Marcus Cornelius Fronto→Marcus Aurelius|c. 143 AD|Marcus Cornelius Fronto|From Rome (career hub)|To Rome (career hub)|AI-assisted
[The opening is damaged.] Three days ago we heard Polemo declaim, so that we may talk a little about human beings too. If you ask what I thought of him, here it is. He seems to me like an energetic farmer, endowed with the highest skill, who has filled a broad estate entirely with wheat fields and vines. There the crop is certainly excellent and the income abundant. But nowhere on that land is there a Pompeian fig, a vegetable from Aricia, a Tarentine rose, a pleasant coppice, a dense grove, or a shady plane tree. Everything is for use rather than pleasure; it is all the kind of thing one must praise but does not feel inclined to love.
Do I seem bold enough in my plan, and rash enough in my judgment, when I give an opinion about a man of such reputation? But when I remember that I am writing to you, I think I am less bold than you would wish.
We are sweltering fiercely here. There is a home-grown hendecasyllable for you. So before I begin turning poet, I shall pause with you. Farewell always, most missed of men, dearest to your Verus, most distinguished consul, sweetest teacher, my sweetest soul.
August , 143 A.D. to the most honourable consul his master. . . . . Three days ago we heard Polemo declaim—that we may have some talk about men also. If you would like to know what I think of him, listen. He seems to me like a hard-working farmer endowed with the utmost shrewdness, who has laid out a large holding with corn-crops only and vines, wherein beyond question the yield is the fairest and the return the richest. But, indeed, nowhere in all that estate is there a fig tree of Pompeii, or a vegetable of Aricia, or a rose of Tarentum, nowhere a pleasant coppice or a thick-set grove, or a shady plane-tree; all for profit rather than for pleasure, such as one would be bound to praise but not disposed to love. In judging a man of such reputation, am I, think you, bold enough in my purpose and rash enough in my judgment? But when I remember that I am writing to you, I feel that I am not bold enough for your taste. On that point I am desperately doubtful—there's a home-grown hendecasyllable for you! So I must call a halt with you before I fall into the poetic vein. Farewell, most missed of men and dearest to your Verus, most honourable consul, master most sweet. Farewell, my sweetest soul.
ad M. Caesarem 2.10 [29 Hout; 1.116 Haines]
<M. Aurelius Caesar consuli suo et magistro salutem>
<...>deatur. Polemona ante hoc triduum declamantem audivimus, ἵνα τι καὶ περὶ ἀνθρώπων λαλήσωμεν. Si quaeris, quid visus sit mihi, accipe: Videtur mihi agricola strenuus, summa sollertia praeditus latum fundum in sola segete frumenti et vitibus occupasse, ubi sane et fructus pulcherrimus et reditus uberrimus. Sedenim nusquam in eo rure ficus Pompejana vel holus Acrinum vel rosa Tarentina vel nemus amoenum vel densior lucus vel platanus umbrosa: Omnia ad usum magis quam ad voluptatem, quaeque magis laudare oporteat amare non libeat. Satisne ego audaci consilio et judicio temerario videar, cum de tanta gloriae viro existimo? Sed quom me recordor tibi scribere, minus me audere, quam tu velis, arbitror.
2 Nos istic vehementer aestuamus. Habes et hendecasyllabum ingenuum. Igitur priusquam poetarei incipio, pausan tecum facio. 3 Desiderantissime homo et tuo Vero carissime, consul amplissime, magister dulcissime, vale mi semper anima dulcissima.
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[The opening is damaged.] Three days ago we heard Polemo declaim, so that we may talk a little about human beings too. If you ask what I thought of him, here it is. He seems to me like an energetic farmer, endowed with the highest skill, who has filled a broad estate entirely with wheat fields and vines. There the crop is certainly excellent and the income abundant. But nowhere on that land is there a Pompeian fig, a vegetable from Aricia, a Tarentine rose, a pleasant coppice, a dense grove, or a shady plane tree. Everything is for use rather than pleasure; it is all the kind of thing one must praise but does not feel inclined to love.
Do I seem bold enough in my plan, and rash enough in my judgment, when I give an opinion about a man of such reputation? But when I remember that I am writing to you, I think I am less bold than you would wish.
We are sweltering fiercely here. There is a home-grown hendecasyllable for you. So before I begin turning poet, I shall pause with you. Farewell always, most missed of men, dearest to your Verus, most distinguished consul, sweetest teacher, my sweetest soul.
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
ad M. Caesarem 2.10 [29 Hout; 1.116 Haines] <M. Aurelius Caesar consuli suo et magistro salutem> <...>deatur. Polemona ante hoc triduum declamantem audivimus, ἵνα τι καὶ περὶ ἀνθρώπων λαλήσωμεν. Si quaeris, quid visus sit mihi, accipe: Videtur mihi agricola strenuus, summa sollertia praeditus latum fundum in sola segete frumenti et vitibus occupasse, ubi sane et fructus pulcherrimus et reditus uberrimus. Sedenim nusquam in eo rure ficus Pompejana vel holus Acrinum vel rosa Tarentina vel nemus amoenum vel densior lucus vel platanus umbrosa: Omnia ad usum magis quam ad voluptatem, quaeque magis laudare oporteat amare non libeat. Satisne ego audaci consilio et judicio temerario videar, cum de tanta gloriae viro existimo? Sed quom me recordor tibi scribere, minus me audere, quam tu velis, arbitror. 2 Nos istic vehementer aestuamus. Habes et hendecasyllabum ingenuum. Igitur priusquam poetarei incipio, pausan tecum facio. 3 Desiderantissime homo et tuo Vero carissime, consul amplissime, magister dulcissime, vale mi semper anima dulcissima.