Sidonius Apollinaris: EPISTULARUM LIBRI IX

1. Rumor est Gothos in Romanum solum castra movisse: huic semper irruptioni nos miseri Arverni ianua sumus. namque odiis inimicorum hinc peculiaria fomenta subministramus, quia, quod necdum terminos suos ab Oceano in Rhodanum Ligeris alveo limitaverunt, solam sub ope Christi moram de nostra tantum obice patiuntur. circumiectarum vero spatia tractumque regionum iam pridem regni minacis importuna devoravit impressio.

1. There is a rumor that the Goths have moved their camps into Roman soil: to this incursion we, wretched Arverni, are always a gateway. For by the hatreds of enemies we here furnish special fomentations, because, since they have not yet bounded their limits from the Ocean to the Rhone by the channel of the Loire, they endure only a delay, the sole stay under the aid of Christ, from our obstacle. Indeed the pressure of the menacing kingdom long since importunately devoured the surrounding expanses and the stretch of the regions.

2. sed animositati nostrae tam temerariae tamque periculosae non nos aut ambustam murorum faciem aut putrem sudium cratem, aut propugnacula vigilum trita pectoribus confidimus opitulatura; solo iam invectarum te auctore rogationum palpamur auxilio, quibus inchoandis instituendisque populus Arvernus, etsi non effectu pari, affectu certe non impari coepit initiari, et ob hoc circumfusis necdum dat terga terroribus.

2. but to our boldness so rash and so perilous we do not trust that either a burnt face of the walls or a rotten sodden wicker palisade, or bulwarks worn by the breasts of the watchmen will avail to help us; now we feel for help only from you, sponsor of the petitions brought to the ground, by which, in beginning and establishing them, the Arvernian people, though not equal in effect, certainly not unequal in affection, began to be initiated, and for this reason those surrounded do not yet turn their backs to terror.

3. non enim latet nostram sciscitationem, primis temporibus harumce supplicationum institutarum civitas caelitus tibi credita per cuiusque modi prodigiorum terriculamenta vacuabatur. nam modo scaenae moenium publicorum crebris terrae motibus concutiebantur; nunc ignes sulpure flammati caducas culminum cristas superiecto favillarum monte tumulabant; nunc stupenda foro cubilia collocabat audacium pavenda mansuetudo cervorum: cum tu inter ista discessu primorum populariumque statu urbis exinanito ad nova celer veterum Ninivitarum exempla decurristi, ne divinae admonitioni tua quoque desperatio conviciaretur.

3. for our inquiry is not hidden, that in the first times after these supplications were instituted the city entrusted to you from heaven was freed from all sorts of prodigious terrors. For at one time the façades of the public walls were shaken by frequent earthquakes; now fires kindled with sulphur buried the falling crests of roofs beneath a mountain of ashes; now a wondrous taming placed fearful lairs of stags in the forum: when you, amid these things, with the departure and the emptied state of the foremost and of the people of the city, swiftly turned to new examples of the ancient Ninevites, lest your despair also should cast reproach on the divine admonition.

4. et vere iam de deo tu minime poteras absque peccato post virtutum experimenta diffidere. nam cum vice quadam civitas conflagrare coepisset, fides tua in illo ardore plus caluit; et cum in conspectu pavidae plebis obiectu solo corporis tui ignis recussus in tergum fugitivis flexibus sinuaretur, miraculo terribili novo invisitato affuit flammae cedere per reverentiam, cui sentire defuit per naturam.

4. and truly now you could by no means distrust God without sin after the experiments of your virtues. For when, by a certain turn, the city had begun to blaze, your faith in that ardor glowed the more; and when, in the sight of the fearful populace, by the mere exposure of your body the fire, recoiling, bent back in folds toward the rear for the fugitives, — by a terrible new miracle never before visited, the flames were present to yield out of reverence, a thing which they lacked the power to feel by nature.

5. igitur primum nostri ordinis viris et his paucis indicis ieiunia interdicis flagitia, supplicia praedicis remedia promittis; exponis omnibus nec poenam longinquam esse nec veniam; doces denuntiatae solitudinis minas orationum frequentia esse amoliendas; mones assiduitatem furentis incendii aqua potius oculorum quam fluminum posse restingui; mones minacem terrae motuum conflictationem fidei stabilitate firmandam.

5. therefore first you forbid fasts as crimes to the men of our order and to those few informers, you proclaim punishments and promise remedies; you explain to all that neither punishment is remote nor is pardon; you teach that the threats of the denounced solitude are to be averted by the frequency of prayers; you warn that the persistence of the raging fire can be quenched by the water of eyes rather than of rivers; you admonish that the menacing conflict of the earth’s motions must be made firm by the stability of faith.

6. cuius confestim sequax humilis turba consilii maioribus quoque suis fuit incitamento, quos cum non piguisset fugere, redire non puduit. qua devotione placatus inspector pectorum deus fecit esse obsecrationem vestram vobis saluti, ceteris imitationi, utrisque praesidio. denique illic deinceps non fuere vel damna calamitati vel ostenta formidini.

6. whose immediately following humble throng was, as an incentive, even to the elders of their council; whom, since it was not shameful to flee, they could not bring themselves to return to. By that devotion God, the placated inspector of hearts, made your entreaty to be for you a salvation, for others an imitation, and for both a safeguard. Finally, thenceforth there were there neither losses to calamity nor tokens to provoke fear.

quae omnia sciens populus iste Viennensibus tuis et accidisse prius et non accessisse posterius vestigia tam sacrosanctae informationis amplectitur, sedulo petens, ut conscientiae tuae beatitudo mittat orationum suarum suffragia quibus exempla transmisit.

That people, knowing all these things, embraces for your Viennensibus the footprints of so sacred an information — that it befell earlier and did not approach later — diligently beseeching that the beatitude of your conscience send the suffrages of their prayers by which they transmitted examples.

7. et quia tibi soli concessa est post avorum memoriam vel confessorem Ambrosium, duorum martyrum repertorem, in partibus orbis occidui, martyris Ferreoli solida translatio adiecto nostri capite Iuliani, quod istinc turbulento quondam persecutori manus rettulit cruenta carnificis, non iniurium est, quod pro compensatione deposcimus, ut nobis inde veniat pars patrocinii, quia vobis hinc rediit pars patroni. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

7. and because to you alone, after the memory of the forebears, was granted — namely the confessor Ambrosius, discoverer of two martyrs, in the regions of the western orb — the hearty translation of the martyr Ferreolus with our Julian’s head added, which thence the once turbulent hand of the persecutor restored to the bloody hand of the executioner, it is not unjust that we demand this as compensation: that from it a part of the patronage come to us, since to you from here returned a part of the patron. deign to be mindful of us, domine papa.

EPISTULA II

EPISTLE 2

Sidonius domino papae Graeco salutem.

Sidonius to the lord pope, in Greek, greeting.

1. Oneras, consummatissime pontificum, verecundiam meam, multifaria laude cumulando si quid stilo rusticante peraravero. atque utinam reatu careat, quod apicum primore congressu quamquam circumscriptus, veritati resultantia tamen et diversa conexui; ignorantiae siquidem meae callidus viator imposuit. nam dum solum mercatoris praetendit officium, litteras meas ad formatae vicem, scilicet ut lector, elicuit, sed quas aliquam gratiarum actionem continere decuisset.

1. You burden, most consummate of pontiffs, my modesty by heaping manifold praise upon me, if with a rusticating stylus I have very thoroughly ploughed out anything. And would that it were free from blame — which, although confined by the first meeting’s apex, nevertheless rebound to truth and are diverse in connexion — for a crafty wayfarer, taking advantage of my ignorance, imposed them. For while he only pretended the office of a merchant, he drew forth my letters into the role of a formed substitute, namely as a reader; but such as they ought to have contained some act of gratitude.

namque, ut post comperi, plus Massiliensium benignitate profectus est, quam status sui seu per censum seu per familiam forma pateretur.

for, as I afterwards learned, he profited from a greater kindness of the Massilians than the condition of his status — whether by census or by family form — could have borne.

2. quae tamen ut gesta sunt si quispiam dignus relator evolveret, fierent iucunda memoratu. sed quoniam iubetis ipsi, ut aliquid vobis a me laetum copiosumque pagina ferat, date veniam, si hanc ipsam tabellarii nostri hospitalitatem comicis salibus comparandam salva vestrarum aurium severitate perstringamus, ne secundo insinuatum nos nunc primum nosse videamur. simul et, si moris est regularum, ut ex materia omni usurpentur principia dicendi, cur hic quoque quodcumque mihi sermocinaturo materia longius quaeratur expetaturque, nisi ut sermoni nostro sit ipse pro causa, cui erit noster sermo pro sarcina?

2. which things, however, if any worthy relator were to unroll them as they were done, would become pleasant to memory. But since you yourselves command that some thing joyous and copious in a page be brought to you from me, grant pardon if we touch this very hospitality of our tabellarius, to be likened to comic sallies, while preserving the severity of your ears, lest, having been insinuated before, we seem to know it now for the first time. At the same time, and if it is the custom of rules that principles of speaking be used from every materia, why here also should whatever matter I have for speech be sought out and desired at greater length, unless that the very materia be for our sermo the cause—who then will our sermo be for, if not a sarcina?

3. Arverni huic patria; parentes natalibus non superbis sed absolutis, et sicut nihil illustre iactantes, ita nihil servile metuentes, contenti censu modico sed eodem vel sufficiente vel libero; militia illis in clericali potius quam in Palatino decursa comitatu. pater istius granditer frugi et liberis parum liberalis quique per nimiam parsimoniam iuveni filio plus prodesse quam placere maluerit. quo relicto tunc puer iste vos petiit nimis expeditus, quod erat maximum conatibus primis impedimentum; nihil est enim viatico levi gravius.

3. The Arverni were his patria; parents not proud of their birth but comfortably provided, and as they boasted nothing illustrious, so they feared nothing servile, content with a modest census yet at the same time either sufficient or free; their military service had been undergone in the clerical rather than the Palatine comitatus. His father was markedly frugal and little liberal toward his children, and through excessive parsimony preferred to do the young son good rather than to please him. Having left him, that boy then sought you excessively unencumbered, which was the greatest impediment to his first undertakings; for nothing is more burdensome to one lightly equipped than a heavy viaticum.

4. attamen primus illi in vestra moenia satis secundus introitus. sancti Eustachii, qui vobis decessit, actutum dicto factoque gemina benedictio; hospitium brevi quaesitum, iam Eustachii cura facile inventum, celeriter aditum, civiliter locatum. iam primum crebro accursu excolere vicinos, identidem ab his ipse haud aspernanter resalutari.

4. yet his first entrance into your walls was fairly favorable. of Saint Eustachius, who died among you, immediately—in word and deed—a double blessing; lodging briefly sought, now by Eustachius’ care easily found, quickly reached, civilly arranged. and now at first, by frequent running about to cultivate the neighbors, again and again he himself was not unwillingly greeted by them.

agere cum singulis, prout aetatis ratio permitteret: grandaevos obsequiis, aequaevos officiis obligare.

to deal with each individual, as the judgment of age would permit: to oblige the very old by attentions, the peers by offices (duties).

5. pudicitiam prae ceteris sobrietatemque sectari, quod tam laudandum in iuventute quam rarum. summatibus deinceps et tunc comiti civitatis non minus opportunis quam frequentibus excubiis agnosci innotescere familiarescere, sicque eius in dies sedulitas maiorum sodalitatibus promoveri; fovere boni quique certatim, votis omnes plurimi consiliis, privati donis cincti beneficiis adiuvare; perque haec spes opesque istius raptim saltuatimque cumulari.

5. to pursue chastity above other virtues and sobriety, which is as much to be praised in youth as it is rare. thenceforth to be recognised and made familiar to the summits and then to the Comes of the city by watches no less opportune than frequent; and thus his sedulity was promoted day by day into the sodalities of the elders; to cherish every good man eagerly, most aiding all with vows and with counsels, to help private persons girded with gifts and benefactions; and through these things his hope and resources were gathered up swiftly and by leaps.

6. forte accidit, ut diversorio, cui ipse successerat, quaedam femina non minus censu quam moribus idonea vicinaretur, cuius filia infantiae iam temporibus emensis necdum tamen nubilibus annis appropinquabat. huic hic blandus (siquidem ea aetas infantulae, ut adhuc decenter) nunc quaedam frivola, nunc ludo apta virgineo scruta donabat; quibus isti parum grandibus causis plurimum virgunculae animus copulabatur. anni obiter thalamo pares: quid morer multis?

6. by chance it befell that at the hostelry to which he himself had succeeded a certain woman lived nearby, suitable no less in estate than in morals, whose daughter, the seasons of infancy now passed yet not yet drawing near the nuptial years, was her. To her this man, blandishing (for that age of childishness, as still seemly), now certain frivols, now toys fit for virginal play, bestowed as gifts; by which trifling causes the little virgin's heart was much bound to him. The years, meanwhile, equal to a bridal-chamber: why delay long?

7. adulescens, solus tenuis peregrinus, filius familias et e patria patre non solum non volente verum et ignorante discedens, puellam non inferiorem natalibus, facultatibus superiorem, medio episcopo, quia lector, solacio comitis, quia cliens, socru non inspiciente substantiam, sponsa non despiciente personam, uxorem petit, impetrat, ducit. conscribuntur tabulae nuptiales; et si qua est istic municipioli nostri suburbanitas, matrimonialibus illic inserta documentis mimica largitate recitatur.

