Letter 35: You do well to write to me now, and if you had written earlier, you would have done well then too.
To Urbanus. (358/59)
You do well to write to me now, and if you had written earlier, you would have done well then too. For if I have loved you for a long time, and you knew it, what reason was there to hesitate when writing would be a favor to a friend? If you deserve no forgiveness for your silence, then surely you are all the more obliged to write.
So write with confidence, and share the labors of the excellent Modestus. In the fellowship of hard work, remember, there is also a fellowship of praise.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
οὐρβανῷ. (358/59)
Νῦν τε ἐπιστέλλων καλῶς ποιεῖς καὶ εἰ πρότερον ἐπἐ-
στελλες, καὶ τότε ἂν καλῶς ἐποίεις. εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ μέν σε πάλαι
φιλῶ, σὺ δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ ἠγνόεις, τίνα εἶχε λόγον ὀκνεῖν μἐλ-
λοντά γε χαριεῖσθαι φίλῳ; σοὶ δ’ εἰ σιγῶντι μηδεμία συγγνώ
μη, πάντως δήπου πᾶσα ἀνάγκη λόγου.
θαρρῶν τε οὖν
γράφε καὶ συνδιάφερε τῷ καλῷ Μοδέστῳ τοὺς πόνους ἐν τῇ
τῶν ἱδρώτων κοινωνίᾳ τὴν τῶν ἐπαίνων ἐννοῶν κοινωνίαν.
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