Letter 12017

Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)Unknown|gregory great
From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome
To: Maurilius, ex-prefect
Date: ~602 AD
Context: Gregory warmly encourages the ex-prefect Maurilius to write to him more often.

Gregory to Maurilius, ex-prefect.

I notice that your letters have become less frequent, and I miss them. Write more often.

I say this not as a demand but as a genuine expression of the friendship I feel toward you. Men who have held significant positions and who think carefully about the world — about its governance, its problems, its possibilities — are precisely the people whose company I find valuable.

You have seen much. You have governed much. Your perspective on what you have seen and done is interesting to me. Share it more often.

Your friend,
Gregory

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.