7. a youth, alone, slender, a stranger, the son of the household, and departing from his father and native land with his father not only unwilling but even unaware, seeks a girl not inferior in birth and superior in means; with the bishop as mediator, because (he is) a lector, with the count for solace, because (he is) a client, with the mother‑in‑law not inspecting substance, with the bride not despising his person, he seeks her as wife, obtains her, and takes her home. nuptial tablets are drawn up; and if there is any suburban ostentation of our little municipium, the mimetic largesse, inserted into those matrimonial documents, is there recited.

8. peracta circumscriptione legitima et fraude sollemni levat divitem coniugem pauper adamatus et diligenter quae ad socerum pertinuerant rimatis convasatisque, non parvo etiam corollario facilitatem credulitatemque munificentiae socralis emungens receptui in patriam cecinit praestigiator invictus. quo profecto mater puellae pro hyperbolicis instrumentis coepit actionem repetundarum velle proponere et tunc demum de mancipiorum sponsaliciae donationis paucitate maerere, quando iam de nepotum numerositate gaudebat. ad hanc placandam noster Hippolytus perrexerat, cum litteras meas prius obtulit.

8. with the legal circumscription completed and the solemn fraud effected, the conjurer raises up a rich husband for the poor beloved, and diligently, having searched and ransacked whatever pertained to the father-in-law, even drawing no small corollary — the facility and credulity of the father-in-law’s munificence — he, an unconquered prestidigitator, sang for the reception into the fatherland. Whereupon indeed the girl’s mother began to wish to institute an action of repetundae for the hyperbolic trappings, and only then to bewail the paucity of the mancipia given as a nuptial donation, when already she rejoiced in the multitude of grandsons. To pacify her our Hippolytus had proceeded, having first presented my letters.

9. habetis historiam iuvenis eximii, fabulam Milesiae vel Atticae parem. simul et ignoscite praeter aequum epistularem formulam porrigenti, quam ob hoc stilo morante produxi, ut non tamquam ignotum reciperetis quem civem beneficiis reddidistis. pariter et natura comparatum est, ut quibus impendimus studium praestemus affectum.

9. you have the history of an eminent youth, a tale equal to a Milesian or Attic fable. At the same time forgive me for extending beyond the due epistolary formula, which for this reason I have prolonged in a lingering style, so that you might not receive as unknown him whom by favors you restored to civic status. Likewise it is ordained by nature that to those on whom we expend our zeal we render affection.

vos vero Eustachium pontificem tunc ex asse digno herede decessisse monstrabitis, si ut propinquis testamenti, sic clientibus patrocinii legata solvatis.

vos vero you, however, will show that Pontiff Eustachius then died without an heir worthy even of an as, if you pay off the legacies to the clients of your patronage just as to the testamentary kinsmen.

10. ecce parui et oboedientis officium garrulitate complevi, licet qui indocto negotium prolixitatis iniungit, aegre ferre non debeat, si non tam eloquentes epistulas recipit quam loquaces. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

10. behold I have been small and have fulfilled the office of an obedient one with garrulity, although he who, unlearned, imposes the business of prolixity ought not to take it ill if he receives not so much eloquent epistles as loquacious ones. deign to be mindful of me, Lord Pope.

EPISTULA III

EPISTULA 3

Sidonius domino papae Megethio salutem.

Sidonius. To Lord Pope Megethius, greeting.

1. Diu multumque deliberavi, quamquam mihi animus affectu studioque parendi sollicitaretur, an destinarem, sicuti iniungis, contestatiunculas, quas ipse dictavi. Vicit ad ultimum sententia, quae tibi obsequendum definiebat. igitur petita transmisi: et quid modo dicemus?

1. For a long and much I deliberated, although my spirit was urged by affection and the zeal of obedience, whether I should compose, as you enjoin, the little petitions which I myself dictated. At last the opinion that I ought to comply with you prevailed. Therefore I have sent the requested things; and what shall we now say?

grandisne haec oboedientia? puto, grandis est: grandior impudentia tamen. hac enim fronte possemus fluminibus aquas, silvis ligna transmittere; hac [enim] temeritate Apellen peniculo, caelo Phidian, malleo Polyclitum muneraremur.

Is this obedience great? I think it is great: yet the impudence is greater. With this brow we could ferry waters over rivers, timber across woods; with this very temerity we would bestow upon Apelles a brush, upon Phidian a chisel, upon Polyclitus a mallet.

2. dabis ergo veniam praesumptioni, papa sancte facunde venerabilis, quae doctissimo examini tuo naturali garrulitate deblaterat. habet consuetudo nostra pro ritu, ut etsi pauca edit, multa conscribat, veluti est canibus innatum, ut, etsi non latrant, tamen hirriant. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

2. you will therefore grant pardon to presumption, holy, eloquent, venerable Pope, which by natural garrulity had babbled before your most learned judgment. Our custom has for rite that even if it utters little it writes much, as is innate in dogs: that, though they do not bark, yet they snarl. Deign to be mindful of me, Lord Pope.

EPISTULA IV

LETTER 4.

Sidonius domino papae Fonteio salutem.

Sidonius to Lord Pope Fonteius, greeting.

1. Insinuare quoscumque iam paveo, quia commendatis nos damus verba, vos munera; tamquam non principalitas sit censenda beneficii, quod a me peccatore digressis sanctae communionis portio patet. testis horum est Vindicius noster, qui segnius domum pro munificentiae vestrae fasce remeavit, quoquo loco est, constanter affirmans, cum sitis opinione magni, gradu maximi, non tamen esse vos amplius dignitate quam dignatione laudandos.

1. I now fear to insinuate anything at all, because you give gifts and we render words; as if the principal aspect of a benefit were not to be judged — that it is plain I, a sinner, am withdrawn from the portion of holy communion. Witness of these things is our Vindicius, who more slowly returned home with the bundle of your munificence, wherever he may be, constantly asserting that although you are esteemed a great man, of the highest grade, yet you are to be praised more for your dignation than for your dignity.

2. praedicat melleas sanctas et floridas, quae procedunt de temperata communione, blanditias; nec tamen ex hoc quicquam pontificali deperire personae, quod sacerdotii fastigium non frangitis comitate, sed flectitis. quibus agnitis sic inardesco, ut tum me sim felicissimum iudicaturus, cum mihi coram posito sub divina ope contigerit tam securum de deo suo pectus licet praesumptiosis, artis tamen fovere complexibus.

2. he proclaims as honeyed, sacred, and florid blandishments those which proceed from a tempered communion; and yet from this nothing of the pontifical dignity of the person is lost, since you do not break the summit of the priesthood by courtesy, but you bend it. Knowing these things I so inflame, that then I shall judge myself most happy when, with him placed before me under divine aid, it shall happen that my breast, though permitted by presumptuous men to be so secure about his God, may nevertheless be fostered by the embraces of art.

3. accipite confitentem: suspicio quidem nimis severos et imbecillitatis meae conscius aequanimiter fero asperos mihi; sed, quod fatendum est, hisce moribus facilius humilitate submittimur quam familiaritate sociamur. in summa, viderit, qua conscientiae dote turgescat, qui se ambientibus rigidum reddit; ego tamen morum illius aemulator esse praeelegerim, qui etiam longe positorum incitare in se affectat affectum.

3. receive the confessor: I do bear calmly toward myself suspicions that are too severe and harsh, being conscious of my own weakness; but, which must be confessed, by these manners we are more easily subdued by humility than made companions by familiarity. in sum, let him consider by what dower of conscience he is puffed up who renders himself rigid to those about him; I, however, would rather be an emulator of that habit who even seeks to stir in himself the affection of those placed far away.

4. illud quoque mihi inter maxima granditer cordi est, quod apostolatus vestri patrocinium copiosum verissimis dominis animae meae, Simplicio et Apollinari, intermina intercessione conferre vos comperi. si verum est, rogo, ut non habeat vestra caritas finem; si falsum est, peto, ut non differat habere principium. praeterea commendo gerulum litterarum, cui istic, id est in Vasionensi oppido quiddam necessitatis exortum sanari vestrae auctoritatis reverentiaeque pondere potest.

4. that also is greatly dear to my heart, that I have learned you afford the abundant patronage of your apostolate to the most faithful lords of my soul, Simplicius and Apollinaris, by their unceasing intercession. If it be true, I ask that your charity have no end; if it be false, I beg that it not delay to have a beginning. Moreover I commend a small packet of letters to you, for which there there, that is, in the town of Vaison, something of necessity has arisen that can be healed by the weight of your authority and reverence.

memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

deign to be mindful of us, Lord Pope.

EPISTULA V

EPISTLE 5

Sidonius domino papae Agroecio salutem.

Sidonius to the lord Pope Agroecius, greeting.

1. Bituricas decreto civium petitus adveni: causa fuit evocationis titubans ecclesiae status, quae nuper summo viduata pontifice utriusque professionis ordinibus ambiendi sacerdotii quoddam classicum cecinit. fremit populus per studia divisus; pauci alteros, multi sese non offerunt solum sed inferunt. si aliquid pro virili portione secundum deum consulas veritatemque, omnia occurrunt levia varia fucata, et (quid dicam?) sola est illic simplex impudentia.

1. I came to Biturica, summoned by decree of the citizens: the cause of the evocation was the tottering state of the church, which, lately bereft of its supreme pontiff, in the ranks of both professions aspiring to the sacerdotium had raised a certain outcry. The people murmur, divided by factions; few support one another, many not only do not offer themselves but thrust themselves forward. If you consult anything with a manly portion, according to God and truth, all manner of light, variously painted things meet you, and (what shall I say?) there alone simple impudence stands forth.

2. et nisi me immerito queri iudicaretis, dicere auderem tam praecipitis animi esse plerosque tamque periculosi, ut sacrosanctam sedem dignitatemque affectare pretio oblato non reformident, remque iam dudum in nundinam mitti auctionemque potuisse, si quam paratus invenitur emptor, venditor tam desperatus inveniretur. proin quaeso, ut officii mei novitatem pudorem necessitatem exspectatissimi adventus tui ornes contubernio, tuteris auxilio.

2. and if you would not judge me to complain unjustly, I would dare say that the many are of so precipitate a mind and so perilous, that they do not shrink from striving after the sacrosanct seat and dignity for a price offered; and that the affair long since could have been sent to the market-day and put up to auction—if any ready buyer be found, so desperate a seller would be found. Wherefore I beg that you, at your most eagerly awaited arrival, adorn my contubernium with the novelty, modesty, and necessity of my office, and guard it with your fellowship, defend it with your aid.

3. nec te, quamquam Senoniae caput es, inter haec dubia subtraxeris intentionibus medendis Aquitanorum, quia minimum refert, quod nobis est in habitatione divisa provincia, quando in religione causa coniungitur. his accedit, quod de urbibus Aquitanicae primae solum oppidum Arvernum Romanorum reliquum partibus bella fecerunt. quapropter in constituendo praefatae civitatis antistite provincialium collegarum deficimur numero, nisi metropolitanorum reficiamur assensu.

3. nor should you, although you are the head of Senonia, withdraw yourself amid these doubtful matters from remedying the claims of the Aquitanians; for it matters little that we are divided in habitation by province, when in religion the cause is joined. To this is added that of the cities of first Aquitaine only the Arvernian town, a Roman remnant, has made war upon the remaining parts. Wherefore, in constituting the antistes of the aforesaid city we are deficient in the number of provincial colleagues, unless we are replenished by the assent of the metropolitans.

4. de cetero, quod ad honoris vestri spectat praerogativam, nullus a me hactenus nominatus, nullus adhibitus, nullus electus est; omnia censurae tuae salva inlibata solida servantur. tantum hoc meum duco, vestras invitare personas expectare voluntates laudare sententias, [et] cum in locum statumque pontificis quisque sufficitur, ut a vobis praeceptum, a me procedat obsequium.

4. henceforth, as to the prerogative that pertains to your honor, no one has been named by me hitherto, no one summoned, no one elected; all things, with your censorial authority preserved intact, are kept solidly. Only this I deem mine: to invite your persons, to await your wills, to praise your judgments, [et] and when each is advanced to the place and rank of pontiff, that the precept proceed from you, the obedience from me.

5. sed si, quod tamen arbitror minime fore, precibus meis apud vos malesuadus obstiterit interpres, poteritis praesentiam vestram potius excusare quam culpam; sicut e diverso, si venitis, ostenditis, quia terminus potuerit poni vestrae quidem regioni, sed non potuerit caritati. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

5. but if, which nevertheless I judge least likely, an ill-advising interpreter should oppose my prayers before you, you may excuse your presence rather than the fault; just as conversely, if you come, you will show that a boundary could be set to your region indeed, but could not be set to charity. Deign to be mindful of me, Lord Pope.

EPISTULA VI

EPISTLE 6

Sidonius domino papae Basilio salutem.

Sidonius to the lord pope Basilio, greetings.

1. Sunt nobis munere dei novo nostrorum temporum exemplo amicitiarum vetera iura, diuque est quod invicem diligimus ex aequo. porro autem, quod ad communem conscientiam pertinet, tu patronus: quamquam hoc ipsum praesumptiose arroganterque loquar; namque iniquitas mea tanta est, ut mederi de lapsuum eius assiduitate vix etiam tuae supplicationis efficacia queat.

1. By a new munus of God and by the example of our times we possess the vetera iura of friendships, and for a long time it has been that we love one another alike. Moreover, as to that which pertains to the common conscientia, you are patronus: although I say this very thing presumptuously and arrogantly; for my iniquity is so great that to heal the constancy of its lapses scarcely even the efficacia of your supplicatio can avail.

