoice not so much in your insignia—which you have hitherto displayed the more freely the more impatiently you awaited them (although greatly in these too)—as in concord; I desire that she be equal to our children and to yours in the future, demanding this in a common vow, so that just as we, having gained both our household prefecture and the patriciate by divine favor, rendered them again, so they, as they receive the patriciate, may make it consular.

5. Roscia salutat, cura communis; quae in aviae amitarumque indulgentissimo sinu, quod raro nepotibus contingit alendis, et cum severitate nutritur, qua tamen tenerum non infirmatur aevum sed informatur ingenium. vale.

5. Roscia sends greetings, a common concern; which in the most indulgent lap of a grandmother and aunts — a thing that rarely befalls grandchildren in being reared — is nevertheless nourished with severity, by which the tender age is not weakened but the character is formed. Farewell.

EPISTULA XVII

LETTER 17

Sidonius Eriphio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Eriphio, greetings.

1. Es, Eriphi meus, ipse qui semper numquamque te tantum venatio civitas ager avocat, ut non obiter litterarum voluptate teneare; fitque eo studio, ut nec nostra fastidias, qui tibi, ut scribis, Musas olemus. quae sententia tamen large probatur vero carere, quamque et apparet aut ex ioco venire, si laetus es, aut ex amore, si serius. ceterum a iusto longe resultat, cum mihi assignas quae vix Maroni [vix] aut Homero competenter accommodarentur.

1. You are, my Eriphi, the very man whom hunting, the city, and the field so often and yet never cease to summon, that I am not, in passing, withheld from the delight of letters; and from that zeal it comes to pass that you do not disdain our things, since we, as you write, cherish the Musas. Yet that notion is largely shown to be devoid of truth, and it seems either to come from jest, if you are merry, or from love, if more serious. Moreover it falls far from justice, when you assign to me things which would scarcely suit Maro, scarcely even Homero, with propriety.

2. haec relinquamus idque, unde causa, sermocinemur. dirigi ad te praecipis versus, quos viri amplissimi, soceri tui, precibus indulsi; qui contubernio mixtus aequalium vivit moribus ad iubendum obsequendumque iuxta paratis. sed quia scire desideras et locum et causam, quo facilius intellegas rem perexiguam, tibi potius vitio verte, quod loquacior erit opere praefatio.

2. let us leave these matters and discourse about the cause from which they arise. I set before you first the verses which I yielded to at the entreaties of a most illustrious man, your father‑in‑law; who, mingled in the companionship of equals, lives with manners prepared alike for commanding and for complying. But since you desire to know both the place and the cause, so that you may the more easily apprehend the very small matter, turn rather to the fault, which as a preface will be more loquacious than the work.

3. conveneramus ad sancti Iusti sepulcrum (sed tibi infirmitas impedimento, ne tunc adesses); processio fuerat antelucana, sollemnitas anniversaria, populus ingens sexu ex utroque, quem capacissima basilica non caperet quamlibet cincta diffusis cryptoporticibus. cultu peracto vigiliarum, quas alternante mulcedine monachi clericique psalmicines concelebraverant, quisque in diversa secessimus, non procul tamen, utpote ad tertiam praesto futuri, cum sacerdotibus res divina facienda;

3. we had assembled at the tomb of Saint Justus (but your infirmity hindered you from being present then); the procession had been before dawn, the anniversary solemnity, a vast people of both sexes, whom the most capacious basilica, however encompassed by spreading cryptoporticoes, could not contain. When the cult of the vigils was completed, which with alternating gentleness the monks and clerics, the psalm-singers, had concelebrated, each withdrew to a separate recess, not far, however, as being ready to be present at the third hour, when the divine rites were to be performed with the priests;

4. de loci sane turbarumque compressu deque numerosis luminibus inlatis nimis anheli; simul et aestati nox adhuc proxima tecto clausos vapore torruerat, etsi iam primo frigore tamen autumnalis Aurorae detepescebat. itaque cum passim varia ordinum corpora dispergerentur, placuit ad conditorium Syagrii consulis civium primis una coire, quod nec impleto iactu sagittae separabatur. hic pars sub umbra palmitis adulti, quam stipitibus altatis cancellatimque pendentibus pampinus superducta texuerat, pars caespite in viridi sed floribus odoro consederamus.

