LETTER XXII
Sidonius to his dear Leo, greetings.
1. The Magnificent Hesperius, jewel of friends and of letters, when he recently returned from the city of Toulouse, said that you had directed me to turn my attention from the now-completed books of letters to the pen of history. With the deepest reverence and the deepest affection, I embrace so great and weighty a recommendation. For you judge me fit for greater works when you think I ought to abandon lesser ones. But, to be candid, I find it easier to admire such a judgment than to undertake such a counsel.
2. The subject is worthy of your commanding it, but no less worthy of your writing it. For even in ancient times, when Gaius Cornelius urged a similar course upon Gaius Secundus, he himself afterward seized upon the very task he had imposed. And you would now better undertake the work following his example, since I rise before Pliny as a pupil before his master, while you by the ancient art of narrative rightly surpass Cornelius -- who, if he were to return to life in our age and behold how great you are esteemed in letters, would at last truly be Tacitus.
3. And so you rightly take up the weight of the theme you have assigned, you to whom, besides a singular eloquence, the great advantage of vast knowledge belongs. For daily, through the counsels of the most powerful king, burdened with the affairs and laws, the treaties and wars, the places, distances, and merits of the whole world, you come to know them all. Who then has more justly girded himself for this task than the man who has demonstrably learned the movements of nations, the variety of embassies, the deeds of commanders, and the pacts of kings -- in short, all the secrets of public affairs -- and who, placed at the summit of distinction, has no need either to suppress the truth or to fabricate a lie?
4. But my own condition is far different: for me, exile is a source of grief, not of information; old reading, not current knowledge. My religion is my profession, humility my aspiration, obscurity my mediocrity. My hope is placed not so much in the present as in the future. Sickness is my obstacle, and even now -- or rather, especially now -- indolence has become, on this very account, dear to my heart. Certainly no praise for literary endeavor now attends my age -- not even posthumous fame.
5. Especially because it is established that for men of the clerical order, little glory is to be gained from history: for if we describe our own affairs, we are called reckless; if others', presumptuous; if past events, unprofitable; if present ones, partial; if false ones, disgraceful; and if true ones, dangerous. For any such historical work inevitably takes on the color and smell of satire. And so: the writing of history seems utterly alien to our order, since its beginning is envy, its continuation labor, and its end, hatred.
6. But these outcomes occur when history is composed by clerical authors. We who are pierced by the venomous fangs of critics -- if we publish anything simply, we are called mad; if anything refined, presumptuous. But if you yourself, to whom it is given to trample upon the necks of detractors or leap over them in the running grounds of glory, should gladly take up the province of this subject, no one would write more sublimely, no one more authoritatively -- even if the topic were recent events. Since you are filled with abundance of words, and now with abundance of matter too, you have left no reason for the poisonous bite of criticism. And therefore, in the future, to consult you will be profitable, to hear you a pleasure, and to read you, authoritative. Farewell.
EPISTULA XXII
Sidonius Leoni suo salutem.
1. Vir magnificus Hesperius, gemma amicorum litterarumque, nuper urbe cum rediit e Tolosatium, praecipere te dixit, ut epistularum curam iam terminatis libris earum converteremus ad stilum historiae. reverentia summa, summo et affectu talem atque tantam sententiam amplector; idoneum quippe pronuntias ad opera maiora quem mediocria putas deserere debere. sed, quod fatendum est, facilius audeo huiusmodi suspicere iudicium quam suscipere consilium.
2. res quidem digna quam tu iuberes sed non minus digna quam faceres. mamque et antiquitus, cum Gaius Cornelius Gaio Secundo paria suasisset, ipse postmodum quod iniunxit arripuit, idque ab exemplo nunc melius aggrederis, quia et ego Plinio ut discipulus assurgo et tu vetusto genere narrandi iure Cornelium antevenis, qui saeculo nostro si revivisceret teque qualis in litteris et quantus habeare conspicaretur, modo verius Tacitus esset.
3. itaque tu molem thematis missi recte capessis, cui praeter eloquentiam singularem scientiae ingentis magna opportunitas. cotidie namque per potentissimi consilia regis totius sollicitus orbis pariter [eius] negotia et iura, foedera et bella, loca spatia merita cognoscis. unde quis iustius sese ad ista succinxerit, quam ille, quem constat gentium motus legationum varietates, facta ducum pacta regnantum, tota denique publicarum rerum secreta didicisse, quique praestanti positus in culmine non necesse habet vel supprimere verum vel concinnare mendacium?