2. igitur, quia mihi es tam patrocinio quam dilectione bis dominus, pariter et quod memini probe, quo polleas igne sensuum, fonte verborum, qui viderim Modaharium, civem Gothum, haereseos Arianae iacula vibrantem quo tu spiritalium testimoniorum mucrone confoderis, servata ceterorum tam reverentia quam pace pontificum non iniuria tibi defleo, qualiter ecclesiasticas caulas istius haereseos lupus, qui peccatis pereuntium saginatur animarum, clandestino morsu necdum intellecti dentis arrodat.

2. therefore, since you are to me twice lord both by patronage and by affection, and likewise, as I remember well, by what power you prevail with the fire of the senses, by the fountain of words — I who have seen Modaharium, a Gothish citizen, brandishing the javelins of the Arian heresy, whom you with the blade of spiritual testimonies have thrust through — with the reverence of others and the peace of the pontiffs preserved, I do not unjustly bewail to you how the wolf of that heresy gnaws at the ecclesiastical snares, he who, fattened on the sins of souls perishing, with a clandestine bite of a tooth not yet perceived chews them away.

3. namque hostis antiquus, quo facilius insultet balatibus ovium destitutarum, dormitantum prius incipit cervicibus imminere pastorum. neque ego ita mei meminens non sum, ut nequaquam me hunc esse reminiscar, quem longis adhuc abluenda fletibus conscientia premat; cuius stercora tamen sub ope Christi quandoque mysticis orationum tuarum rastris eruderabuntur. sed quoniam supereminet privati reatus verecundiam publica salus, non verebor, etsi carpat zelum in me fidei sinister interpres, sub vanitatis invidia causam prodere veritatis.

3. for the ancient enemy, that he may more easily dash himself upon the bleatings of the sheep left helpless, first begins to loom over the necks of the sleeping shepherds. Nor am I so forgetful of myself that I would not remember that I am this man, whose conscience still presses down with long tears to be washed away; whose dung, however, by the help of Christ and at some time, will be dug out by the mystical rakes of your prayers. But since the public salvation outweighs the modesty of private guilt, I will not fear—even if a sinister interpreter of the faith attack my zeal, under the envy of vanity—to publish the cause of truth.

4. Evarix, rex Gothorum, quod limitem regni sui rupto dissolutoque foedere antiquo vel tutatur armorum iure vel promovet, nec nobis peccatoribus hic accusare nec vobis sanctis hic discutere permissum est. quin potius, si requiras, ordinis res est, ut et dives hic purpura byssoque veletur et Lazarus hic ulceribus et paupertate feriatur; ordinis res est, ut, dum in hac allegorica versamur Aegypto, Pharao incedat cum diademate, Israelita cum cophino; ordinis res est, ut dum in hac figuratae Babylonis fornace decoquimur, nos cum Ieremia spiritalem Ierusalem suspiriosis plangamus ululatibus et Assur fastu regio tonans sanctorum sancta proculcet.

4. Evarix, king of the Goths, because he either guards or advances the border of his realm with the ancient covenant broken and dissolved, by the right of arms, is not here to be accused by us sinners nor to be disputed by you saints. Nay rather, if you inquire, it is a matter of order that the rich here be veiled in purple and bysso, and that Lazarus here be stricken with ulcers and with poverty; it is of the order that, while we are engaged in this allegorical Egypt, Pharaoh stride by with his diadem and the Israelite with his cophinus; it is of the order that, while we are parboiled in the furnace of figurative Babylon, we with Jeremiah bewailedly lament the spiritual Jerusalem with sighing ululations, and Assyria, thundering with royal pride, tramples the holy things of the saints afar off.

5. quibus ego praesentum futurarumque beatitudinum vicissitudinibus inspectis communia patientius incommoda fero; primum, quod mihi quae merear introspicienti quaecumque adversa provenerint leviora reputabuntur; dein quod certum scio maximum esse remedium interioris hominis, si in hac area mundi variis passionum flagellis trituretur exterior.

5. by which, having inspected the vicissitudes of present and future beatitudes, I endure common inconveniences more patiently; first, because to me who look within whatever adversities befall will be reckoned lighter; secondly, because I certainly know that the greatest remedy of the interior man is that the exterior be ground on this arena of the world by the various scourges of passions.

6. sed, quod fatendum est, praefatum regem Gothorum, quamquam sit ob virium merita terribilis, non tam Romanis moenibus quam legibus Christianis insidiaturum pavesco. tantum, ut ferunt, ori, tantum pectori suo catholici mentio nominis acet, ut ambigas ampliusne suae gentis an suae sectae teneat principatum. ad hoc armis potens acer animis alacer annis hunc solum patitur errorem, quod putat sibi tractatuum consiliorumque successum tribui pro religione legitima, quem potius assequitur pro felicitate terrena.

6. but, which must be confessed, I fear that the aforesaid king of the Goths, though terrible on account of merits of strength, will plot against not so much Roman walls as Christian laws. so much, as they say, does the mention of the name catholic delight his mouth, so much his heart, that one doubts whether he holds the principate more for his own people or for his own sect. moreover, powerful in arms, fierce of spirit, spry in years, he suffers only this error: that he supposes the success of treaties and counsels to be ascribed to himself for a legitimate religion, which he rather secures for earthly felicity.

7. propter quod discite cito catholici status valetudinem occultam, ut apertam festinetis adhibere medicinam. Burdegala, Petrogorii, Ruteni, Lemovices, Gabalitani, Helusani, Vasates, Convenae, Auscenses, multoque iam maior numerus civitatum summis sacerdotibus ipsorum morte truncatus nec ullis deinceps episcopis in defunctorum officia suffectis, per quos utique minorum ordinum ministeria subrogabantur, latum spiritalis ruinae limitem traxit. quam fere constat sic per singulos dies morientum patrum proficere defectu, ut non solum quoslibet haereticos praesentum verum etiam haeresiarchas priorum temporum potuerit inflectere: ita populos excessu pontificum orbatos tristis intercisae fidei desperatio premit.

7. wherefore learn quickly the hidden health of the catholic state, that you may hasten to apply an open medicine. Bordeaux, Périgueux, Rodez, Limoges, Gabali, Helusani, Vasates, Convenae, Auch, and a much greater number of cities, with their highest priests cut off by death and thereafter no bishops appointed to supply the duties of the deceased, through whom indeed the ministrations of the lesser orders were usually deputed, have drawn a wide limit to spiritual ruin. Which, as is almost certain, advances by the daily loss of dying fathers to such an extent that not only any present heretics but even the heresiarchs of earlier times could sway the faithful: so the peoples, bereft by the departure of bishops, are pressed by a sorrowful despair of a faith cut short.

8. nulla in desolatis cura dioecesibus parochiisque. videas in ecclesiis aut putres culminum lapsus aut valvarum cardinibus avulsis basilicarum aditus hispidorum veprium fruticibus obstructos. ipsa, pro dolor, videas armenta non modo semipatentibus iacere vestibulis sed etiam herbosa viridantium altarium latera depasci.

8. no pastoral care in the desolate dioceses and parishes. You see in the churches either rotten roofs fallen in or the basilicas’ approaches, with the hinges of the doors torn away, blocked by bristling thickets of briars. You yourself, alas, see herds not only lying in half‑open vestibules but even grazing the grassy sides of the green altars.

sed iam nec per rusticas solum solitudo parochias: ipsa insuper urbanarum ecclesiarum conventicula rarescunt.

but now solitude not only through the rural parishes: moreover the little conventicles of urban churches themselves grow scarce.

9. quid enim fidelibus solacii superest, quando clericalis non modo disciplina verum etiam memoria perit? equidem cum clericus quisque defungitur, si benedictione succidua non accipiat dignitatis heredem, in illa ecclesia sacerdotium moritur, non sacerdos. atque ita quid spei restare pronunties, ubi facit terminus hominis finem religionis?

9. for what comfort remains for the faithful, when clerical not only discipline but even memory perishes? truly, when any cleric dies, if by a succeeding benediction he does not receive an heir of the dignity, in that church the priesthood dies, not the priest. and so what hope do you pronounce to remain, where the term of a man makes an end of religion?

altius inspicite spiritalium damna membrorum: profecto intellegetis, quanti subrepti sunt episcopi, tantorum vobis populorum fidem periclitaturam. taceo vestros Crocum Simpliciumque collegas, quos cathedris sibi traditis eliminatos similis exilii cruciat poena dissimilis. namque unus ipsorum dolet se non videre quo redeat; alter se dolet videre quo non redit.

look more deeply at the harms of the spiritual members: surely you will perceive how many bishops have been taken away, and how great a peril to the faith of so many peoples is thereby threatened. I am silent about your colleagues Crocus and Simplicius, whom, with their cathedras handed over, were removed — a punishment resembling exile, a torment not without difference. for one of them laments that he does not see where to return; the other laments that he sees where he does not return.

10. tu sacratissimorum pontificum, Leontii Fausti Graeci, urbe ordine caritate medius inveniris; per vos mala foederum currunt, per vos regni utriusque pacta condicionesque portantur. agite, quatenus haec sit amicitiae concordia principalis, ut episcopali ordinatione permissa populos Galliarum, quos limes Gothicae sortis incluserit, teneamus ex fide, etsi non tenemus ex foedere. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

10. You are found in the city in the midst of the most sacred pontiffs — Leontius Faustus the Greek — in order and in charity; through you the evils of treaties run, through you the pacts and conditions of both kingdoms are conveyed. Act, that this may be the principal concord of friendship, that the peoples of the Gauls, whom the boundary of the Gothic lot has enclosed, entrusted by episcopal ordination, we may hold by faith, even if we do not hold them by treaty. Deign to remember us, Lord Pope.

EPISTULA VII

EPISTLE 7

Sidonius domino papae Graeco salutem.

Sidonius to the lord pope, the Greek, greeting.

1. Ecce iterum Amantius, nugigerulus noster, Massiliam suam repetit, aliquid, ut moris est, de manubiis civitatis domum reportaturus, si tamen ..... aut cataplus arriserit. per quem ioculariter plura garrirem, si pariter unus idemque valeret animus exercere laeta et tristia sustinere. siquidem nostri hic nunc est infelicis anguli status, cuius, ut fama confirmat, minus fuit sub bello quam sub pace condicio.

1. Behold again Amantius, our little nugigerulus, returns to his Massilia, to carry home something, as is his custom, from the manubia of the city, if however ..... or a cataplus has smiled. By whom I would jocosely chatter more, if equally one and the same animus were strong enough to exercise bearing the laeta and the tristia. For he now is of ours in the state of an unfortunate corner of the res publica, whose condition, as fama confirms, was less under bellum than under pax.

facta est servitus nostra pretium securitatis alienae.

Our servitude has been made the price of another's security.

2. Arvernorum, pro dolor, servitus, qui, si prisca replicarentur, audebant se quondam fratres Latio dicere et sanguine ab Iliaco populos computare. si recentia memorabuntur, hi sunt, qui viribus propriis hostium publicorum arma remorati sunt; cui saepe populo Gothus non fuit clauso intra moenia formidini, cum vicissim ipse fieret oppugnatoribus positis intra castra terrori. hi sunt, qui sibi adversus vicinorum aciem tam duces fuere quam milites; de quorum tamen sorte certaminum si quid prosperum cessit, vos secunda solata sunt, si quid contrarium, illos adversa fregerunt.

2. Of the Arverni, alas, the servitude, who, if ancient things were recounted, once dared to call themselves brothers in Latium and to reckon peoples by Iliac blood. If recent things are recalled, these are they who by their own strength stayed the public arms of the enemies; to whom often a Goth was not a terror to the people when shut within the walls, since in turn he himself became a terror to the attackers placed within the camp. These are they who, against the battle-line of their neighbors, were both leaders and soldiers; of whose lot in contests, if anything prosperous befell, you were comforted by the favorable things; if anything contrary, adverse events crushed them.

illi amore rei publicae Seronatum barbaris provincias propinantem non timuerunt legibus tradere, quem convictum deinceps res publica vix praesumpsit occidere.

they, by love of the res publica, did not fear to hand Seronatus over to the barbarians, he bringing the provinces to them; when he was convicted afterwards the republic scarcely ventured to put him to death.

3. hoccine meruerunt inopia flamma, ferrum pestilentia, pingues caedibus gladii et macri ieiuniis proeliatores? propter huius tam inclitae pacis expectationem avulsas muralibus rimis herbas in cibum traximus, crebro per ignorantiam venenatis graminibus infecti, quae indiscretis foliis sucisque viridantia saepe manus fame concolor legit? pro his tot tantisque devotionis experimentis nostri, quantum audio, facta iactura est?

3. have these, by want, deserved the flame, by pestilence the sword, the blades made fat by slaughter and the fighters made lean by meagre fasts? because of the expectation of so illustrious a peace we drew herbs torn from the wall‑cracks into our food, often—through ignorance—infected by poisonous grasses, which, with indistinguishable leaves and greenish juices, hunger oft gathers with hands of the same colour; for these so many and such experiments of our devotion, as far as I hear, what loss has been incurred?

4. pudeat vos, precamur, huius foederis, nec utilis nec decori. per vos legationes meant; vobis primum pax quamquam principe absente non solum tractata reseratur, verum etiam tractanda committitur. veniabilis sit, quaesumus, apud aures vestras veritatis asperitas, cui convicii invidiam dolor eripit.

