Delphi Complete Works of Sidonius Apollinaris, page 120
[13] She has been your faithful follower from your early years; she was ever at your side, whether you practised your skill in the arena of the crowded city, or subdued the flesh in remote solitudes; in the Athenaeum she was with you, and in the monastery; with you she abjured the wisdom of the world, with you proclaims that which is from above. Whoever provokes you as her lawful spouse shall soon perceive the noble range of your philosophy, and find himself confronted by the Platonic Academy of the Church of Christ.
14. tum praeterea non caesariem pascere neque pallio aut clava velut sophisticis insignibus gloriari aut affectare de vestium discretione superbiam, nitore pompam, squalore iactantiam neque te satis hoc aemulari, quod per gymnasia pingantur Areopagitica vel prytanea curva cervice Speusippus Aratus panda, Zenon fronte contracta Epicurus cute distenta, Diogenes barba comante Socrates coma cadente, Aristoteles brachio exerto Xenocrates crure collecto, Heraclitus fletu oculis clausis Democritus risu labris apertis, Chrysippus digitis propter numerorum indicia constrictis, Euclides propter mensurarum spatia laxatis, Cleanthes propter utrumque corrosis.
[14] He shall hear you first declare the ineffable omniscience of God and the eternity of the Holy Spirit. He shall not see you grow long hair or flaunt the pallium or staff as insignia of the philosophic state. He shall not see you pride yourself in nice apparel, indulging the exquisite’s pretension, or making squalor your boast. He shall not see you betray your envy when in the gymnasia, or the Schools of the Areopagus; Speusippus is pictured for admiring eyes with bowed head, Aratus with open countenance; Zeno with contracted brows, Epicurus with unwrinkled skin, Diogenes with hirsute beard, Socrates with failing hair, Aristotle with arm freed from the mantle, Xenocrates with his contracted leg, Heraclitus with his eyes closed by tears, Democritus with lips parted in a laugh, Chrysippus counting with clenched fingers, Euclid measuring with open hands, Cleanthes biting his nails over problems both of space and number.
15. quin potius experietur, quisque conflixerit, Stoicos Cynicos Peripateticos haeresiarchas propriis armis, propriis quoque concuti machinamentis. nam sectatores eorum, Christiano dogmati ac sensui si repugnaverint, mox te magistro ligati vernaculis implicaturis in retia sua praecipites implagabuntur, syllogismis tuae propositionis uncatis volubilem tergiversantum linguam inhamantibus, dum spiris categoricis lubricas quaestiones tu potius innodas acrium more medicorum, qui remedium contra venena, cum ratio compellit, et de serpente conficiunt.
[15] Far from all this, whoever challenges you shall see the Stoic, the Cynic, the Peripatetic, the Heresiarch all beaten with their own weapons and crushed by their own devices. Their followers who dare resist Christian faith and dogma to venture a bout with you shall soon be bound hand and foot and fall headlong into the toils of their own nets. The barbed syllogisms of your logic shall hook these voluble tongues even while they seek escape; you shall noose their slippery problems in categoric coils after the fashion of the clever doctor, who, if need be, will prepare his antidote for poison from the very venom of the serpent.
16. sed hoc temporibus istis sub tuae tantum vel contemplatione conscientiae vel virtute doctrinae. nam quis aequali vestigia tua gressu sequatur, cui datum est soli loqui melius quam didiceris, vivere melius quam loquaris? quocirca merito te beatissimum boni omnes idque supra omnes tua tempestate concelebrabunt, cuius ita dictis vita factisque dupliciter inclaruit, ut, quando quidem tuos annos iam dextra numeraverit, saeculo praedicatus tuo, desiderandus alieno, utraque laudabilis actione, decedas te relicturus externis, tua proximis. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.
[16] I have said enough for the moment on your spiritual insight and on the soundness of your learning. For no one can follow in your footsteps with an equal stride, since to no other is it given to speak better than the masters who taught him, and to make his actions better than his words. Not without reason shall you be called by those qualified to judge, most blessed above all in our generation, as one who in deed and word enjoys a great and twofold glory; who after numbering years to be counted on the right hand, after being the model of this century and the desire of every other, shall die honoured for his excellence in every field, leaving his possessions to his own folk, and himself to the nations of the world. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
Sidonius domino papae Aprunculo salutem.
