To Alexandra, noblewoman. (362)
Just as last year I was unhappy with everything except one thing -- and you know what that one thing was, since every time I came to visit you and we talked, I thought it a festival -- so now I am happy with everything except one thing: that you have not yet come back.
When I heard that the noble Seleucus had received his military belt, I hoped he would follow the emperor, and you would follow him, and I would once again see the woman whom Homer would have said resembled the goddesses. But when my hope was disappointed, an old man appeared while I was at my usual pursuits, told me whom he had come from, and said he was bringing slaves as a gift.
The gift itself did not strike me as unusual -- we already have many things of yours here, and the man who tutors my illegitimate son is still called "Seleucus's man." But I thought there ought to be something with the gift more precious than the gift itself: a letter from you.
When the slaves were brought in but no letter appeared, I accepted the gift all the same -- but the pleasure was not what it would have been if a letter had come with it.
If you have grown lazy about writing since the birth of your child, at least tell your daughter to write --
Just as last year I was unhappy with everything except one thing -- and you know what that one thing was, since every time I came to visit you and we talked, I thought it a festival -- so now I am happy with everything except one thing: that you have not yet come back.
When I heard that the noble Seleucus had received his military belt, I hoped he would follow the emperor, and you would follow him, and I would once again see the woman whom Homer would have said resembled the goddesses. But when my hope was disappointed, an old man appeared while I was at my usual pursuits, told me whom he had come from, and said he was bringing slaves as a gift.
The gift itself did not strike me as unusual -- we already have many things of yours here, and the man who tutors my illegitimate son is still called "Seleucus's man." But I thought there ought to be something with the gift more precious than the gift itself: a letter from you.
When the slaves were brought in but no letter appeared, I accepted the gift all the same -- but the pleasure was not what it would have been if a letter had come with it.
If you have grown lazy about writing since the birth of your child, at least tell your daughter to write --
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.