4. Be ashamed, we beseech you, of this treaty, neither useful nor fit for honour. Through you embassies pass; to you first peace, although the prince be absent, is not only to be discussed and opened, but indeed is committed to be negotiated. Let the asperity of truth, we ask, be accessible before your ears, whose pain tears away the envy of reproach.

parum in commune consulitis; et, cum in concilium convenitis, non tam curae est publicis mederi periculis quam privatis studere fortunis; quod utique saepe diuque facientes iam non primi comprovincialium coepistis esse, sed ultimi.

you concern yourselves little with the common good; and when you assemble in council, it is not so much a care to remedy public dangers as to tend to private fortunes; which indeed, doing often and for a long time, you have begun to be no longer the first among your fellow provincials, but the last.

5. at quousque istae poterunt durare praestigiae? non enim diutius ipsi maiores nostri hoc nomine gloriabuntur, qui minores incipiunt non habere. quapropter vel consilio, quo potestis, statum concordiae tam turpis incidite.

5. but how long will these deceits be able to endure? for our very elders themselves will no longer long boast in this name, when the younger begin to have none. wherefore, by counsel — as far as you are able — cut down this so shameful state of concord.

adhuc, si necesse est, obsideri, adhuc pugnare, adhuc esurire delectat. si vero tradimur, qui non potuimus viribus obtineri, invenisse vos certum est quid barbarum suaderetis ignavi.

Still, if need be, you delight in being besieged; still in fighting, still in starving. But if we are handed over — we who could not be held by force — it is certain that you have discovered what barbarous counsel you, cowardly, would urge.

6. sed cur dolori nimio frena laxamus? quin potius ignoscite afflictis nec imputate maerentibus. namque alia regio tradita servitium sperat, Arverna supplicium.

6. but why do we slacken the reins for excessive dolor? Nay rather, forgive the afflicted and do not impute to those who mourn. For another region delivered over hopes for servitude; the Arverni for punishment.

sane si medicari nostris ultimis non valetis, saltem hoc efficite prece sedula, ut sanguis vivat, quorum est moritura libertas; parate exulibus terram, capiendis redemptionem, viaticum peregrinaturis. si murus noster aperitur hostibus, non sit clausus vester hospitibus. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

indeed, if you cannot be healed by our last remedies, at least accomplish this by diligent prayer, that the blood may live whose liberty is about to perish; prepare land for the exiles, ransom for those to be taken, a viaticum for pilgrims. if our wall is opened to enemies, let yours not be closed to guests. deign to be mindful of us, lord pope.

EPISTULA VIII

LETTER 8

Sidonius domino papae Euphronio salutem.

Sidonius to the lord pope Euphronius, greeting.

1. Quandoquidem me clericalis officii vincula ligant, felicissimum mediocritatis meae statum pronuntiarem, si nobis haberentur quam territoria vicina tam moenia. de minimis videlicet rebus coronam tuam maximisque consulerem, fieretque actionum mearum quasi cuiuspiam fluvii placidus cursus atque inoffensus, si e tractatu tuo veluti ex saluberrimo fonte manaret. procul dubio tunc ille non esset aut spumosus per iactantiam aut turbidus per superbiam aut caenosus per conscientiam aut praeceps per iuventutem.

1. Since the bonds of clerical office bind me, I would pronounce the most happy state of my mediocrity, if to us fortifications were as near as neighboring territories. Concerning the smallest matters, to be sure, I would consult your crown and your greatest concerns, and the course of my actions would become, as it were, the placid and unoffending current of some river, if it flowed forth from your discourse as from a most salubrious spring. Without doubt then that man would be neither foamy through vainglory nor turbid through pride nor muddy through conscience nor headlong through youth.

quin potius in illo squalidum si quid ac putre sorderet, totum id admixta consilii tui vena dilueret.

nay rather, if in that there were anything squalid and putrid that stank, your counsel’s mingled vein would dilute the whole of it.

2. sed quoniam huiuscemodi votis spatia sunt longa interposita praepedimento, sedulo precor, ut consulentem de scrupulo incursae ambiguitatis expedias et, quia Simplicium, spectabilem virum, episcopum sibi flagitat populus Biturix ordinari, quid super tanto debeam negotio facere, decernas. huius es namque vel erga me dignationis vel erga reliquos auctoritatis, ut si quid fieri voles (voles autem quicquid aequissimum est), non suadere tam debeas quam iubere.

2. but since spaces of this sort are long and interposed with hindrances, I diligently pray that you hasten to advise about the scruple of the ambiguity that has arisen and, since the Biturican people demand to ordain Simplicius, a man notable in appearance, as their bishop, decide what I ought to do about so great a business. For you are either of bounty toward me or of authority toward the others, so that if you wish anything to be done (and you will wish whatever is most just), you ought not so much to recommend as to command.

3. de quo tamen Simplicio scitote narrari plurima bona, atque ea quidem a plurimis bonis. quae testimonia mihi prima fronte conloquii non satis grata, quia satis gratiosa, iudicabantur. at postquam aemulos eius nihil vidi amplius quam silere, atque eos maxume, qui fidem fovent Arianorum, neque quippiam nominato, licet necdum nostrae professionis, inlicitum opponi, animum adverti exactissimum virum posse censeri, de quo civis malus loqui, bonus tacere non posset.

3. concerning whom, however, know that very many good things are reported of Simplicius, and indeed by very many good men. Those testimonies at first view of the conversation were not displeasing to me, because they were sufficiently pleasing. But after I saw his opponents do nothing more than be silent, and especially those who foster the faith of the Arians, nor could anything, even though not yet of our profession, be alleged against him by name, I bethought myself that he might be reckoned a most exact (exactissimum) man, of whom a bad citizen could not speak and a good man could not be silent.

4. sed cur ego ista haec ineptus adieci, tamquam darem consilium qui poposci? quin potius omnia ex vestro nutu arbitrio litterisque disponentur sacerdotibus, popularibus manifestabuntur. neque enim ita desipimus in totum, ut evocandum te primum, si venire possibile est, deinde, si quid sequius, certe consulendum decerneremus, nisi in omnibus obsecuturi.

4. but why, foolish that I am, did I add these things, as if I were giving counsel that had been demanded? Nay rather, all things will be arranged by your nod and arbitrium and by letters, the priests will arrange them, and they will be made manifest to the populace. For we are not so wholly mad as to decree that you be first summoned, if it is possible for you to come, and then, if anything follows, certainly that consultation be determined, unless we are to be obedient in all things.

memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

deign to be mindful of us, lord pope.

EPISTULA IX

LETTER 9

Sidonius domino papae Perpetuo salutem.

Sidonius to Lord Pope Perpetuus, greetings.

1. Desiderio spiritalium lectionum, quarum tibi tam per authenticos quam per disputatores bybliotheca fidei catholicae perfamiliaris est, etiam illa, quae maxumam tuarum scilicet aurium minime digna sunt occupare censuram, noscere cupis; siquidem iniungis, ut orationem, qua videor ad plebem Biturigis in ecclesia sermocinatus, tibi dirigam; cui non rhetorica partitio, non oratoriae minae, non grammaticales figurae congruentem decorem disciplinamque suppeditaverunt.

1. By a desire for spiritual readings, of which the bybliotheca of the Catholic faith is thoroughly familiar to you both through the authentics and through the disputatores, you wish to know even those things which, certainly, are least worthy to occupy the highest regard of your ears; since you command me to direct to you the oration by which I seemed to have spoken to the people of Biturigis in the church; to which neither rhetorical partition, nor oratorical pomps, nor grammatical figures supplied a congruent decorum and discipline.

2. neque enim illic, ut exacte perorantibus mos est, aut pondera historica aut poetica schemata scintillasve controversalium clausularum libuit aptari. nam cum me partium seditiones studia varietates in diversa raptarent, sic dictandi mihi materiam suggerebat iniuria, quod tempus occupatio subtrahebat. etenim tanta turba competitorum, ut cathedrae unius numerosissimos candidatos nec duo recipere scamna potuissent.

2. for there, as custom is with those who conclude exactly, it pleased neither to fit historical weights nor poetical schemes nor sparks of controversial clausulae; for while the factions, studies, and differences of parties were carrying me off into diverse places, injury thus supplied me material for speaking, because occupation robbed me of time. Indeed so great a crowd of competitors was there that the chairs could not receive the very numerous candidates on even two benches.

omnes placebant sibi, omnes omnibus displicebant.

all pleased themselves, all displeased everyone.

3. neque [enim] valuissemus aliquid in commune consulere, nisi iudicii sui faciens plebs lenita iacturam sacerdotali se potius iudicio subdidisset, presbyterorum sane paucis angulatim fringultientibus, porro autem palam ne mussitantibus quidem, quia plerique non minus suum quam reliquos ordines pertimescebant. igitur, dum publice totos singuli cavent, factum est, ut omnes non aspernanter audirent quod deinceps ambienter expeterent.

3. nor indeed would we have been able to deliberate anything in common, had not the people, making their own judgment, softened and rather submitted the loss to a sacerdotal iudicium, the presbyters indeed with a few nibbling at the edges one by one, moreover openly not even whispering, because most feared the orders of others no less than their own. therefore, while each publicly guarded himself wholly, it came to pass that all, not unwillingly, heard what they would thereafter eagerly seek.

4. itaque paginam sume subditis voluminibus adiunctam, quam duabus vigiliis unius noctis aestivae Christo teste dictatam plurimum vereor ne ipsi amplius lectioni, quae hoc de se probat, quam mihi credas. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

4. therefore take the page appended to the subjoined volumes, which, dictated in two watches of one summer night with Christ as witness, I greatly fear that you yourself will trust more than the reading, which proves this about itself, than you will trust me. deign to be mindful of me, domine papa.

CONTIO

ASSEMBLY

5. Refert historia saecularis, dilectissimi, quendam philosophorum discipulis advenientibus prius tacendi patientiam quam loquendi monstrasse doctrinam et sic incipientes quosque inter disputantium consectaneorum cathedras mutum sustinuisse quinquennium, ut etiam celeriora quorumpiam ingenia non liceret ante laudari quam deceret agnosci. ita fiebat, ut eosdem post longam taciturnitatem locutos quisque audire coeperat, non taceret; quia, donec scientiam natura conbiberit, non maior est gloria dixisse quod noveris quam siluisse quod nescias.

5. Secular history reports, most beloved, that a certain philosopher, when disciples were arriving, first showed the doctrine that patience in silence precedes speaking, and thus kept each beginner mute for five years among the chairs of the fellow disputants, so that even the swifter minds of some were not permitted to be praised before it was fitting they be recognized. Thus it happened that those same men, after long taciturnity, when they began to speak, were listened to rather than left silent; for, until nature has imbibed knowledge, it is no greater glory to have said what you know than to have been silent about what you do not know.

6. at nunc mediocritatem meam manet longe diversa condicio, cui per suspiriosas voragines et flagitiorum volutabra gradienti professionis huiusce pondus impactum est; et prius quam ulli bonorum reddam discentis obsequium, cogor debere ceteris docentis officium. adicitur huic impossibilitati pondus pudoris, quod mihi peculiariter paginae decretalis oblatu pontificis eligendi mandastis arbitrium coram sacrosancto et pontificatu maximo dignissimo papa; qui cum sit suae provinciae caput, sit etiam mihi usu institutione, facundia privilegio, tempore aetate praestantior, ego deque coramque metropolitano verba facturus, et provincialis et iunior, pariter fero imperiti verecundiam, procacis invidiam.

6. but now my mediocrity abides in a condition far different, to which, as the sighing vorices and the whirlwinds of shameful acts advance, the weight of this profession has been fastened; and before I shall render to any the obedience of a learner, I am forced to owe to others the office of a teacher. To this impossibility is added the burden of modesty, for you have particularly entrusted to me — by the decretal page’s oblation and the pontiff’s gift — the judgment of choosing the pope before the most holy and most worthy supreme pontificate; who, since he is the head of his province, is moreover for me by practice, by instruction, by eloquence, by privilege, and by the priority of years superior; and I, about to speak both of and before the metropolitan, being provincial and younger, equally bear the bashfulness of inexperience and the envy of the brazen.

7. sed quoniam vestro sic libitum errori, ut ipse prudentia carens prudentem vobis in cuiusque personam bona multa concurrant sub ope Christi episcopum exquiram, noveritis huiusmodi assensu multum me honoris, plus oneris excipere. primore loco grandem publicae opinionis sarcinam penditote, quod iniunxistis incipienti consummata iudicia atque ab hoc rectum consilii tramitem postulatis, in quo recolitis adhuc nuper erratum. igitur quia vobis id fuit cordi, obsecro, ut quales nos fide creditis, tales intercessione faciatis atque dignemini humilitatem nostram orationibus potius in caelum ferre quam plausibus.

7. But since it so pleaseth your error, that I, myself lacking prudence, should seek for you — by whose person many goods may concur under the aid of Christ — a prudent bishop, know that by such assent you confer on me much honour and take upon me more burden. In the first place bear the great weight of public opinion, which you have imposed on one beginning that the judgments be consummate and demand from him the straight course of counsel, in which you yet recall a recent error. Therefore, since this was dear to you, I beseech you that by your intercession you make such men as you trust us by faith, and deign to carry our humility into heaven by prayers rather than by applause.