X.
To the Lord Bishop Aprunculus After A.D. 475 (?)
1. Reddidit tibi epistulas meas quem mihi tuas offerre par fuerat; nam frater noster Caelestius nuper ad te reversus de Biterrensi quoddam mihi super statu Iniuriosi nostri vinculum cessionis elicuit. quod quidem scripsi non minus tua verecundia fractus quam voluntate: namque nos ultro vestro pudori quasi quibusdam pedibus obsequii decuit occurrere.
[1] MY letter was delivered to you by a messenger who ought to have brought me back a reply; for our brother Celestius, on his return recently from Béziers, extracted from me a document of surrender relating to my [clerk] Injuriosus. I wrote it urged by the compelling force of your modesty rather than by any inclination of my own; the least that I could do, confronted with such an attitude was to meet you halfway upon the swift feet of my respect.
2. quocirca me quoque volente posside indultum, sed liberaliter (nec enim, ut suspicor, plus aliquid hoc genere solacii vel ipse quaesisti), quem litteris istis non commendatoriis minus quam refusoriis iam placatus insinuo; sic tamen, ut tibi assistat, tibi pareat, te sequatur atque ut, si permanserit tecum, neutri nostrum iudicetur famulus, si forte discesserit, quaeratur utrique fugitivus. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.
[2] Regard him, then, as yours by my deliberate act, but use him with generosity; indeed, I am sure you proposed nothing but the solace of your kindness. I have no further resentment against him, and write this rather as an introduction to you than as a formal dimissal for him. But I should like it to be a condition that he is to render you obedient service and assistance, and that if he stays with you he shall be regarded as neither yours nor mine; but that if he leaves you, it shall be open to both of us to treat him as a fugitive. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
Sidonius domino papae Lupo salutem.
XI.
To the Lord Bishop Lupus A.D. 478 (?)
1. Propter libellum, quem non ad vos magis quam per vos missum putastis, epistulam vestram non ad me magis quam in me scriptam recepi. ad exprobrata respondeo pro aequitate causae, non pro aequalitate facundiae. quamquam quis nunc ego aut quantus qui agere praesumam vobis imputantibus innocentem? quocirca delicto huic, quantulumcumque est, inter principia confestim supplico ignosci, diffidentiae tantum, non et superbiae fassus errorem.
[1] THAT unfortunate book which you regard as sent not so much to you as through you, has inspired a letter which I in my turn regard as written not so much to me as against me. I cannot reply to your reproaches with an eloquence equal to yours; I rely only on the justice of my cause; how indeed am I to plead ‘not guilty’ when you imply the opposite? At the very outset, therefore, I frankly ask your pardon for my offence, such as it is; but I confess only to an error born of diffidence and by no means of improper pride.
2. nam cum mihi rigor censurae tuae in litteris aeque ut
[2] The strictness of your judgement is no less formidable to me in literary than in moral questions, but I must admit that when I opened the volume it was the thought of the friendship you profess for me which oppressed me most. And that I think is natural; for it is human nature for a friend who suspects an injury to be severer than any one else.
3. scripseram librum, sicut pronuntiatis, plenum onustumque vario causarum temporum personarumque congestu: facturus rem videbar impudentissimam, si tantum mihi cuncta placuissent, ut nulla tibi displicitura confiderem; huc item, quisquis iudicii eventus foret, vidi partibus meis nequaquam pietatis ex solido constare rationem, si non saltim vobis esset anterius allatum volumen, etsi non videretur oblatum; sub hoc scilicet temperamento, ut, si forte placuissem, non vos arrogantia praeterisse, si secus, non vos improbitas expetisse iudicaretur.
[3] It is true enough, as you point out, that my book is a medley packed and piled with multifarious subjects, episodes and personal facts; it would have been outrageous had I been so infatuated with my work as to imagine that no part of it would displease you. Whatever your judgement might prove to be, it was evident that I should derogate from my loyalty, if I failed to give you at least the first sight of the volume, even though I might not formally present it. If I were lucky enough to meet with your approval, you could not accuse me of having arrogantly neglected you; if on the other hand I were less fortunate, you could not say that I had forced my work upon your notice.