4. from the very compression of the place and of the crowds and from the numerous lights brought in, too breathless; and at the same time, with summer still near, the night had scorched those shut under the roof with vapor, although already with the first cold the autumnal dawn was nevertheless beginning to grow mild. and so, when everywhere bodies of various orders were being dispersed, it was agreed that to the tomb of Syagrius the consul we, the foremost citizens, should together assemble, a group not separated even by the full cast of an arrow. here some of us sat under the shade of a mature palm, which, with trunks raised and vine-leaves hanging trellised above, had woven a canopy, others we settled on turf in the green, yet fragrant with flowers.

5. verba erant dulcia iocosa fatigatoria; praeterea, quod beatissimum, nulla mentio de potestatibus aut de tributis, nullus sermo qui proderetur, nulla persona quae proderet. fabulam certe referre dignam relatu dignisque sententiis quisque potuisset: audiebatur ambitiosissime; nec erat idcirco non distincta narratio, quia laetitia permixta. inter haec otio diu marcidis aliquid agere visum.

5. the words were sweet, playful, even wearisome; moreover — which was most blessed — no mention of the potestates or of tributes, no speech that would betray, no person who would betray. certainly each could have related a tale worthy to be told and full of weighty sententiae: it was listened to most eagerly; nor was the narrative therefore undistinguished, because joy was mingled with it. meanwhile, in long languid leisure it seemed good to do something.

6. mox bipertitis, erat ut aetas, acclamationibus efflagitata profertur his pila, his tabula. sphaerae primus ego signifer fui, quae mihi, ut nosti, non minus libro comes habetur. altera ex parte frater meus Domnicius, homo gratiae summae, summi leporis, tesseras ceperat quatiebatque, quo velut classico ad pyrgum vocabat aleatores.

6. soon, in two-fold fashion, as was the custom of the age, he proffers these balls, these boards, urged on by acclamations. I was first the standard-bearer of the sphaera, which to me, as you know, is regarded no less a companion than a book. On the other side my brother Domnicius, a man of highest grace, of supreme charm, had taken up and was shaking the tesserae, with which, as with a classico, he was summoning the aleatores to the pyrgum.

nos cum caterva scholasticorum lusimus abunde, quantum membra torpore statarii laboris hebetata cursu salubri vegetarentur.

we, with a cohort of scholastics, played abundantly, so far as the limbs, dulled by the torpor of sedentary labor, were revived by a healthful run.

7. hic vir inlustris Filimatius, ut est illud Mantuani poetae,

7. this illustrious man Filimatius, as the Mantuan poet has it,

ausus et ipse manu iuvenum temptare laborem,

he himself likewise dared to test the toil by the youths' hands,

sphaeristarum se turmalibus constanter immiscuit. pulchre enim hoc fecerat, sed cum adhuc essent anni minores. qui cum frequenter de loco stantum medii currentis impulsu summoveretur, nunc quoque acceptus in aream tam pilae coram praetervolantis quam superiectae nec intercideret tramitem nec caveret ac per catastropham saepe pronatus aegre de ruinoso flexu se recolligeret, primus ludi ab accentu sese removit suspiriosus extis incalescentibus.

he constantly mingled himself with the sphaerists and the turmalibus. for he had done this handsomely, but when his years were still fewer. and since he was frequently shoved from his place by the impulse of the running middle, now likewise being taken into the arena both of the ball rolling past before him and of that hurled above, he neither avoided the course nor guarded against it, and through a catastrophe often prostrate he would scarce collect himself from the ruinous twist; first he removed himself from the shout of the game, sighing, his entrails growing warm.

namque et iecusculi fibra tumente pungebant exercitatum crebri dolores.