8. primum tamen nosse vos par est, in quas me obloquiorum Scyllas et in quos linguarum, sed humanarum, latratus quorundam vos infamare conantum turbo coniecerit. est enim haec quaedam vis malis moribus, ut innocentiam multitudinis devenustent scelera paucorum, cum tamen e diverso bonorum raritas flagitia multorum nequeat excusare virtutibus communicatis.

8. first, however, it is fitting that you know into what Scyllas of reproach and into what barkings of tongues — though human — the tumult of certain ones attempting to defame you has hurled me. For there is a certain power in bad manners, that the crimes of a few disgrace the innocence of the many, while, contrariwise, the rarity of good men cannot excuse the wickedness of many, even when virtues are shared.

9. si quempiam nominavero monachorum, quamvis illum, Paulis Antoniis, Hilarionibus, Macariis conferendum, sectatae anachoreseos praerogativa comitetur, aures ilico meas incondito tumultu circumstrepitas ignobilium pumilionum murmur everberat conquerentum: 'hic qui nominatur', inquiunt, 'non episcopi, sed potius abbatis complet officium et intercedere magis pro animabus apud caelestem quam pro corporibus apud terrenum iudicem potest'. sed quis non exacerbescat, cum videat sordidari virtutum sinceritatem criminatione vitiorum?

9. if I name any among the monks, although to him, fittingly, the prerogative of the sect’s anachoresis assigns comparison with Paul, Antony, Hilarion, Macarius, straightaway the ears of mine are beaten about by the crude tumult and the surrounding murmur of ignoble little men complaining: “this one who is named,” they say, “does not perform the office of a bishop, but rather of an abbot, and can intercede more for souls before the heavenly judge than for bodies before the earthly judge.” But who does not grow exasperated, when he sees the purity of virtues sullied by accusations of vices?

10. si eligimus humilem, vocatur abiectus: si proferimus erectum, superbire censetur; si minus institutum, propter imperitiam creditur irridendus: si aliquatenus doctum, propter scientiam clamatur inflatus; si severum, tamquam crudelis horretur: si indulgentem, facilitate culpatur; si simplicem, despicitur ut brutus: si acrem, vitatur ut callidus; si diligentem, superstitiosus decernitur: si remissum, negligens iudicatur; si sollertem, cupidus: si quietum, pronuntiatur ignavus; si abstemium producimus, avarus accipitur: si eum qui prandendo pascat, edacitatis impetitur: si eum qui pascendo ieiunet, vanitatis arguitur.

10. if we choose the humble, he is called abject; if we set forth the upright, he is judged proud; if less instructed, on account of ignorance he is thought fit for derision; if somewhat learned, because of his learning he is cried up as inflated; if severe, he is shunned as if cruel; if indulgent, he is blamed for facility; if simple, he is despised as brutish; if keen, he is avoided as crafty; if diligent, he is adjudged superstitious; if lax, he is judged negligent; if clever, covetous; if quiet, pronounced slothful; if we portray an abstemious man, he is taken for a miser; if one who feeds himself by dining, he is assailed with charges of voracity; if one who by feeding keeps a fast, he is reproached with vanity.

11. libertatem pro improbitate condemnant: verecundiam pro rusticitate fastidiunt; rigidos ob austeritatem non habent caros: blandi apud eos communione vilescunt. ac sic, utrolibet genere vivatur, semper hic tamen bonarum partium mores pungentibus linguis maledicorum veluti bicipitibus hamis inuncabuntur. inter haec monasterialibus disciplinis aegre subditur vel popularium cervicositas vel licentia clericorum.

11. they condemn liberty as impropriety: they scorn modesty as rusticity; they do not hold the rigid dear because of austerity: the flattering are cheapened among them by communion. and thus, whichever kind of life is lived, yet always the manners of good parts are fastened with the biting tongues of slanderers, as it were, on two‑headed hooks. among these things monastic disciplines are ill‑subject either to the stubborn necks of the laity or to the license of the clerics.

12. si clericum dixero, sequentes aemulantur, derogant antecedentes. nam ita ex his pauci, quod reliquorum pace sit dictum, solam clericatus diuturnitatem pro meritis autumant calculandam, ut nos in antistite consecrando non utilitatem velint eligere sed aetatem, tamquam diu potius quam bene vivere debeat accipi ad summum sacerdotium adipiscendum pro omnium gratiarum privilegio decoramento lenocinamento. et ita quipiam, in ministrando segnes in obloquendo celeres, in tractatibus otiosi in seditionibus occupati, in caritate infirmi in factione robusti, in aemulationum conservatione stabiles in sententiarum assertione nutantes, nituntur regere ecclesiam, quos iam regi necesse erit per senectam.

12. if I call one a cleric, those who follow emulate, those who precede derogate. For from these few — let it be said in peace of the rest — they reckon only the duration of clericality as to be counted for merits, so that in consecrating a bishop they would choose not usefulness but age, as if he ought to be received for long rather than to live well, to attain the high priesthood as a privilege, adornment, and blandishment of all graces. And thus one who is slow in ministering, swift in disparaging, idle in disputations, busy in seditions, weak in charity, strong in faction, firm in preserving rivalries, wavering in the assertion of opinions, strives to rule the church — whom already it will be necessary to rule by reason of senescence.

13. sed nec diutius placet propter paucorum ambitus multorum notare personas: hoc solum astruo, quod, cum nullum proferam nuncupatim, ille confitetur repulsam, qui profitetur offensam. sane id liberius dico, de multitudine circumstantium multos episcopales esse, sed totos episcopos esse non posse; et, cum singuli diversorum charismatum proprietate potiantur, sufficere omnes sibi, omnibus neminem.

13. but it no longer pleases me to single out the persons of many on account of the avarice of a few: I affirm only this, that, since I bring forth no one by name, he who avows the offence confesses the rebuke. Truly I say this more freely: of the multitude standing about, many are episcopal, but they cannot be whole bishops; and, since individuals possess the properties of diverse charisms, they suffice for themselves, but for everyone they are for no one.

14. si militarem dixero forte personam, protinus in haec verba consurgitur: 'Sidonius ad clericatum quia de saeculari professione translatus est, ideo sibi assumere metropolitanum de religiosa congregatione dissimulat; natalibus turget, dignitatum fastigatur insignibus, contemnit pauperes Christi'.

14. if I should perhaps call him a military person, immediately they spring up with these words: 'Sidonius, because he was transferred to the clericacy from a secular profession, therefore feigns to take to himself a metropolitan from a religious congregation; he swells with natal rank, is exalted by the insignia of dignities, he scorns the poor of Christ.'

15. quapropter inpraesentiarum solvam quam non tam bonorum caritati quam maledicorum suspicioni debeo fidem (vivit spiritus sanctus, omnipotens deus noster, qui Petri voce damnavit in Simone mago cur opinaretur gratiam benedictionis pretio sese posse mercari) me in eo, quem vobis opportunum censui, nec pecuniae favere nec gratiae, sed statu satis superque trutinato personae temporis, provinciae civitatis, virum, cuius in consequentibus raptim vita replicabitur, competentissimum credidisse.

15. wherefore for the present I will render a faith which I owe not so much to the charity of the good as to the suspicion of the slanderous (may the Holy Spirit live, our almighty God, who by the voice of Peter condemned Simon the Magus — why would he suppose that the grace of benediction could be bought with the price of money?) — namely, that concerning him whom I judged fitting for you I believed to be most competent a man who was in no wise favoured by money nor by influence, but whose status, weighed more than sufficiently — of person, of time, of province, of city — I deemed appropriate, and whose life will be briefly related in what follows.

16. benedictus Simplicius, hactenus vestri iamque abhinc nostri, modo per vos deus annuat, habendus ordinis comes, ita utrique parti vel actu vel professione respondet, ut et respublica in eo quod admiretur et ecclesia possit invenire quod diligat.

16. Blessed Simplicius, hitherto yours and now henceforth ours, to be held, provided God through you grant it, as a companion of the order, thus answers to each party, either by act or by profession, so that the republic may in him find what it admires and the church may discover what it loves.

17. si natalibus servanda reverentia est, quia et hos non omittendos evangelista monstravit (nam Lucas laudationem Iohannis aggressus praestantissimum computavit, quod de sacerdotali stirpe veniebat, et nobilitatem vitae praedicaturus prius tamen extulit familiae dignitatem): parentes ipsius aut cathedris aut tribunalibus praesederunt. inlustris in utraque conversatione prosapia aut episcopis floruit aut praefectis: ita semper huiusce maioribus aut humanum aut divinum dictare ius usui fuit.

17. if reverence is to be observed for natal ranks, since the evangelist showed that these too are not to be omitted (for Luke, in beginning the praise of John, reckoned him most eminent because he came of sacerdotal stock, and though about to proclaim the nobility of his life first nevertheless exalted the dignity of his family): his parents presided at chairs or at tribunals. A distinguished prosapia, illustrious in both conversation and conduct, flourished either in bishops or in prefects: thus to these ancestors it has always been lawful and customary to pronounce either human or divine judgment.

18. si vero personam suam tractatu consiliosiore pensemus, invenimus eam tenere istic inter spectabiles principem locum. sed dicitis viro Eucherium et Pannychium inlustres haberi superiores: quod hactenus eos esto putatos, sed praesentem iam modo ad causam illi ex canone non requiruntur, qui ambo ad secundas nuptias transierunt. si annos ipsius computemus, habet efficaciam de iuventute, de senectute consilium.

18. if indeed we weigh his person with a more considerate balance, we find that he holds there among the spectable a princely place. but you say that the men Eucherius and Pannychium are regarded as illustrious superiors: let them be thought so up to now; yet by the canon those who both have passed into second marriages are not presently required to be summoned for that cause. if we compute his years, youth has efficacity, old age brings counsel.

si litteras vel ingenium conferamus, certat natura doctrinae.

if we compare letters or innate talent, nature vies with doctrine.

19. si humanitas requirenda est, civi clerico peregrino, minimo maximoque, etiam supra sufficientiam offertur, et suum saepius panem ille potius, qui non erat redditurus, agnovit. si necessitas arripiendae legationis incubuit, non ille semel pro hac civitate stetit vel ante pellitos reges vel ante principes purpuratos. si ambigitur quo magistro rudimentis fidei fuerit imbutus: ut proverbialiter loquar, domi habuit unde disceret.

19. if humanity is to be sought, it is offered even above sufficiency to the citizen, the cleric, the stranger, to the least and to the greatest; and he more often acknowledged as his own bread him rather who was not going to repay. if the necessity of undertaking an embassy pressed upon him, he did not stand merely once for this city, neither before skin-clad kings nor before princes in purple. if it is disputed by which master he was imbued with the rudiments of faith: to speak proverbially, he had at home whence to learn.

20. postremo iste est ille, carissimi, cui in tenebris ergastularibus constituto multipliciter obserata barbarici carceris divinitus claustra patuerunt. istum, ut audivimus, tam socero quam patre postpositis ad sacerdotium duci oportere vociferabimini; quo quidem tempore plurimum laudis domum rettulit, quando honorari parentum maluit dignitate quam propria.

20. Finally, this is he, dearest, to whom, after being set in dark ergastularian dungeons and with the many-sealed bolts of the barbarian prison, the locks were opened divinely. Him, as we have heard, you will cry ought to be led to the priesthood, with father-in-law as well as father set aside; at that very time he brought back to his house the greatest measure of praise, when he preferred that his parents be honored in dignity rather than himself.

21. paene transieram, quod praeteriri non oportuerat. sub Moyse quondam, sicut psalmographus ait, in diebus antiquis, ut tabernaculi foederis forma consurgeret, totus Israel in eremo ante Beselehelis pedes oblaticii symbolam coacervavit impendii. Salomon deinceps, ut templum aedificaret in Solymis, solidas populi vires in opere concussit, quamvis Palaestinorum captivas opes et circumiectorum regum tributarias functiones australis reginae Sabaitis gaza cumulaverit.

21. I had almost passed over that which ought not to have been passed over. Under Moses once, as the psalmographer says, in ancient days, when the form of the tabernacle of the covenant was to arise, all Israel in the desert at the feet of Beṣelehel (Bezalel) gathered together the symbol of the offering for the task. Afterwards Solomon, that he might build a temple in Jerusalem, marshalled the solid forces of the people for the work, although he had heaped up the captive riches of the Philistines and the tributary dues of neighboring kings, and the treasures of the south—the queen of Sheba’s hoard.

hic vobis ecclesiam iuvenis miles, tenuis solus, adhuc filius familias et iam pater exstruxit. nec illum a proposita devotione suspendit vel tenacitas senum vel intuitus parvulorum, et tamen fuit morum factura quae taceret.

Here for you a church a young soldier, thin and alone, still the son of his household and already a father, erected. Nor did the steadfastness of the elders or the stares of the little ones deter him from the devotion he had proposed, and yet there was a shaping of morals which remained silent.

22. vir est namque, ni fallor, totius popularitatis alienus; gratiam non captat omnium sed bonorum, non indiscreta familiaritate vilescens sed examinata sodalitate pretiosus et a bono viratu aemulis suis magis prodesse cupiens quam placere, severis patribus comparandus, qui iuvenum filiorum non tam cogitant vota quam commoda; in adversis constans in dubiis fidus in prosperis modestus, in habitu simplex in sermone communis, in contubernio aequalis in consilio praecellens; amicitias probatas enixe expetit, constanter retinet, perenniter servat; inimicitias indictas honeste exercet, tarde credit, celeriter deponit; maxime ambiendus, quia minime ambitiosus, non studet suscipere sacerdotium, sed mereri.