4. at nostra longe condicio dispar, quibus dolori peregrinatio nova nec usui lectio vetus, tum religio professioni est, humilitas appetitui, mediocritas obscuritati, nec in praesentibus rei tantum, quantum in futuris spei locatum, postremo languor impedimento iamque vel sero propter hunc ipsum desidia cordi; aequaeva certe iam super studiis nulla laus curae, sed ne postuma quidem.
5. praecipue gloriam nobis parvam ab historia petere fixum, quia per homines clericalis officii temerarie nostra iactanter aliena, praeterita infructuose praesentia semiplene, turpiter falsa periculose vera dicuntur. est enim huiusmodi thema [vel opus], in quo bonorum si facias mentionem, modica gratia paratur, si notabilium, maxuma offensa. sic se illi protinus dictioni color odorque satiricus admiscet. ilicet: scriptio historica videtur ordine a nostro multum abhorrere, cuius inchoatio invidia, continuatio labor, finis est odium.
6. sed tunc ista proveniunt, clericis si aliquid dictetur auctoribus; qui colubrinis oblatratorum molaribus fixi, si quid simpliciter edamus, insani, si quid exacte, praesumptiosi vocamur. at si tu ipse, cui datum est saltibus gloriae proterere posse cervices vituperonum seu supercurrere, materiae istius libens provinciam sortiare, nemo te celsius scripserit, nemo et antiquius, etiamsi placeat recentia loqui; quandoquidem sermonum copia impletus ante, nunc rerum non reliquisti, cur venenato morsu secere. atque ideo te in posterum consuli utilitas, audiri voluptas, legi auctoritas erit. vale.
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LETTER XXII
Sidonius to his dear Leo, greetings.
1. The Magnificent Hesperius, jewel of friends and of letters, when he recently returned from the city of Toulouse, said that you had directed me to turn my attention from the now-completed books of letters to the pen of history. With the deepest reverence and the deepest affection, I embrace so great and weighty a recommendation. For you judge me fit for greater works when you think I ought to abandon lesser ones. But, to be candid, I find it easier to admire such a judgment than to undertake such a counsel.
2. The subject is worthy of your commanding it, but no less worthy of your writing it. For even in ancient times, when Gaius Cornelius urged a similar course upon Gaius Secundus, he himself afterward seized upon the very task he had imposed. And you would now better undertake the work following his example, since I rise before Pliny as a pupil before his master, while you by the ancient art of narrative rightly surpass Cornelius -- who, if he were to return to life in our age and behold how great you are esteemed in letters, would at last truly be Tacitus.
3. And so you rightly take up the weight of the theme you have assigned, you to whom, besides a singular eloquence, the great advantage of vast knowledge belongs. For daily, through the counsels of the most powerful king, burdened with the affairs and laws, the treaties and wars, the places, distances, and merits of the whole world, you come to know them all. Who then has more justly girded himself for this task than the man who has demonstrably learned the movements of nations, the variety of embassies, the deeds of commanders, and the pacts of kings -- in short, all the secrets of public affairs -- and who, placed at the summit of distinction, has no need either to suppress the truth or to fabricate a lie?
4. But my own condition is far different: for me, exile is a source of grief, not of information; old reading, not current knowledge. My religion is my profession, humility my aspiration, obscurity my mediocrity. My hope is placed not so much in the present as in the future. Sickness is my obstacle, and even now -- or rather, especially now -- indolence has become, on this very account, dear to my heart. Certainly no praise for literary endeavor now attends my age -- not even posthumous fame.
5. Especially because it is established that for men of the clerical order, little glory is to be gained from history: for if we describe our own affairs, we are called reckless; if others', presumptuous; if past events, unprofitable; if present ones, partial; if false ones, disgraceful; and if true ones, dangerous. For any such historical work inevitably takes on the color and smell of satire. And so: the writing of history seems utterly alien to our order, since its beginning is envy, its continuation labor, and its end, hatred.
6. But these outcomes occur when history is composed by clerical authors. We who are pierced by the venomous fangs of critics -- if we publish anything simply, we are called mad; if anything refined, presumptuous. But if you yourself, to whom it is given to trample upon the necks of detractors or leap over them in the running grounds of glory, should gladly take up the province of this subject, no one would write more sublimely, no one more authoritatively -- even if the topic were recent events. Since you are filled with abundance of words, and now with abundance of matter too, you have left no reason for the poisonous bite of criticism. And therefore, in the future, to consult you will be profitable, to hear you a pleasure, and to read you, authoritative. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.