For even the fibers of the small muscles, swelling, pricked the practiced man with frequent pains.

8. destiti protinus et ipse, facturus communione cessandi rem caritatis, ne verecundiam lassitudo fraterna pateretur. ergo, ut resedimus, [et] illum mox aquam ad faciem petere sudor admonuit: exhibita poscenti est, pariter et linteum villis onustum, quod pridiana squama politum casu sub ipsis aediculae valvis bipatentibus de ianitoris erecto trochleatim fune nutabat.

8. I too immediately ceased, intending by withholding communion to make an act of charity, lest fraternal weariness should impair modesty. Therefore, as we sat down, sweat soon warned him likewise to seek water for his face: it was handed to him when he asked, and likewise a towel heavy with nap, which, by chance, the scale of the previous day—polished—was swinging beneath the very leaves of the little shrine with its two folding doors from the pulley-rope the doorkeeper had set up.

9. quo dum per otium genas siccat: 'vellem', inquit, 'ad pannum similis officii aliquod tetrastichon mihi scribi iuberes.' 'fiat', inquam. 'sed quod meum', dixit, 'et nomen metro teneret.' respondi possibilia factu quae poposcisset. [ait] et ipse: 'dicta ergo.' tunc ego arridens: 'ilico scias Musas moveri, si choro ipsarum non absque arbitris vacem.' respondit ille violenter et perurbane, ut est natura vir flammeus quidamque facundiae fons inexhaustus: 'vide, domine Solli, ne magis Apollo forte moveatur, quod suas alumnas solus ad secreta sollicitas.' iam potes nosse, quem plausum sententia tam repentina, tam lepida commoverit.

9. While he dries his cheeks in leisure: "I should like," he says, "that you bid a certain tetrastichon be written on a cloth like an office for me." "So be it," I say. "But let it hold my words," he said, "and my name in the meter." I answered that the things he asked were possible to accomplish. [he says] and he himself: "then speak." Then I, smiling: "at once know that you will set the Muses stirring, if I am not void of their chorus and without judges." He answered violently and most urbane, for by nature he was a fiery man and an inexhaustible fountain of eloquence: "see, Lord Sollius, lest perhaps Apollo be moved the more, since he alone is solicitous about his pupils' private affairs." Now you can know by what applause so sudden, so charming a sentence moved him.

10. nec plus moratus mox suo scriba, qui pugillarem iuxta tenebat, ad me vocato subditum sic epigramma composui:

10. nor having lingered longer, straightaway his scribe, who held the pugillarem (writing‑tablet) beside him, was called to me, and I composed the epigram thus submitted:

Mane novo seu cum ferventia balnea poscunt
seu cum venatu frons calefacta madet,
hoc foveat pulcher faciem Filimatius udam,
migret ut in bibulum vellus ab ore liquor.

At early morn, whether when the hot baths demand it
or when the brow, heated by the hunt, grows wet,
may this warm handsome Filimatius’ moist face,
that the liquid may migrate from his mouth upon the absorbent fleece.

Epiphanius noster vix supra scripta peraraverat, et nuntiatum est hora monente progredi episcopum de receptorio, nosque surreximus.

Our Epiphanius had scarcely finished the foregoing, and it was announced, the hour warning, that the bishop was to set out from the receptory, and we rose.

11. da postulatae tu veniam cantilenae. illud autem ambo, quod maius est quodque me nuper in quendam dies bonos male ferentem parabolice seu figurate dictare iussistis quodque expeditum cras dirigetur, clam recensete; et, si placet, edentes fovete; si displicet, delentes ignoscitote. vale.