22. he is a man, for if I err not, alien to all popularity; he seeks the favor not of everyone but of the good, not cheapened by indiscriminate familiarity but precious through examined companionship, and—by good manhood—more desiring to benefit his rivals than to please them; to be compared with severe fathers, who for the sons of youths consider not so much vows as advantages; steadfast in adversity, faithful in doubt, modest in prosperity, simple in dress, plain in speech, equal in companionship, outstanding in counsel; he eagerly courts proved friendships, retains them constantly, preserves them perpetually; he conducts declared enmities honorably, trusts late, abandons quickly; most to be sought, because least ambitious, he does not strive to take up the priesthood, but to deserve it.

23. dicit aliquis: 'unde tibi de illo tam cito tanta conperta sunt?' cui respondeo: prius Bituriges noveram quam Biturigas. multos in itinere multos in commilitio, multos in contractu multos in tractatu, multos in sua multos in nostra peregrinatione cognoscimus. plurima notitiae dantur et ex opinione compendia, quia non tam parvos terminos posuit famae natura quam patriae.

23. someone says: 'whence to you about him so quickly were so many things discovered?' to whom I answer: I knew the Bituriges before the Biturigas. many we know on the journey, many in comradeship, many in contract, many in negotiation, many in their own, many in our peregrination. very many tidings are given and compendia arise from reputation, for the nature of fame has not set limits so small as those of the patria.

quocirca si urbium status non tam murorum ambitu quam civium claritate taxandus est, non modo primum qui essetis, sed ubi essetis agnovi.

wherefore, if the status of cities is to be judged not so much by the ambit of their walls as by the distinction of their citizens, I have recognised not only at first who you were, but where you were.

24. uxor illi de Palladiorum stirpe descendit, qui aut litterarum aut altarium cathedras cum sui ordinis laude tenuerunt. sane quia persona matronae verecundam succinctamque sui exigit mentionem, constanter adstruxerim respondere illam feminam sacerdotiis utriusque familiae, vel ubi educta crevit vel ubi electa migravit. filios ambo bene et prudenter instituunt, quibus comparatus pater inde felicior incipit esse, quia vincitur.

24. his wife descended from the stock of the Palladii, who either held chairs of letters or the seats of high altars with the praise of their order. Truly, because the persona of a matron demands a modest and neatly-girt mention of herself, I will steadfastly append in reply that that woman belonged to the priesthoods of both families, whether she grew where she was reared or migrated where she was chosen. Both parents instruct the sons well and prudently, whereby, by comparison, the father begins thence to be more fortunate, because he is outdone.

25. et quia sententiam parvitatis meae in hac electione valituram esse iurastis, siquidem non est validius dicere sacramenta quam scribere, in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti Simplicius est, quem provinciae nostrae metropolitanum, civitati vestrae summum sacerdotem fieri debere pronuntio. vos autem de viro, quem loquimur, si novam sententiam meam sequimini, secundum vestram veterem consonate.

25. and because you have sworn that the sentence of my smallness will have force in this election, since it is not stronger to speak oaths than to write them, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Simplicius is — whom I pronounce ought to become metropolitan of our province, the chief priest of your city. But you, concerning the man of whom we speak, if you follow my new judgment, let your reply be consonant with your former one.

EPISTULA X

LETTER 10

Sidonius domino papae Auspicio salutem.

Sidonius to the Lord Pope Auspicius, greeting.

1. Si ratio temporum regionumque pateretur, non per sola officia verborum amicitias semel initas excolere curarem, sed quoniam fraternae quietis voto satis obstrepit conflictantium procella regnorum, saltim inter discretos separatosque litterarii consuetudo sermonis iure retinebitur, quae iam pridem caritatis obtentu merito inducta veteribus anuit exemplis. superest, ut sollicito veneratori culpam rarae occursionis indulgeas, quae quo minus assidue conspectus tui sacrosancta contemplatione potiatur, nunc periculum de vicinis timet, nunc invidiam de patronis. sed de his ista: haec etiam multa sunt.

1. If the consideration of times and regions allowed, I would not attend to cultivating friendships once begun merely by the offices of words, but since the tempest of warring realms drowns out enough the wish for fraternal quiet, at least among the discreet and separated the literary custom of discourse will by right be retained, which long ago, induced by the pretense of charity, has rightly assented to ancient examples. It remains that you grant indulgence to the anxious petitioner for the fault of a rare visit, which, the less it may enjoy the sacrosanct contemplation of your frequent sight, now fears danger from neighbours, now envy from patrons. But of these things, that: there are many such.

2. interim Petrum, tribunicium virum, portitorem nostri sermonis, insinuo, qui id ipsum sedulo exposcit, quique quid negotii ferat praesentaneo compendiosius potest intimare memoratu. cui, precor, quod in vobis opis est intuitu paginae praesentis accedat, manente respectu nihilominus aequitatis, contra quam nec magis familiarium causas commendare consuevi. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

2. meanwhile I present Peter, a tribunitian man, the bearer of our discourse, as my messenger, who diligently presses for just that and who can, in person, more briefly intimate what business he bears. To whom, I pray, insofar as there is help in you, by regard to the present page grant access, there remaining nevertheless a respect for equity, against which I am not wont more to commend the causes of intimates. Deign to be mindful of me, Lord Pope.

EPISTULA XI

LETTER 11.

Sidonius domino papae Graeco salutem.

Sidonius to the lord Pope, a Greek, greetings.

1. Invideo felicitati consuetudinarii portitoris, a quo contigit saepius vos videri. sed quid de Amantio loquar, cum ipsas quoque litteras meas aemuler, quae sacrosanctis reserabuntur digitis, inspicientur obtutibus? et ego istic inter semiustas muri fragilis clausus angustias belli terrore contigui desiderio de vobis meo nequaquam satisfacere permittor.

1. I envy the felicity of the customary porter, by whom it has often happened that you were seen. But why should I speak of Amantius, when even my very letters are emulated, which will be unsealed by sacred fingers and inspected by glances? And I, shut up there in the narrowness of a fragile, half-burnt wall, brought close by the terror of war, in no wise permit my longing for you to be satisfied.

atque utinam haec esset Arvernae forma vel causa regionis, ut minus excusabiles iudicaremur!

and would that this were the form or cause of the Arvernian region, so that we might be judged less excusable!

2. sed, quod est durius, per iniustitiae nostrae merita conficitur, ut excusatio nobis iusta non desit. quocirca salutatione praefata, sicut mos poscit officii, magno opere deposco, ut interim remittatis occursionis debitum vel verba solventi. nam si commeandi libertas pace revocetur, illud magis verebor, ne assiduitas praesentiae meae sit potius futura fastidio.

2. but, which is harder, by the merits of our injustice it is brought about that a just excuse will not be lacking to us. wherefore, with the salutation aforesaid, as the custom of duty requires, I earnestly beg that meanwhile you remit the debt of an encounter or pardon the words of the petitioner. for if the freedom to visit is recalled in peace, I shall the more fear that the constancy of my presence will rather become a future annoyance.

memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.

Deign to be mindful of us, Lord Pope.

EPISTULA XII

EPISTLE 12

Sidonius Ferreolo suo salutem.

Sidonius sends his greetings to his own Ferreolus.

1. Si amicitiae nostrae potius affinitatisque, quam personae tuae tempus ordinem statum cogitaremus, iure vobis in hoc opere, quantulumcumque est, primae titulorum rubricae, prima sermonum officia dedicarentur. isset per avitas tibi stilus noster curules, patricias nihilominus infulas enumeraturus; non tacuisset triplices praefecturas et Syagrio tuo pro totiens mutatis praeconibus praeconia non negasset; patrem inde patruosque minime silendos percucurrisset.

1. If we were to consider the friendship and kinship between us rather than the time, rank, and station of your person, rightly to you in this little work the first rubric of titles, the first duties of speeches would be dedicated. Had our ancestral curule stylus been granted to you, it would nevertheless have counted patrician fillets; it would not have been silent about the triple prefectures, nor denied proclamations to your Syagrius for so oft‑changed heralds; it would have run lightly over your father and uncles, not to be left unmentioned.

2. et quamlibet posset triumphalibus adoreis familiae tuae defetigari, non tamen eatenus explicandis antiquorum stemmatibus exinaniretur, ut ob hoc ad narrandam gloriam tuam fieret obtusior; qui, si etiam in scribendis maiorum tuorum virtutibus fuisset hebetatus, tuis denuo meritis cacuminaretur. sed salutationem tibi publicam destinaturus non quid fuisses, sed quid nunc potius esses consideravit.

2. and however much one might be wearied with the triumphal adornments of your family, yet it would not thereby be exhausted in unfolding the ancient stemmata, so that on that account it would become duller for recounting your glory; which, if it had even been blunted in writing the virtues of your ancestors, would again be topped by your own merits. but, about to dedicate a public salutation to you, he considered not what you had been, but rather what you now are.

3. praetermisit Gallias tibi administratas tunc, cum maxume incolumes erant. praetermisit Attilam Rheni hostem, Thorismodum Rhodani hospitem, Aetium Ligeris liberatorem sola te dispositionum salubritate tolerasse, propterque prudentiam tantam providentiamque currum tuum provinciales cum plausuum maximo accentu spontaneis subisse cervicibus, quia sic habenas Galliarum moderarere, ut possessor exhaustus tributario iugo relevaretur. praetermisit regem Gothiae ferocissimum inflexum affatu tuo melleo gravi, arguto inusitato, et ab Arelatensium portis quem Aetius non potuisset proelio te prandio removisse.

3. he passed over the Gauls administered to you then, when they were most uninjured. He passed over Attila, enemy of the Rhine, Thorismodum, guest of the Rhone, Aetius, liberator of the Loire, asserting that only you had borne them by the salutary disposition of your arrangements; and because of so great prudence and providence your chariot the provincials, with the loudest plaudit and most spontaneous assent, placed beneath your necks, since thus you held the reins of the Gauls in such wise that the holder, exhausted by the tributary yoke, was relieved. He passed over the most ferocious king of the Goths, bent by your speech heavy with honey, unusually keen in wit, and whom at the gates of Arelate Aetius had not been able to dislodge by battle you removed at a meal.

4. haec omnia praetermisit, sperans congruentius tuum salve pontificum quam senatorum iam nominibus adiungi; censuitque iustius fieri, si inter perfectos Christi quam si inter praefectos Valentiniani constituerere. neque te sacerdotibus potius admixtum vitio vertat malignus interpres; nam grandis ordinum ignorantia tenet hinc aliquid derogaturos, quia, sicuti cum epulum festivitas publica facit, prior est in prima mensa conviva postremus ei, qui primus fuerit in secunda, sic absque conflictatione praestantior secundum bonorum sententiam computatur honorato maximo minimus religiosus. ora pro nobis.

4. he omitted all these things, hoping it more fitting that your safety be joined to the names of the pontiffs than of the senators; and he judged it more just that you be set among the perfected of Christ than among the prefects of Valentinian. Nor let a malignant interpreter turn you as mixed with priests into a fault; for the great ignorance of orders holds that they will detract something from this, because, just as when public festivity makes a banquet the guest who is first at the first table is last to him who was first at the second, so without dispute the more excellent, by the judgment of goods, is reckoned second, and the most honored becomes the least religious. Pray for us.

EPISTULA XIII

EPISTLE 13

Sidonius Sulpicio suo salutem.

Sidonius sends his greeting to Sulpicius.

1. Himerius antistes, filius tuus, notus mihi hactenus parum vultu, satis opinione, quae quidem in bonam partem porrigebatur, Lugdunum nuper a Tricassibus venit, quo loci mihi raptim ac breviter inspectus sanctum episcopum Lupum, facile principem pontificum Gallicanorum, suae tam professionis magistrum quam dignitatis auctorem, morum nobis imitatione restituit.

1. Himerius the antistes, your son, hitherto little known to me by visage but sufficiently by reputation, which indeed leaned to the good side, recently came to Lugdunum from the Tricasses; where, the place having been glanced at by me swiftly and briefly, he restored to us by the imitation of his manners the holy bishop Lupus — easily the foremost of Gallican pontiffs, both the master of his profession and the author of his dignity.

2. deus bone, quae viro censura cum venustate, si quid vel deliberet forte vel suadeat! abundat animi sale, cum consulitur, melle, cum consulit. summa homini cura de litteris, sed maxime religiosis, in quibus eum magis occupat medulla sensuum quam spuma verborum.

2. good God, what censure toward a man, with charm, if perchance he should deliberate or advise! He overflows with the salt of spirit when he is consulted, with honey when he consults. The man’s chief care is for letters, but especially for religious matters, in which the marrow of his senses occupies him more than the foam of words.

tota illi actionum suarum intentio celeritas mora Christus est. quodque mirere vel laudes, nihil otiosum facit, cum nihil faciat non quietum.

To him the whole intent of his actions is celerity; delay is Christus. And whatever you might admire or praise, he makes nothing idle, for when he does nothing he is not at rest.

3. ieiuniis delectatur, edulibus adquiescit; illis adhaeret propter consuetudinem crucis, istis flectitur propter gratiam caritatis: summo utrumque moderamine, quia comprimit, quotiens prandere statuit, gulam, quotiens abstinere, iactantiam. officia multiplicat propria, vitat aliena; cumque ipsi vicissim deceat occurri, gratius habet, si sibi mutuus honos debeatur mage quam rependatur.

