Letter 3015: **From:** Ennodius, deacon of Pavia

Ennodius to Euprepia. It is a rare thing for love, propped up by kinship, to bow its neck to necessity: it scarcely happens that an affection which is always sovereign and rules by its own right should become a servant. By what obstacle is the kingly name of devotion ever hindered? To whose service is free love handed over as a bondsman? No one offers an excuse drawn from some fear except the one who has cast off the bond of his heart. A mind that does soldier's service to family love, even if the commands of princes be harsh, is not afraid: there are no laws of peoples so barbarous that they do not allow a son's debts to a mother to be repaid: whatever there is among the nations of the world does not depart from the bond of common humanity: whatever is born into the light of this world demands the fruit of the womb and of the seed: the cause [...] is shared by us alone with all living creatures, and so too is the common care. Of what wildness shall that mind be reckoned, which in the care of its offspring is found to come after even the irrational beasts? The composition set down above has regard to your sisterhood. You, forgetful of your only pledge [your son], have taken away both the pity due to one bereaved and the happiness of him whose mother yet survives. Truly I confess, under the freedom of my purpose, and most of all now, when even conversations are denied to him by you, that, peace being established by God's favor among the lords of our regions and every root made firm, you have surpassed the tigress in savagery. When could it be found either what you might love more than a son, or, for the son's sake, what you might fear? Care for your possessions ought to have been set in second place, since an inheritance is never well gotten when the heir is despised. Lo, I declare it: had not God, through my anxious care, withstood the ill-wishers of His servant, the whole plant of your stock would have been cut down. Lionesses entrust their cubs to the safe inner recesses of the forests or of the desert, lest their young become the prey of men. You will say, perhaps, that this reproach shows that I bear heavily the burden of the youth thrust upon me. The Lord knows that this alone I endure bitterly: that I both lack your presence and recognize that, through silence, you have become unmindful of all affection. Yet, by God's kindness, fatherly attentiveness is not denied to our boy. To be instructed in the liberal disciplines, he has crossed the threshold of nobility. The very address by which he is commended I have sent to you, in which you may recognize not eloquence but prayers. Farewell, then, my lady, and if it can be done, by God's ordering restore yourself with our boy to our sight.

XV. ENNODIVS EVPREPIAE. Rarum eat ut necessitati amor fultus necessitudine colla summittat: uix contingit ut seruiat qui imperator est semper et suo iure dominatur affectus. quo umquam regium diligentiae nomen inpeditur obstaculo? cui libera caritas mancipatur obsequio? excusationem de aliquo timore non adhibet, nisi qui animum deuinctionis abiecit. mens quae pietati militat, etsi sint dura principum iussa, non metuit: nulla sunt tam barbara iura populorum, quae non reddi filio debita materna patiantur: quicquid in orbe gentium est ab humanitate non discrepat: quicquid in mundana luce gignitur fructus uteri requirit et seminis: sola nobis cum cunctis animalibus causa et 1 cathena T 2 interaalla (ter in ras.) L . posset B 3 cupia B 4 mutainter V (i postea add. m . 1), mutinter L (a s. I . m. 2) 5 oportunitas BLTV aubtrahetur B 6 possent B 8 exibens BL* 9 maeae V XV. 13 eupraepiae B 16 numquam V diligentiae B, diligentia LTV 17 inpeditor B, impe«ditar L n fort. eras . 18 adhibit B, ad*ibet L 19 piaetati B, pietate LTV 20 iussa] iura T 21 iura] iassa Sirm . quem T 22 gentium] genitum SWm . 23 gignitor (tnr in ras. m. 2) T fructui ex fructtia L m. 2 fructuB uteri T in ras. m. 2 requiref/ B (e corr.), uestri requirat T 24 ea causa fort., cf. Wiener Studien II p. 252 .. sollicitudo communis est. cuius aestimabitur esse mens illa feritatis, quae erga curam sobolis posterior ab inrationabilibus inuenitur? germanitatem tuam respicit praefata concinnatio. tu unici oblita pignoris et miserationem orbati et felicitatem eius, cui mater superest, abstulisti. uere fateor sub libertate propositi, modo maxime quando ei a te et conloquia denegantur, pace deo propitio inter regionum nostrarum dominos omni radice solidata tigridem te inmanitate superasse. quando inueniri potuit aut quod plus amare possis a filio aut propter filium quod timere? facultatum cura debuit posthaberi, quia numquam bene hereditas quaesita est herede contempto. ecce dico: ni deus per sollicitudinem meam serui sui maliuolis obstitisset, omnis generis tui fuerat planta succisa. leaenae catulos tutis siluarum aut heremi commendant penetralibus, ne partus earum praeda sit hominum. dicas forsitan, quod haec exprobratio grauiter me ferre inpactam de adulescente sarcinam monstret. nouit dominus hoc solum me acerbe perpeti, quod et praesentia tua careo et totius te per silentium inmemorem affectionis esse cognosco. beneficio tamen dei paterna puero nostro non denegatur instantia. inbuendus liberalibus disciplinis limen nobilitatis ingressus est. ipsam quoque ad te dictionem, qua commendatus est, destinaui, in qua non eloquentiam sed uota cognoscas. uale ergo, mi domina, et si fieri potest, nostris te cum dei ordinatione redde conspectibus. 1 estimabitnr B mens esse LV, mens. T (A add. m. 2) feritates B 2 snbolis B 4 meaerationem Bl 5 praepositi T1 7 propicio B dominus B 8 tygridem BL V « inmanitatem B spasse T inuenisse T 10 postaberi B 11 nnnqnS B 12 ni ex m T malibolis obstetisset B 13 leaene L catolus B 14 eremi Sirm. penitraUbus B, penetra**libus (li eras.) L 16 exprobracio B, exprobatio Tl adoliscente B 17 dominus] deus Sirnu 18 presentia BL V 19 benificio B, benefitio V 20 denegatur] derogatur Sirm . dus imbuan libera**libus (li ems.) L 24 te T s. I. m. 2 couspectibus] finit add. LT 6*