11. Grant the pardon of the requested cantilena. And that also — both the greater matter and the piece which you lately ordered me to dictate parabolically or figuratively about a certain one who will ill endure good days, and which, being ready, is to be dispatched tomorrow — report secretly; and, if it pleases, favor the publishers; if it displeases, forgive those who delete it. Vale.

EPISTULA XVIII

LETTER 18

Sidonius Attalo suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Attalus, greeting.

1. Haeduae civitati te praesidere coepisse libens atque cum gaudio accepi. laetitiae causa quadripartita est: prima, quod amicus; secunda, quod iustus es; tertia, quod severus; quarta, quod proximus. quo fit, ut nostris nostrorumque contractibus plurimum velis debeas possis opitulari.

1. I received with pleasure and joy the news that you had begun to preside over the Haeduan state. The cause of my gladness is fourfold: first, because you are a friend; second, because you are just; third, because you are severe; fourth, because you are near. Whence it comes about that you may most of all be willing, bound, and able to lend aid to our affairs and to the contracts of our people.

igitur amplectens in familiari vetusto novum ius potestatis indeptae materiam beneficiis tuis iam diu quaero. quibus me tantum fidere agnosce, ut, etsi non invenio quae poscam, quaesiturus mihi videaris ipse quae tribuas. vale.

Therefore, embracing within our time‑honored household a new right of unmerited power, I have for a long time sought the matter by your benefices. Acknowledge that I trust in these so greatly that, although I cannot find what to ask, you yourself may seem ready to inquire what you will grant me. vale.

EPISTULA XIX

EPISTLE 19

Sidonius Pudenti suo salutem.

Sidonius sends greetings to his Pudentius.

1. Nutricis meae filiam filius tuae rapuit: facinus indignum quodque nos vosque inimicasset, nisi protinus scissem te nescisse faciendum. sed conscientiae tuae purgatione praelata petere dignaris culpae calentis impunitatem. sub condicione concedo: si stupratorem pro domino iam patronus originali solvas inquilinatu.

1. The son of your nurse seized the daughter of my nurse: a shameful deed which would have made you and us enemies, had I not straightaway known that you were ignorant that it had been done. But, preferring the purgation of your conscience, you deign to seek impunity for a guilty heat. I grant it on condition: that you release the rapist to the original patron as his lord in inquilinage.

2. mulier autem illa iam libera est; quae tum demum videbitur non ludibrio addicta sed assumpta coniugio, si reus noster, pro quo precaris, mox cliens factus e tributario plebeiam potius incipiat habere personam quam colonariam. nam meam haec sola seu compositio seu satisfactio vel mediocriter contumeliam emendat; qui tuis votis atque amicitiis hoc adquiesco, si laxat libertas maritum, ne constringat poena raptorem. vale.

2. but that woman is now free; who then at last will be seen not given over to mockery but taken in marriage, if our defendant, for whom you entreat, having soon become a client from the tributary class, should begin rather to have the persona of a plebeian than of a colonist. for this alone, whether by compositio or by satisfactio, even moderately corrects my affront; to this I assent by your vows and friendships, if liberty absolves the husband, lest punishment constrain the ravisher. farewell.

EPISTULA XX

EPISTLE 20

Sidonius Pastori suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Pastor, greetings.

1. Quod die hesterno tractatui civitatis in concilio defuisti, ex industria factum pars melior accepit, quae suspicata est id te cavere, ne tuis umeris onus futurae legationis imponeretur. gratulor tibi, quod istis moribus vivis, ut necesse habeas electionem tui timere; laudo efficaciam, suspicio prudentiam, prosequor laude felicitatem; opto denique aequalia his, quos aequaliter amo.

1. Because you were absent yesterday from the council’s handling of the city’s business, it was done deliberately and the better part accepted it, having suspected that you guarded against this, lest the burden of a future legation be imposed on your shoulders. I congratulate you that you live by those habits, so that you must needs fear your own election; I praise the efficacy, I applaud the prudence, I accompany with praise the good fortune; finally I wish the same things for those whom I love equally.

