THASCIUS CAECILIUS CYPRIANUS

TO DONATUS

You advise well, dearest Donatus, for I remember that I promised, and now is the very timely season for payment, a time when, with the vintage original: "uindemia" season indulging us, the spirit, set free, may find rest in the solemn and appointed holidays of the wearying year. The place also suits the day, and the pleasant appearance of the gardens agrees with the soothing and nurturing of the senses in the gentle breezes of the enticing autumn. Here, it is pleasant to pass the day in conversation and, with thoughtful tales, to instruct the conscience of the heart in divine precepts. And so that no profane judge may hinder our speech, or the intemperate clamor of a noisy household drown it out, let us seek this seat. These nearby secluded spots offer us retirement, where, while the wandering tendrils of the vines creep through the supporting reeds with hanging knots, the leaf-covered roofs have made a vine-clad portico. Here we may well give our studies to our ears, and while we look upon the trees and vines...

Critical apparatus notes: Cyprian's epistle to Donatus begins in manuscript B; the inscription is omitted in WPM. The Oxford edition inscribed it "To Donatus concerning the grace of God." Other notes detail orthographic variations (e.g., ammones vs admones, uindemia vs uindimi), scribal errors in manuscripts, and editorial corrections by Baluzius, Pamelius, Latinius, and Rigaltius.