Letter 32
Unknown→Heraclius, vir illustrissimus|c. 518 AD|avitus vienne
From: Avitus, bishop of Vienne
To: Heraclius, vir illustrissimus
Date: ~518 AD
Context: A poignant letter written in haste on the way to a funeral, with a touch of humor about Heraclius's supposed gout.
Bishop Avitus to the most illustrious Heraclius.
If I were not groaning with a shaken heart over the fall of a friend, there is much I would say about you — lying in bed with your pretend gout, while physicians who are healthier than their patient lean on the crutches of their usual craft, more comfortable climbing mountains on poetic feet than real ones. But I have dictated this letter in grief and in haste, having been summoned to the burial of our mutual son, the late Protadius. May even in this some consolation be given to his father. As for you, if you care about it, know that I will come to visit as soon as circumstances allow.
Avitus episcopus viro illustrissimo Heraclio.
Nisi dolendum amici casum animo concussus gemerem, multa profecto exaggera-
rem, quod vos in lectulo mendacis podagrae metu, medici vegetos de arte consueta,
plus quam poeticae pedibus innitentes montium scandendorum magis moveat cura,
quam versuum. Maestus vero has et cum festinatione dictavi, evocatus videlicet
ad sepulturam communis filii quondam Protadi: sic tamen vel in hoc ipso patri
aliquid consolationis impendat. Vobis porro si cordi est, facta de nobis ex asse iac-
tura, ab incursibus formidandis Rodano limitante muniri, tenete adhuc, dum redeo, et
Ceratium nostrum de meo habentem aliqua, de vestro nonnulla, quia me scholasticum
vobis adserit bellicosum sumens de matris sapientia, quod libenter barbaros fugit, de
virtute paterna, quod litteris terga non praebuit.
Heraclius Avito Viennensi episcopo.
Indicastis quidem tantam doloris causam, quae epistularis officii responso clau-
deretur, ut durissimo nuntio vulnus inflictum plus me lacrimis cogeret servire quam
litteris. Tamen metuens silentii culpam vel suspiriis pauca meis, ut potui, verba
furatus sum. Probant igitur tempora, cui rectius adscribatur nota formidinis, quem
magis trepidum provisio claustris commissa designet. Ego urbis caveas dedignatus
inter vicina discrimini constantiam pectoris planis exposui, ut tamdiu ad patentium
locorum aequora pervenirem, ut virtutis audaciam libertate habitationis ostenderem.
Vos autem rumore comperto ad saepta urbis tamquam ventorum famuli convolastis et
quem pacis diebus iugiter rura tenuerant, nunc de murorum latebris non educunt.
Enim vero quam vos ante civitas flagitabat. tam nunc intra moenia collocatum quaerit
relicta possessio.
DE DVBIIS NOMINIBVS P. 591, 3 K.
Squalor generis masculini, ut Avitus:
squalore vicino
FLODOARDVS HISTORIARVM ECCLESIAE REMENSIS LIB. III CAP. 21.
[Hincmarus Remensis archiepiscopus] Adoni Viennensi archiepiscopo scribit inter
cetera pro epistola beati Aviti ad sanctum Remigium scripta, quam quidam Rotfridus
monachus ei dixerat se apud eundem Adonem legisse.
ALCIMI ECDICII AVITI VIENNENSIS EPISCOPI
EX HOMILIARVM LIBRO
QVAE RESTANT.
◆
From: Avitus, bishop of Vienne
To: Heraclius, vir illustrissimus
Date: ~518 AD
Context: A poignant letter written in haste on the way to a funeral, with a touch of humor about Heraclius's supposed gout.
Bishop Avitus to the most illustrious Heraclius.
If I were not groaning with a shaken heart over the fall of a friend, there is much I would say about you — lying in bed with your pretend gout, while physicians who are healthier than their patient lean on the crutches of their usual craft, more comfortable climbing mountains on poetic feet than real ones. But I have dictated this letter in grief and in haste, having been summoned to the burial of our mutual son, the late Protadius. May even in this some consolation be given to his father. As for you, if you care about it, know that I will come to visit as soon as circumstances allow.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.