LETTER I
Sidonius to his dear Firminus, greetings.
1. You demand, my dear son, that my pen break through the boundary of the earlier letters and push onward into fresh territory, not content to be enclosed within the limits of the number already published. You add your reasons why this ninth book should be joined to the eight preceding volumes: namely, that Gaius Secundus, whose track you declare I am following in this work, concluded his epistolary collection with an equal number of titles.
2. What you command is not unreasonable; and yet even this task, which you so dutifully lay upon me, is both arduous and ill-suited to preserving whatever modest reputation I may once have won. First, because the late joining of this supplement to an already published work comes belatedly; second, because before any judges whatsoever, unless I am mistaken, it is most unseemly that a single subject should have one beginning and three epilogues.
3. At the same time, I do not see how it can be pardonable that my garrulity refuses to restrain itself even after a declared ending -- unless, perhaps, while one may set a limit to pages, no such limit can be imposed upon friendships. For this reason it is fitting that you stand as a kind of sentinel over my reputation, making clear to the curious the rationale for this undertaking and revealing to me in the most frequent replies what all the best men think of it.
4. Moreover, if you persist in remaining silent while compelling me to chatter, it is not unjust that you too should be punished in kind by our silence. Therefore you, first and foremost, must pardon the task and the service you impose. For my part, if any copy comes to hand, I shall quickly append it to the margins of the eighth book.
5. Even though your Apollinaris -- who in other matters is certainly most negligent, since he is scarcely held by reading whether forced or voluntary -- yet, so far as I can see, I would not refuse to be joined to those fathers whose zeal, prayer, and anxious care labors to produce something praiseworthy in their sons, however difficult it may be to persuade them, and more difficult still to achieve it. Farewell.
EPISTULA I
Sidonius Firmino suo salutem.
1. Exigis, domine fili, ut epistularum priorum limite irrupto stilus noster in ulteriora procurrat, numeri supradicti privilegio non contentus includi. addis et causas, quibus hic liber nonus octo superiorum voluminibus accrescat: eo quod Gaius Secundus, cuius nos orbitas sequi hoc opere pronuntias, paribus titulis opus epistulare determinet.
2. quae iubes non sunt improbabilia; quamquam et hoc ipsum, quod pie iniungis, arduum existat ac laudi quantulaecumque iam semel partae non opportunum, primum, quod opusculo prius edito praesentis augmenti sera coniunctio est; deinde, quod arbitros ante quoscumque, nisi fallimur, indecentissimum est materiae unius simplex principium, triplices epilogos inveniri.
3. pariter et nescio, qualiter fieri veniabile queat, quod coerceri nostra garrulitas nec post denuntiatum terminum sustinet: nisi quia forsitan qui modus potest paginis, non potest poni ipse amicitiis. quapropter esse te in quadam tuendae opinionis meae quasi specula decet curiosisque facti huiusce rationem manifestare quidque ad hoc sentiant optimi quique, rescripto quam frequentissimo mihi pandere.
4. porro autem si me garrire compulso ipse reticere perseveraveris, te quoque silentii nostri talione ad vicem plecti non periniurium est. itaque tu primus, tu maxime ignosce negotio quod imponis ac ministerio. nos vero, si quod exemplar manibus occurrerit, libri marginibus octavi celeriter addemus.
5. etsi Apollinaris tuus + cui in ceteris rebus est in hac certe neglegentissimus, quippe qui perexiguum lectione teneatur vel coactus vel voluntarius; quantum tamen mihi videtur, qui patribus his iungi non recusaverim, quorum studio voto timori laudabile aliquid in filiis, licet difficile persuadeatur, difficilius sufficit. vale.
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LETTER I
Sidonius to his dear Firminus, greetings.
1. You demand, my dear son, that my pen break through the boundary of the earlier letters and push onward into fresh territory, not content to be enclosed within the limits of the number already published. You add your reasons why this ninth book should be joined to the eight preceding volumes: namely, that Gaius Secundus, whose track you declare I am following in this work, concluded his epistolary collection with an equal number of titles.
2. What you command is not unreasonable; and yet even this task, which you so dutifully lay upon me, is both arduous and ill-suited to preserving whatever modest reputation I may once have won. First, because the late joining of this supplement to an already published work comes belatedly; second, because before any judges whatsoever, unless I am mistaken, it is most unseemly that a single subject should have one beginning and three epilogues.
3. At the same time, I do not see how it can be pardonable that my garrulity refuses to restrain itself even after a declared ending -- unless, perhaps, while one may set a limit to pages, no such limit can be imposed upon friendships. For this reason it is fitting that you stand as a kind of sentinel over my reputation, making clear to the curious the rationale for this undertaking and revealing to me in the most frequent replies what all the best men think of it.
4. Moreover, if you persist in remaining silent while compelling me to chatter, it is not unjust that you too should be punished in kind by our silence. Therefore you, first and foremost, must pardon the task and the service you impose. For my part, if any copy comes to hand, I shall quickly append it to the margins of the eighth book.
5. Even though your Apollinaris -- who in other matters is certainly most negligent, since he is scarcely held by reading whether forced or voluntary -- yet, so far as I can see, I would not refuse to be joined to those fathers whose zeal, prayer, and anxious care labors to produce something praiseworthy in their sons, however difficult it may be to persuade them, and more difficult still to achieve it. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.