Marcus Aurelius→Marcus Cornelius Fronto|c. 143 AD|Marcus Cornelius Fronto|From Rome (career hub)|To Rome (career hub)|AI-assisted
Greetings, my dearest Fronto. Even now, my dearest Fronto, I thank you and am grateful that you not only did not reject my advice, but even approved it. As for the points on which you consult me in your very friendly letter, this is my view: everything that belongs to the case you are defending should plainly be brought forward; everything that belongs to your own private feelings, even if it is justified and provoked, should still be left unsaid. In this way you will not injure either your good faith in the whole night's business or your own reputation for restraint. [The text is damaged.] Let the others conduct the case as they will and say what they please. This one concern especially troubles me: that you should say nothing that seems unworthy of your character, useless to the case, or blameworthy to the people standing around. Farewell, Fronto, dearest to me and most delightful.
? 140–143 A.D. , my dearest Fronto. I must acknowledge and tender you at once, my dearest Fronto, my thanks, that, so far from rejecting my advice, you have approved it. As to the points on which you consult me in your very friendly letter, my opinion is this. Whatever has relation to the case, which you safeguard, should obviously be put forward; whatever to your own private feelings, although legitimate and provoked by the facts, must, nevertheless, be left unsaid. So will you not wound your honour in an all-night business, nor your own standard of self respect. (Let the others conduct the case as they will) and say what they please, since the one thing that greatly concerns me is, that you should say nothing that shall seem unworthy of your character, useless to your case, and to your audience deserving of blame. Farewell, my dearest, and to me most delightful Fronto.
ad M. Caesarem 3.5 [38 Hout; 1.66 Haines]
Have mi Fronto carissime.
Jam hinc tibi, mi Fronto carissime, gratias ago habeoque cum consilium meum non tantum non repudiasti, sed etiam conprobasti. De iis autem, quae per litteras amicissimas tuas consulis, ita existimo: Omnia, quae ad causam, quam tueris, adtinent, plane proferunda; quae ad tuas proprias adfectiones adtinent, licet justa et provocata sint, tamen reticenda. Ita neque fidem in negotio pannychio neque modestiam in existimatione tua laeseris s . . . . meo an . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lis ceteri en . . . . . . . . mihi . . . . . . partam cueet dicant quae . . . at me enim una haec cura maxime exercet, ne quid tu tale dicas, quod tuis moribus indignum, negotio inutile, circumstantibus reprehensibile videatur esse. Vale, mihi Fronto carissime et jucundissime mihi.
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Greetings, my dearest Fronto. Even now, my dearest Fronto, I thank you and am grateful that you not only did not reject my advice, but even approved it. As for the points on which you consult me in your very friendly letter, this is my view: everything that belongs to the case you are defending should plainly be brought forward; everything that belongs to your own private feelings, even if it is justified and provoked, should still be left unsaid. In this way you will not injure either your good faith in the whole night's business or your own reputation for restraint. [The text is damaged.] Let the others conduct the case as they will and say what they please. This one concern especially troubles me: that you should say nothing that seems unworthy of your character, useless to the case, or blameworthy to the people standing around. Farewell, Fronto, dearest to me and most delightful.
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 3.5 [38 Hout; 1.66 Haines] Have mi Fronto carissime. Jam hinc tibi, mi Fronto carissime, gratias ago habeoque cum consilium meum non tantum non repudiasti, sed etiam conprobasti. De iis autem, quae per litteras amicissimas tuas consulis, ita existimo: Omnia, quae ad causam, quam tueris, adtinent, plane proferunda; quae ad tuas proprias adfectiones adtinent, licet justa et provocata sint, tamen reticenda. Ita neque fidem in negotio pannychio neque modestiam in existimatione tua laeseris s . . . . meo an . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lis ceteri en . . . . . . . . mihi . . . . . . partam cueet dicant quae . . . at me enim una haec cura maxime exercet, ne quid tu tale dicas, quod tuis moribus indignum, negotio inutile, circumstantibus reprehensibile videatur esse. Vale, mihi Fronto carissime et jucundissime mihi.