Letter 401.12

Fronto to Aufidius Victorinus, greeting. 1. The letter which you sent, my lord, <...> <...> if we deserve it, [the gods] will look with favor on my daughter and your wife, so that all may turn out well, and they will increase our family with children and grandchildren, and will grant that those who have been and shall be born of you turn out like yourself. 2. With that little fellow, however -- whether our Victorinus or our Fronto -- I have daily quarrels and squabbles. Whereas you have never demanded from anyone any payment for any deed done or speech delivered, this Fronto of ours chatters no word sooner or more often than this one: "Give!" I, for my part, hand him what I can, either little scraps of paper or writing-tablets, and these are the things I want him to be a beggar for. Yet he does show some signs of his grandfather's character as well: he is exceedingly greedy for grapes. This, in fact, was the very first food he gulped down, and for whole days on end he scarcely stopped either licking a grape with his tongue or kissing it with his lips and worrying it with his gums and toying with it. He is also most eager for little birds: he takes delight in the chicks of hens, of doves, and of sparrows -- a passion to which, I have often heard from those who were my upbringers and teachers, I was myself enslaved from earliest infancy. And as for how strongly I am gripped, now that I am old, by an enthusiasm for partridges, there is no one who knows me even slightly who is not aware of it. 3. For there is no deed or word of mine that I should wish to be hidden from the rest; on the contrary, whatever I am conscious of within myself, I should wish all the others to know just as well as I do myself . . . [the remainder of the letter is lost].

to Aufidius Victorinus his son-in-law, greeting. The letter, honoured son, which . . . . The Gods, if we deserve it, will deal kindly with my daughter and your wife. that all may go well, and will bless our household with children and grandchildren, and will see to it that those, who have been and shall yet be born of you. shall be like you. Daily tiffs indeed and disagreements I have with our little Victorinus or our little Fronto. While you never ask any reward of any one for act or speech. your little Fronto prattles no word more readily or more constantly than this Da ( Give ). I on my part do my best to supply him with scraps of paper and little tablets, things which I wish him to want. Some signs, however, even of his grandfather's characteristics he does shew. He is very fond of grapes: it was the very first food he sucked down, and for whole days almost he did not cease licking a grape with his tongue or kissing it with his lips and mumbling it with his gums and amusing himself with it. He is also devoted to little birds; he delights in chickens, young pigeons, and sparrows. I have often heard from those who were my tutors and masters that I had from my earliest infancy a passion for such things. As for my penchant, however, for partridges in my old age, there is no one who knows me ever so slightly but is aware of that. For there is no deed or word of mine that I would wish to keep secret from others. Nay. whatever there be in my heart of hearts I would wish all others to know as well as myself . . . .

ad amicos 1.12 [178 Hout; 2.170 Haines] Fronto Aufidio Victorino salutem. 1 Litteras, quas, domine, <...> <...> meremur et mihi filiam et tibu uxorem, ut recte proveniat, favebunt et familiam nostram liberis ac nepotibus augebunt et eos, qui ex te geniti sunt eruntque, tui similes praestabunt. 2 Cum isto quidem sive Victorino nostro sive Frontone cotidianae mihi lites et jurgia intercedunt. Cum tu nullam unquam mercedem ullius rei agendae dicendaeve a quoquam postularis, Fronto iste nullum verbum prius neque frequentius congarrit quam hoc ‘da’. Ego contra quod possum aut chartulas ei aut tabellas porrigo, quarum rerum petitorem eum esse cupio. Nonnulla tamen et aviti ingeni signa ostendit: Uvarum avidissimus est. Primum denique hunc cibum degluttivit nec cessavit per totos paene dies aut lingua lambere uva, aut labris saviari ac gingivis lacessere ac ludificari. Avicularum etiam cupidissimus est: Pullis gallinarum, columbarum, passerum oblectatur, quo studio me a prima infantia devinctum fuisse saepe audivi ex his, qui mihi eductores aut magistri fuerunt. Senes etiam quanto perdicum studio tenear, nemo est, qui me leviter noverit, quin sciat. 3 Nullum est enim factum meum dictumve, quod clam ceteris esse velim; quin cui rei mihimet ipse conscius sim, ceteros quoque omnes juxta mecum scire velim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .