Letter 20

From: Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia To: Pope Symmachus Date: ~516 AD Context: Ennodius commends a noble adolescent to Rome for his studies, appealing to Symmachus as the father of all. Ennodius to the holy Father Symmachus. A young man of good birth and genuine promise is going to Rome to study, and I cannot let him go without a letter to you — both because he deserves the connection and because a letter from the bishop of Pavia to the bishop of Rome establishes the kind of bond that can only benefit him in the years ahead. He is the kind of young man that good episcopal formation produces: not flashy, not primarily interested in his own advancement, curious about the faith in ways that go beyond social conformity. These qualities are, as you and I both know, not common among the sons of the Roman aristocracy, and they deserve to be encouraged. I ask you to receive him as the father of all the church's children — which is what the bishop of Rome is, whatever the immediate politics of any given moment. Give him a conversation, if you have the time. That would be worth more than any material patronage I could ask for. Always your devoted son, Ennodius of Pavia

Ennodii ad Symmachum papam. dorum suorum memoriam revocans, Parlhenium germanae filium studiontm litterarum causa Romam petentem pontifici commendat, Symmacho papae Ennodius. . Dum sedem apostolicam coronae vestrae cura moderatur et tis imperii apicem regitis, blanditur profectibus parentum, meis promissum tenetur officiis^). Spem sine labore obtinet constantem yirum fideliter obsecutus; grandis est pompa prae- 8, quotiens quod imus meruit, pluribus repensatur: superiorum ita sectantur, per quos generatio recipit, quod persona con- t.. Sic Israelitici delicta populi propter David poena non teti- Jes. lum genti opitulata est praecessoris integritas , et fides hominis * ' ripuit de errore populum aut juvit in gratia. '. Parthenius igitur praesentium portitor, germanae filius, hac ronam vestram fiducia animante directus est, quem sollicitudo Hs Romam coegit expetere. Sancta sunt studia litterai*um, in 3 ante incrementa peritiae vitia dediscuntur. Hoc itinere cana nos pueriles solent venire consilia, dum quod aetas refugit, t instituta praestare. Fovete ergo; veniendi^) causas patefacta nguinitate didicistis. Hdbetis obsidem, in quo dilucide meri- i apud vos meorum qualitas innotescat. Domine, ut supra, tionis reverentiam obsequiorum devotione restituens precor, ut »r praesentium famulus vester felici sorte peregrini apud vos a excipiat: quia quod attributum fuerit precibus meis, vestrum dotes suas omat officium.