4. nec sane multo labore me credidi deprecaturum vitatas causas erubescendi. pariter illud nosse vos noveram, quod auctores in operibus edendis pudor potius quam constantia decet quodque tetricis puncta censoribus tardius procacitas recitatoris quam trepidatio excudit. alioquin, si quis est ille qui cum fiduciae praerogativa thematis ante inauditi operam pervulgat, incipit expectationi publicae, quamvis solverit multa, plura redhibere. praeterea quidquid super huiusce rescripti tenore censueris, malui factum confiteri simpliciter quam trebaciter diffiteri.
[4] Nor did I expect to find it very difficult to excuse the motive which saved me from possibly having to blush for myself. I imagined you to be as well aware as I myself that modesty becomes the writer of a new book better than assurance, and that timidity is far more likely to win the vote of the severe critic than a provocative spirit. On the other hand, if a man boldly announces a volume on a fresh subject, however much he may really have done to satisfy the legitimate expectation of the public, he will soon find that he will be expected to do more. Whatever strictures you may pass on the tenor of this reply, I prefer to make a clean breast of it rather than resort to disingenuous evasions.
5. dixisset alius: “neminem tibi praetuli, nullas ad ullum peculiares litteras dedi: quem praelatum suspicabare, unius epistulae forma contentus abscessit, atque ea quidem nihil super praesenti negotio deferente: tu, qui te quereris omissum, tribus loquacissimis paginis fatigatus potius in nausiam concitaris, dum frequenter insulsae lectionis verbis inanibus immoraris. adde, quia etiam in hoc, quod forsitan non notasti, reverentiae tuae meritorumque ratio servata est, quod sicut tu antistitum ceterorum cathedris, prior est tuus in libro titulus. illius nomen vix semel tantum et sibi adscripta pagina sonat; tuo praeter tibi deputatas frequenter illustrantur alienae.
[5] Any one but myself would probably have argued somewhat after this wise: ‘I never gave any one the advantage over you; no one else had received a special letter from me. The man whom you believed to be preferred before you had to be content with one letter to his credit, and that, too, having no relation to the present matter. You on the other hand, for all your complaints at being overlooked, must have been simply exhausted by the three garrulous sheets you received; you must have been sickened by so long an immersion in empty and dull verbiage. Moreover you may not have observed that, even so, your position and your high deserts have received ample consideration; your name appears in the first superscription of the book, as befits that of the primate among our bishops. His name, on the contrary, only occurs once in a letter addressed to himself; yours is so mentioned more than once, and you are cited besides in letters addressed to other persons.
6. illud his iunge, quod, si quid ibi vel causaliter placet, tu per consilium meum lectitas, ille quandoque per beneficium tuum, qui munusculi mei incassum pressus invidia necdum ad facultatem legendi, ut suspicor, venit, cum iamdiu ipse perveneris ad copiam transferendi. aio, tamquam non sit autholographas membranas arbitraturus, si tamen, quod ante percurras, vel exemplar acceperit; neque enim in his, quae tractaveris, ulla culpabitur aut distinctionum raritas aut frequentia barbarismorum. nempe ad extremum palam videtur etiam tibi transmissa proprietas, cui usus absque temporis fixi praescriptione transmissus est quique supradicto tamdiu potes uti libello, ut eum non amplius zothecula tua quam memoria concludat.”
[6] Remember, too, that where there is a subject likely to please you, I have encouraged you to read it, whereas the person in question can only do so by your kindness; he is probably so embarrassed by your attitude to my little gift that I should be surprised if even now he has had a real chance of perusal, while you long ago reached the stage of transcribing. I expect he will hardly regard as my holograph a copy over which you have glanced; for to an example revised by you he can never impute either excess of barbarisms or defects in punctuation. In fine, it might appear that all rights in the book had been handed over to you, seeing that you have the use of it while you please, and can dispose of it for so long that you may be said to keep it rather in your memory than in your bookcase.’
7. haec et his plura fors aliquis. ego vero cuncta praetereo et malo precari veniam quam reatum, si hoc esse creditur, deprecari. praesentum quoque neglegentiam litterarum nunc nec excuso, primum quod, etsi cupiam, parum cultius scribere queo, dein quod libellari opere confecto animus tandem feriaturus iam quae propalare dissimulat excolere detrectat.