3. he delights in fasts, he yields to edibles; to the former he cleaves because of the consuetude of the cross, to the latter he bends because of the grace of charity: with the highest moderation of both, for it restrains — whenever he resolves to dine, gluttony; whenever to abstain, vainglory. He multiplies his own officia, avoids those of others; and since it is fitting that one meet him in turn, he is more pleased if mutual honor is owed to him than if it is repaid.

4. in convivio itinere consessu inferioribus cedit; quo fit, ut se illi voluptuosius turba postponat superiorum. sermonem maximo temperamento cum conloquente dispensat, in quo non patitur ullam aut verecundiam externus aut familiaris iniuriam, aut credulus invidiam aut curiosus repulsam aut suspiciosus nequitiam, aut peritus calumniam aut imperitus infamiam. simplicitatem columbae in ecclesia servat, in foro serpentis astutiam; bonis prudens, malis cautus, neutris callidus iudicatur.

4. at a banquet, on a journey, in an assembly he yields the lower seats; from which it happens that the crowd set him more agreeably after the superiors. He dispenses conversation with the speaker with the greatest moderation, in which he allows no external bashfulness nor a kinsman’s injury, no envy toward the credulous nor repulse toward the curious, no wickedness in the suspicious, no slander in the experienced, nor infamy in the inexperienced. He keeps the simplicity of a dove in the church, the serpent’s astuteness in the forum; prudent with the good, cautious with the bad, with neither is he judged guileless.

5. quid plura? totum te nobis ille iam reddidit; totam tuam temperantiam religionem, libertatem verecundiam et illam delicatae mentis pudicissimam teneritudinem iucunda similitudine exscripsit. quapropter quantum volueris deinceps frui secreto, indulgere secessui, licebit indulgeas; quandoquidem nos in fratre meo Himerio avum nomine, patrem facie, utrumque prudentia iam tenemus.

5. what more? that man has already restored you whole to us; he has transcribed your entire temperance, religion, liberty, modesty, and that most chaste tenderness of a delicate mind in a pleasing likeness. wherefore, as much as you wish henceforth to enjoy privacy, to indulge seclusion, it will be permitted that you indulge; since in my brother Himerius we already hold a grandfather by name, a father by aspect, each in prudence.

vale.

farewell.

EPISTULA XIV

LETTER 14

Sidonius Philagrio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Philagrius, greeting.

1. Proxime inter summates viros (erat et frequens ordo) vestri mentio fuit. omnes de te boni in commune senserunt omnia bona, cum tamen singuli quique varia virtutum genera dixissent. sane cum sibi quispiam de praesentia tua, quasi te magis nossent, praeter aequum gloriarentur, incandui, quippe cum dici non aequanimiter admitterem virum omnium litterarum vicinantibus rusticis quam institutis fieri remotioribus notiorem.

1. Recently, among the highest men (and it was a frequent assembly) mention was made of you. All good men in common judged all things good concerning you, although each one had praised diverse genera of virtues. Yet when anyone, from your presence, as if he knew you better, vaunted beyond what was fair, I grew inflamed; for I could not, with equanimity, admit that it be said a man versed in all the litterae was made more known to the neighboring rustics than to the more remote, instituted (i.e., educated) ones.

2. processit in ulteriora contentio; et cum aliqui super hoc errore pervicaciter controversarentur (idiotarum siquidem est, sicut facile convinci, ita difficile compesci), constanter asserui, si eloquentibus amicis numquam agnitio contemplativa proveniat, esse asperum, utcumque tolerabile tamen, quia praevaleant ingenia sua, coram quibus imperitia civica peregrinatur, ad remotarum desideria provinciarum stilo adminiculante porrigere; per quem saepenumero absentum dumtaxat institutorum tantus colligitur affectus, quantus nec praesentanea sedulitate conficitur. igitur, si ita est, desistant calumniari communis absentiae necessitatem vultuum mage quam morum praedicatores.

2. the contention advanced into further matters; and when some, on this error, stubbornly contended (for they are indeed idiots, as easily convicted as difficult to restrain), I have constantly maintained that, if contemplative recognition never issues from eloquent friends, it is severe, yet nevertheless tolerable, because their ingenuities prevail, before whom civic incompetence wanders abroad, to extend, the pen lending support, toward the desires of remote provinces; through whom very often, though absent only in person, so great an affection of institutions is gathered as is not effected by present industry. therefore, if this is so, let those who slander the necessity of common absence desist, those who are preachers of faces rather than of morals.

3. equidem si humana substantia rectius mole quam mente censenda est, plurimum ignoro, quid secundum corpulentiam per spatia quamvis porrecta finalem in homine miremur, quo nihil aeque miserum destitutumque nascendi condicio produxit. quippe cum praebeat tamquam ab adverso bovi pilus, apro saeta, volucri pluma vestitum (quibus insuper, ut vim vel inferant vel repellant, cornu dens unguis arma genuina sunt), membra vero nostra in hunc mundum sola censeas eiecta, non edita; cumque fingendis artubus animalium ceterorum multifario natura praesidio quasi quaedam sinu patente mater occurrat, humana tantum corpora effudit, quorum imbecillitati quodammodo novercaretur.

3. For my part, if human substance is to be judged more rightly by mass than by mind, I know very little; what, in a man, we should admire as the consummation according to bulk, however extended through spaces, I greatly do not know — a condition of birth which has produced nothing equally miserable and deprived. For whereas the ox presents a hair against the weather, the boar a bristle, the bird a feather for dress (and these, moreover, that they may either inflict or repel force, have horns, teeth, and nails as natural arms), consider that our limbs alone you should deem cast into this world rather than born; and while, in shaping the limbs of the other animals, nature meets them with manifold provision, as it were a mother with an open bosom, she alone poured forth human bodies, to whose weakness she was, in a manner, a wet‑nurse.

4. nam illud, sicuti ego censeo, qui animum tuum membris duco potiorem, non habet aequalitatem, quod statum nostrum supra pecudes veri falsique nescias ratiocinatio animae intellectualis evexit; cuius si tantisper summoveant dignitatem isti, qui amicos ludificabundi non tam iudicialiter quam oculariter intuentur, dicant velim in hominis forma quid satis praestans, quid spectabile putent.

4. for that, as I judge, which I regard as making your animus more potent than the limbs, has no equality: the intellectual ratiocinatio of the soul has raised our state above the beasts; of this you are ignorant as to true and false. if those men, who, jesting with friends, behold them more ocularly than judicially, would for a little remove its dignitas, let them say what in the human form they deem sufficiently praestant, what they reckon spectabile.

5. proceritatemne? quasi non haec saepe congruentius trabibus aptetur. an fortitudinem?

5. Stature, then? as if these things were not often more suitably fitted to timbers. Or fortitude?

quae valentior in leoninae cervicis toris regnat. an decorem liniamentorum? quem crebro melius infigit et argilla simulacris et cera picturis.

which, the more powerful, rules upon the leonine neck’s torus. Or the beauty of the features? which more often and more fitly stamps both clay for statues and wax for portraits.

an velocitatem? quae competentius canibus adscribitur. an vigilantiam?

Or swiftness? which is more aptly ascribed to dogs. Or watchfulness?

cui certat et noctua. an vocem? cui non cesserit asinus claritate.

to whom even the owl contends. Or a voice? to whom the ass has not yielded in clarity.

an industriam? cui pro suo modulo comparari nec formica formidat.

or industry? to whom, by its own measure, not even the ant fears to be compared.

6. sed forsitan praeferunt vim videndi: tamquam non sit eminentior visus aquilarum. praeferunt audiendi efficaciam: tamquam sus hispidus non antistet auditu. praeferunt odorandi subtilitatem: tamquam non praecedat vultur olfactu.

6. but perhaps they prefer the force of seeing: as if the sight of eagles were not more eminent. they prefer the efficacy of hearing: as if the bristly hog were not superior in hearing. they prefer the subtlety of smelling: as if the vulture did not excel in olfaction.

praeferunt gustandi discretionem: tamquam non plurimum hinc + nosse cedamus et simio. quid de tactu loquar, quinto sensu corporis nostri? quem sibi indifferenter tam philosophus quam vermiculus usurpant.

They prefer the discrimination of tasting: as if from this source we should learn no more than an ape. What shall I say of touch, the fifth sense of our body? Which both the philosopher and the little worm employ indifferently.

taceo hic de appetitibus inlecebrosis, quos in coitu motui beluino carnis humanae voluptas inclinata communicat.

I am silent here concerning the seductive appetites, which in coitus the pleasure of human flesh, bent toward a beastlike motion, imparts.

7. ecce quam miseriam praeferunt excoluntque qui mihi, quod eis solo sis obtutu notior, turgidi insultant. ast ego illum semper Philagrium video, cuius si tacentis viderem faciem, Philagrium non viderem. unde illud simile vulgatum est, quod ait quidam in causa dispari sententia pari: 'filium Marci Ciceronis populus Romanus non agnoscebat loquentem.' conclamata sunt: namque iudicio universali scientiae dignitas virtus praerogativa, cuius ad maximum culmen meritorum gradibus ascenditur.

7. behold what misery those parade and polish who, swollen with pride, jeer at me because you are more known to their gaze alone. but I always see him as Philagrium; if I were to see his face while he were silent, I would not see Philagrium. hence that similar saying was spread, which a certain man uttered in a case unequal but with a like judgment: 'the Roman people did not recognize Marcus Cicero’s son when he was speaking.' they were cried out: for by universal judgment dignity, science, virtue are a prerogative, by whose steps one ascends to the highest summit of merits.

8. primum etiam bestiale corpus, si iam forte formatum est, dignitate transcendit materiam informem; deinde formato praeponitur corpus animatum; tertio praecedit animam pecudis animus humanus, quia, sicut inferior est caro vitae, sic vita rationi, cuius assequendae substantiam nostram compotem deus artifex, ferinam vero impotem fecit; ita tamen, quod in statu mentis humanae pollet bipertita condicio. nam sicut animae humanitus licet ratiocinantes, hebetes tamen pigrioresque prudentum acutarumque calcantur ingenio, ita si quae sunt, quae sola naturali sapientia vigent, hae peritarum se meritis superveniri facile concedunt.

8. first, even a beastly body, if by chance it is already formed, in dignity transcends unformed matter; then an animated body is preferred to the merely formed; thirdly the human mind precedes the soul of a beast, because, just as flesh is inferior to life, so life is to reason, whose attainment God the Artificer made our substance capable of, but made the wild substance impotent; yet so that in the state of the human mind a twofold condition holds. For as human souls, though permitted to reason, are nevertheless duller and lazier in native wit and are overborne by the clever and prudent, so those things which thrive only by natural sapience easily concede to be surpassed by the merits of the skilled.

9. quorum ego graduum differentiam observans illum Philagrium cordis oculo semper inspicio, cui me animus potentialiter notum morum similitudine facit. nam licet bonis omnibus placeas, nemo te plus valuit intrinsecus intueri quam qui forinsecus affectat imitari. sane qualiter studiorum tuorum consectaneus fiam, consequa paginae parte reserabitur.

9. observing the difference of degrees of which I always behold that Philagrium with the eye of my heart, to whom my mind makes me potentially known by a similarity of manners. For although you may please all good men, no one has been more able to gaze inwardly at you than he who outwardly strives to imitate you. Certainly how I shall become a follower of your studies will be revealed in the ensuing part of the page.

10. amas, ut comperi, quietos; ego et ignavos. barbaros vitas, quia mali putentur; ego, etiamsi boni. lectioni adhibes diligentiam; ego quoque in illa parum mihi patior nocere desidiam.

10. you love, as I have learned, the quiet; I, the idle. you shun barbarians, because they are thought wicked; I, even if they are good. to reading you apply diligence; I likewise in that matter suffer little idleness to harm me.

comples ipse personam religiosi; ego vel imaginem. aliena non appetis; ego etiam refero ad quaestum, si propria non perdam. delectaris contuberniis eruditorum; ego turbam quamlibet magnam litterariae artis expertem maxumam solitudinem appello.

you yourself assume the persona of a religious man; I even the image. You do not covet what is another’s; I even turn things to profit, if I do not lose my own. You delight in the contubernia of the erudite; I call any great crowd, lacking in the literary art, the greatest solitude.

11. diceris esse laetissimus; ego quoque lacrimas omnes perire definio, quas quisque profuderit, nisi quoties deo supplicat. humanissimus esse narraris; nostram quoque mensulam nullus, ut specum Polyphemi, hospes exhorruit. summa clementia tibi in famulos esse perhibetur; nec ego torqueor, si mei, quotiens peccaverint, non totiens torqueantur.

11. you will be said to be most joyful; I likewise decree that all the tears which anyone has poured forth perish, except as often as he supplicates God. you are reported most humane; no guest at our little table, as at Polyphemus’ cave, recoiled. the highest clemency is attributed to you toward your servants; nor am I tormented if my own, whenever they have sinned, are not tormented just as often.

12. ieiunandum alternis putas? non piget sequi. prandendum?

12. Do you think one should fast on alternate days? It does not grieve to follow. To dine?

non pudet praevenire. de cetero, si vos a me videri Christi munere datur, ita gaudeam tamquam cui de te nec minora subtracta sint. porro autem quae sint in te maiora iam satis novi.

I am not ashamed to forestall. Henceforth, if it is granted that you be seen by me as a gift of Christ, I will rejoice as though no lesser things had been taken away from you. Moreover, as for what greater things are in you, I already know them sufficiently.

propter quae fieri facilius potest, ut et si quandoque faciem tuam coram positus inspexero, aliqua de te recens mihi laetitia potius quam sententia accedat. vale.

because of which it can more easily come to pass, that if ever I shall have looked upon your face set before me, some fresh joy concerning you rather than a judgment may approach me. vale.

