Letter 9008: Ad Ragnemodum episcopum

Venantius FortunatusBishop Ragnemod|c. 596 AD|Venantius Fortunatus|AI-assisted
friendshipwomen

X
To Bishop Ragnemod

Supreme father of the fatherland, Rucco [Ragnemod's familiar name], dear to me by your sweet name,
holding the inmost parts of my heart with your love:
whatever of our old friendship we two have gathered together
grows ever, bountiful one, into my affection.
For no forgetfulness takes my beloved ones from me:
let my end come sooner than that love should fail me.
Therefore, blessed father, in haste I render you my greeting,
wishing that you may survive into far-distant rank [long life].
From here too my daughters render you thanks from the heart
for the gift of snow-white marble from Paros:
whereof, as often as the dishes of a feast are served upon that platter,
they see you in the form of the gift with devotion.
For in return for the row of gems, may he render you honor
to whose throne the venerable cross, once given, brings increase.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

X
Ad Ragnemodum episcopum
Summe pater patriae. dulci mihi nomine Rucco,
interiora mei cordis amore tenens:
quidquid amicitiae veteris collegimus ambo
cescit in affectum semper, opime, meum.
nam mihi nulla meos oblivio tollit amantes:
ante sit extremum, quam mihi desit amor.
unde, beate pater. properans dependo salutem,
optans longinquo te superesse gradu.
hinc etiam genitae reddunt tibi pectore grates
munere pro niveo marmore de Pario:
quae, quotiens epulae disco tribuuntur in illo,
in doni specie te pietate vident.
nam pro gemmarum Serie tibi reddat honorem
cui data proficiunt crux veneranda throno.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern venantius fortunatus retranslated v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://data.mgh.de/openmgh/bsb00000790.zip

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