[7] Such arguments, with more of the same kind, might readily be adduced. I, however, shall waive them all, and prefer frankly to seek your pardon instead of making excuses for a problematical offence. I make even less excuse for the carelessness of the present letter, first, because I have no longer the art of fine writing, even if I attempt it; second, because, when one has got a book off one’s mind, one is longing for a holiday and cannot bring oneself to elaborate what one does not care to make public.
8. at tamen, cum satis tibi et quidem merito (quidnam enim simile?) in omnibus cedam, quippe qui in alio genere virtutum iam per quinquennia decem non aequaevis sacerdotibus tantum verum et antiquis, quotiens collatus, antelatus quoque sis, noveris volo, quamvis astra questibus quatias atque maiorum cineres favillasque in testimonium laesae caritatis implores, pedem me conflictui tuo, si mutuo super amore certandum est, non retracturum, quia cum in ceteris rebus tum foedissimum perquam est in dilectione superari. quae velis nolis certa professio conviciis tuis illis cuncta sane blandimentorum mella vincentibus non praeter aequum reponderatur.
[8] But as I rightly make a point of giving way to you in everything — for where, indeed, is your equal to be found? — and as for ten whole lustres, as often as a comparison has been instituted, you have been preferred to all priests that have ever been, whether in our own time or before it, I would have you understand, that though your lamentations may shake the stars, though you call the glowing ashes of your fathers to witness my outrage to the laws of friendship, yet if there is to be any contest in mutual affection, my foot shall stand firm against yours, were it for no other reason than that to be beaten in anything is bad, but to be vanquished in loyalty an abomination. Whether you approve or no, I have right on my side in replying by this open declaration to reproaches, which for all their bitterness, are yet more to me than all the honeyed flatteries of others.
9. ecce habes litteras tam garrulas ferme quam requirebas; quamquam sunt omnes, si quae uspiam tamen sunt, loquacissimae. namque in audentiam sermocinandi quem non ipse compellas? qui omnium (de me enim taceo) litteratorum, licet oculi affectent, sic ingenia producis, ut solet aquam terrae visceribus absconditam per atomos bibulas radius extrahere solaris? cuius [lucis] aculeo non sola penetratur aut harena subtilis aut humus fossilis, sed si saxei montis oppressu fontium conditorum vena celetur, aperit arcanum liquentis elementi secretorum caelestium natura violentior. ita si quos, vir sacrosancte, studiosorum senseris aut quietos aut verecundos aut in obscuro iacentis famae recessu delitescentes, hos eloquii tui claritas artifice confabulatu, dum compellat, et publicat.
[9] I have given you as communicative a letter as you could desire. But all my correspondence with you is that; no letters of any writer-could be more so. For you have the gift of encouraging men to write with confidence. I say no more of myself; but there is not a literate, however retiring, whom you do not know how to draw out, just as the sun’s rays by their absorbent power extract the moisture hidden in the bowels of the earth. So sharp are those rays, that they can penetrate not the fine sand or surface soil alone, but if there be a concealed spring deep under some massive mountain, there too the ardent nature of the mysterious powers of heaven reveals the secret of the liquid element. In like manner, venerated father, your lucid eloquence knows admirably how to influence and draw into the light, by its subtle address, all the studious who from love of quiet, or from modesty, lie in the obscurity of dark corners, their fame yet unawakened.
10. sed quorsum + quam moris est? redeamus ad causam, super cuius abundante blateratu, quia pareo, precor, ut errata confessum veniae clementis indultu placatus impertias, licet, quae laetitia tua sancta quaeque communio, copiosius hilarere, si meae culpae defensio potius tibi scripta feratur quam satisfactio. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.
[10] Enough: I come back to the point; I have talked endlessly and at large, but since I have surrendered and confessed my fault, I entreat you to be placable and give me the benefit of your clemency and forgiveness. Such are your holy cheerfulness and love of others that you will derive a greater pleasure from this my written apology than you would from any positive act of reparation. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
Sidonius Oresio suo salutem.
XII.
To his friend Oresius c. A. D. 484