EPISTULA XV

LETTER 15

Sidonius Salonio suo salutem.

Sidonius to Salonius, his greetings.

1. Quotiens Viennam venio, emptum maximo velim, ut te fratremque communem colonum civitatis habitatio plus haberet, qui mihi non amore solum verum etiam professione sociamini. sed et ille imputationem meam praetextu frequentatae suburbanitatis eludit, per quam efficitur, ut nobis nec praesens ipse nec reus sit, et tu habes quo te interim excuses, quod te diu possidet vix recepta possessio.

1. Whenever I come to Vienna, I would wish the purchase to be of the greatest kind, so that the habitation of the city’s common colonus might hold you and a brother more, who would join me not only in love but also in profession. But he likewise evades my imputation under the pretext of his frequent suburban residence, by which it comes about that he is neither present for us nor liable himself, and you have a means whereby to excuse yourself in the meantime, since a possession scarcely received holds you for a long time.

2. quicquid illud est, iam venite, hac deinceps condicione discessum impetraturi, ut aut vicissim redeatis aut serius. nam quamlibet ruri positi strenuos impleatis agricolas, tum vere propriam terram fecundabitis, si ecclesiam, quam plurimum colitis, plus colatis. vale.

2. Whatever that may be, come now, with this condition henceforth to be obtained upon your departure: that you either in turn return or return later. For however many vigorous farmers you set in the countryside, you will fill the lands, and then in the spring you will make the soil truly fruitful—if you cultivate the church as much as possible, you will cultivate it all the more. Vale.

EPISTULA XVI

EPISTLE 16

Sidonius Chariobaudo abbati salutem.

Sidonius to Chariobaudus, abbot, greetings.

1. Facis, unice in Christo patrone, rem tui pariter et amoris et moris, quod peregrini curas amici litteris mitigas consolatoriis. atque utinam mei semper sic recorderis, ut sollicitudines ipsas angore succiduo concatenatas, qui exhortator attenuas, intercessor incidas!

1. You do, sole patron in Christ, a thing both of your love and of your custom, that you ease a stranger‑friend’s cares with consolatory letters. And would that you always remember me thus, that you may fall upon the very anxieties, bound together by continual anguish, and, as exhorter, lessen them, and, as intercessor, interpose!

2. de cetero, libertos tuos causis quas iniunxeras expeditis reverti puto, quos ita strenue constat rem peregisse, ut nec eguerint adiuvari. per quos nocturnalem cucullum, quo membra confecta ieiuniis inter orandum cubandumque dignanter tegare, transmisi, quamquam non opportune species villosa mittatur hieme finita iamque temporibus aestatis appropinquantibus. vale.

2. henceforth, I judge it expedient that your freedmen, with the affairs which you had enjoined dispatched, return—those whom it is so plainly agreed have carried the business through so strenuously that they have not been in want of assistance. Through them I sent a nocturnal hood, by which, when their limbs are worn out by fasts, they may worthily cover themselves between praying and lying down, although a shaggy garment is not timely to be sent, winter being ended and the seasons of summer already approaching. farewell.

EPISTULA XVII

EPISTLE 17

Sidonius Volusiano fratri salutem.

Sidonius to Volusianus, greetings to (my) brother.

1. Iubes me, domine frater, lege amicitiae, quam nefas laedi, iam diu desides digitos incudibus officinae veteris imponere et sancto Abrahae diem functo neniam sepulchralem luctuosis carminibus inscribere. celeriter iniunctis obsecundabo, cum tua tractus auctoritate, tum principaliter amplissimi viri Victorii comitis devotione praeventus, quem iure saeculari patronum, iure ecclesiastico filium excolo ut cliens, ut pater diligo; qui satis docuit, quae sibi aut qualis erga famulos Christi cura ferveret, cum torum circa decumbentis antistitis, non dignitatem minus quam membra curvatus ac supra vultum propinqua morte pallentem dolore concolor factus, quid viro vellet lacrimis indicibus ostenderet.

1. You command me, lord brother, by the law of amicitia, which it is nefas to wound, now long to lay idle fingers upon the anvils of the old officina and never to inscribe for holy Abraham, his day finished, a sepulchral notice in doleful carmina. I will quickly obey the injunctions, prompted both by your persuasive auctoritas and principally by the devotio of the most illustrious man Count Victorius, whom I cultivate as patron by secular right, as son by ecclesiastical right, and love as client and as father; who plainly showed how great a zeal he kept for the famuli of Christ, when about the torus of the bishop lying down he bent over, not less in dignitas than in membra, and made by sorrow the same color as the near death above his face, and with tears as indicia declared what he wished for the man.

2. et quia sibi maximas humandi funeris partes ipse praeripuit, totum apparatu supercurrentis impendii quod funerando sacerdoti competeret impertiens, saltim ad obsequium quae remanserunt verba conferimus, nihil aliud exaraturi stili scalpentis impressu quam testimonium mutuae dilectionis. ceterum viri mores gesta virtutes indignissime meorum vilitate dictorum ponderabuntur.

2. and because he himself anticipated for himself the greatest parts of the burying of the funeral, bestowing the whole apparatus of the remaining impenditure which pertained to the priest in burying, at least to the obsequies we bring together the words that remained, nothing else to be carved by the impress of the pen but a testimony of mutual dilection. moreover the man’s manners, deeds, virtues will be weighed most undeservedly by the vileness of my words.

Abraham sanctis merito sociande patronis,
    quos tibi collegas dicere non trepidem;
nam sic praecedunt, ut mox tamen ipse sequare:
    dat partem regni portio martyrii.
natus ad Euphraten, pro Christo ergastula passus
    et quinquennali vincula laxa fame,
elapsus regi truculento Susidis orae
    occiduum properas solus ad usque solum.
sed confessorem virtutum signa sequuntur
    spiritibusque malis fers, fugitive, fugam.

Abraham, rightly to be joined with the holy patrons,
    whom I am not afraid to name your colleagues;
for thus they go before, that I myself may soon follow:
    a portion of the kingdom grants a part of martyrdom.
born beside the Euphrates, for Christ he suffered prisons (ergastula)
    and chains loosened after a five‑year famine,
having slipped away from the savage king Susidis’ shore
    you hasten westward alone even to the utmost land.
but the tokens of virtues follow the confessor
    and you bear, fleeing, flight from evil spirits.

quaque venis, Lemurum se clamat cedere turba;
    daemonas ire iubes exul in exilium.
expeteris cunctis, nec te capit ambitus ullus;
    est tibi delatus plus onerosus honor.
Romuleos refugis Byzantinosque fragores
    atque sagittifero moenia fracta Tito.

and wherever you come, the troop cries that the Lemures withdraw;
    you command the daemons to go forth an exile into exile.
you are sought by all, nor does any ambition seize you;
    the honour conferred on you is more burdensome.
you shun Romulean and Byzantine crashes
    and the walls shattered by arrow-bearing Titus.

murus Alexandri te non tenet Antiochique;
    spernis Elisseae Byrsica tecta domus.
rura paludicolae temnis populosa Ravennae
    et quae lanigero de sue nomen habent.
angulus iste placet paupertinusque recessus
    et casa, cui culmo culmina pressa forent.

the wall of Alexander does not hold you nor Antioch;
    you spurn the Byrsican-roofed house of Elisseus.
you despise the countryside of marsh-dwellers, populous Ravenna,
    and those that bear a name from the wool-bearing sow.
that little corner pleases and a poverty-stricken recess
    and a cottage, to which with straw the roofs would be pressed down.

aedificas hic ipse deo venerabile templum,
    ipse dei templum corpore facte prius.
finiti cursus istic vitaeque viaeque:
    sudori superest dupla corona tuo.
iam te circumstant paradisi milia sacri;
    Abraham iam te conperegrinus habet;
iam patriam ingrederis, sed de qua decidit Adam;
    iam potes ad fontem fluminis ire tui.

you yourself build here a venerable temple for God,
    yourself the temple of God first made in your body.
the course there of life and of the way is finished:
    upon your sweat remains a double corona for you.
now the sacred thousands of Paradise stand round you;
    Abraham already holds you as a fellow-pilgrim;
now you enter the homeland, but that from which Adam fell;
    now you are able to go to the fountain of your river.

3. ecce, ut iniunxeras, quae restant sepulto iusta persolvimus; sed, si vicissim caritatis imperiis fratres amicos commilitones obsequi decet, ad vicem, quaeso, tu quoque quibus emines institutis discipulos eius aggredere solari fluctuantemque regulam fratrum destitutorum secundum statuta Lirinensium patrum vel Grinincensium festinus informa; cuius disciplinae si qui rebelles, ipse castiga; si qui sequaces, ipse conlauda.

3. behold, as you had commanded, we have discharged the just things remaining to the buried; but if, in turn, by the commands of charity it be fitting that brothers, friends, fellow‑soldiers give obedience, in return, I beg you also to hasten to approach and comfort those in whose institutes you stand eminent, to succor his disciples and to steady the wavering rule of the destitute brothers according to the statutes of the Lirenian fathers or of the Grinincian; of that discipline, if any are rebellious, chastise them yourself; if any are obedient, praise them yourself.

4. praepositus illis quidem videtur sanctus Auxanius, qui vir, ut nosti, plusculum iusto et corpore infirmus et verecundus ingenio eoque parendi quam imperandi promptior exigit te rogari, ut tuo ipse sub magisterio monasterii magister accedat et, si quis illum de iunioribus spreverit tamquam imperitum vel pusillanimem, per te unum sentiat utrumque non impune contemni. quid multa? vis ut paucis quid velim agnoscas?

4. their praepositus indeed seems to be the holy Auxanius, who, as you know, is a man somewhat just, infirm in body, and modest in temperament, and by nature readier for obeying than for commanding; he demands that you be entreated to have your own master himself, under the magisterium of the monastery, come, and if anyone among the juniors should scorn him as inexperienced or faint‑hearted, let that one through you learn that both are not to be contemned with impunity. What need of many words? Do you wish that I make you know in few what I desire?

quaeso, ut abbas sit frater Auxanius supra congregationem, tu vero et supra abbatem. vale.

I beg that Brother Auxanius be abbot over the congregation, and that you in turn be over the abbot. Farewell.

EPISTULA XVIII

EPISTLE 18

Sidonius Constantio suo salutem.

Sidonius to his Constantius, greeting.

1. A te principium, tibi desinet. nam petitum misimus opus raptim electis exemplaribus, quae ob hoc in manus pauca venerunt, quia mihi nil de libelli huiusce conscriptione meditanti hactenus incustodita nequeunt inveniri. sane ista pauca, quae quidem et levia sunt, celeriter absolvi, quamquam incitatus semel animus necdum scripturire desineret, servans hoc sedulo genus temperamenti, ut epistularum produceretur textus, si numerus breviaretur.

1. From you the beginning, to you it will end. For the requested work we sent off hastily with chosen exemplars, which on that account came into few hands, because nothing of the composition of this little book, as I meditate, can hitherto be found unguarded. Certainly these few things, which indeed are slight, may be quickly completed, although once the mind stirred would not yet cease to write, diligently keeping this kind of temperance, so that a text of letters might be produced, if the number were reduced.

2. pariter et censui librum, quem lector delicatissimus desiderares, et satis habilem nec parum excusabilem fore, si, quoniam te sensuum structurarumque levitas poterat offendere, membranarum certe fascibus minus onerarere. commendo igitur varios iudicio tuo nostri pectoris motus, minime ignarus, quod ita mens pateat in libro velut vultus in speculo. dictavi enim quaepiam hortando, laudando plurima et aliqua suadendo, maerendo pauca iocandoque nonnulla.

2. likewise I deemed also that the book which you, most delicate reader, would desire, would be sufficiently serviceable and not scarcely defensible, if, since the lightness of your senses and of your dispositions might be offended, it would at least weigh less the bundles of its leaves. I therefore commit to your judgement the various motions of our heart, not at all unknowing that thus the mind may be laid open in a book as a face in a mirror. For I dictated certain things by exhorting, praising very many and advising some, grieving a few and joking at several.

3. et si me uspiam lectitavisti in aliquos concitatiorem, scias volo Christi dextera opitulante me numquam toleraturum animi servitutem, compertissimum tenens bipertitam super his moribus hominum esse censuram. nam ut timidi me temerarium, ita constantes liberum appellant. inter quae ipse decerno satis illius iacere personam, cuius necesse est latere sententiam.

3. and if anywhere you have read me as somewhat more stirred, know, I wish, with Christ’s right hand assisting me, that I would never endure the servitude of the mind, holding it most certain that there is a twofold censure concerning these manners of men. For just as the timid call me rash, so the steadfast call me free. Among these things I myself decide it enough to assume the persona of that one whose judgement must of necessity remain hidden.

4. ad propositum redeo. interea tu, si quid a lectionis sacrae continuatione respiras, his licebit neniis avocere. nec faciet materia ut immensa fastidium, quia cum singulae causae singulis ferme epistulis finiantur, cito cognitis in quae oculum intenderis ante legere cessabis quam lecturire desistas.

4. I return to the purpose. Meanwhile you, if you desire any respite from the continuation of sacred reading, may be permitted to be diverted by these small trifles. Nor will the material produce immense tedium, for since single causes are in effect concluded in nearly single epistles, once you have quickly recognised which things you will fix your eye upon, you will cease to read before you desist from perusing.

vale.

farewell.