2. multi frequenter, quos execrabilis popularitas agit, civium maximos manu prensant deque consessu publico abducunt ac sequestratis oscula impingunt, operam suam spondent, sed non petiti; utque videantur in negotii communis assertionem legari, evectionem refundunt ipsosque sumptus ultro recusant et ab ambitu clam rogant singulos, ut ab omnibus palam rogentur.

2. Many frequently, whom execrable popularity stirs, seize the foremost of the citizens by the hand and lead them away from the public assembly, and having seized them press kisses upon them, promise their service though not sought; and so that they may seem to be appointed as legates for the defence of a common cause, they refund the cost of transport and even their own expenses, willingly refuse payments, and secretly beg individuals to refrain from canvassing, that they may be asked openly by all.

3. sic quoque, cum fatigatio gratuita possit libenter admitti, libentius tamen atque amabilius verecundi leguntur, idque cum expensa; tantum impudentia sese ingerentum ponderis habet, etiam fasci cum tributario nomine ipsorum nil superfunditur. proinde quamquam non te fefellit, quid boni quique meditarentur, redde te tamen exspectantium votis expetentumque caritatem proba, qui iam probasti pudorem. quod defuisti primum, modestiae adscribitur; ad ignaviam respicit secunda dilatio.

3. thus also, although gratuitous fatigue may be willingly accepted, the more willing and amiable are chosen—those of modest demeanor—and that at expense; so great a weight does impudence of those thrusting themselves upon matters bear, that not even a fillet bearing their tributary name is poured over them. therefore, although you were not mistaken about what good men might be considering, yet show yourself to those expecting you as one sought-after by their wishes and prove the affection of those whom you have already tested for pudor. What you lacked the first time is to be ascribed to modesty; the second delay looks toward sloth.

4. praeterea tibi Arelate profecturo est venerabilis in itinere mater fratres amantes redamantisque patriae solum, ad quod et praeter occasionem voluptuose venitur; tum domus propria, cuius actorem, vineam messem olivetum, tectum quoque ipsum, vel dum praeterveharis, inspicere res commodi est. quapropter, missus a nobis, et tibi pervenis; namque erit talis viae tuae causaeque nostrae condicio, ni fallor, atque opportunitas, ut pro beneficio civitati posse imputare quandocumque videaris, quod tuos videris. vale.

4. moreover, for you about to set out to Arelate there will be a venerable mother on the journey, brothers loving and reclaiming the soil of the patria, to which one also comes voluptuously beyond mere occasion; then your own house, whose agent, vineyard, harvest, olive-grove, even the very roof, it is convenient to inspect while you pass by. wherefore, sent by us, you will reach her; for such, unless I err, will be the condition and opportunity of your way and our cause, that whenever you shall seem, you will be able to impute to the city as a benefit whatever you shall have seen of your own. farewell.

EPISTULA XXI

LETTER 21

Sidonius Sacerdoti et Iustino suis salutem.

Sidonius to Sacerdotus and to his own Justinus, greetings.

1. Victorius patruus vester, vir, ut egregius, sic undecumque doctissimus, cum cetera potenter, tum potentissime condidit versus. mihi quoque semper a parvo cura Musarum; nunc vos parenti venitis heredes, quam iure, tam merito: ilicet ego poetae proximus fio professione, vos semine. ergo iustissimum est, ut diem functo sic quisque nostrum succedat, ut iungitur.

1. Victorius your paternal uncle, a man—outstanding and in every respect most learned—composed verses with force in many ways, and most potently. To me also the care of the Muses has always been from boyhood; now you come as heirs to a parent, as much by right as by merit: clearly I become nearest to the poet by profession, you by seed. Therefore it is most just that, when the day has run its course, each of us succeed so that we be joined.

ideoque patrimonia tenete, date carmina. valete.

Therefore hold the patrimonies; give poems. Farewell.