Letter 10026: Your kindness to me, Sir, has cemented the friendship between Rosianus Geminus and myself, for he was my quaestor...
Pliny the Younger→Trajan|c. 112 AD|Pliny the Younger
barbarian invasionfriendship
To Trajan.
Your kindness to me, Sir, has cemented the friendship between Rosianus Geminus and myself, for he was my quaestor when I was consul, and I found him most remarkably devoted to my interests. Since the end of my consulship he has shown me extraordinary deference, and he is constantly renewing the pledges of our official friendship by the private attentions he pays me. I beg, therefore, that you yourself will favourably entertain my request for his advancement, for if you follow my advice you will bestow upon him your warmest favour. He will do his best in any commission you may give him to deserve still higher posts. I feel compelled to be less lavish in my praise than I might be from the fact that I trust his honesty, uprightness, and industry are already well known to you, not only from the office he has held under your eyes in Rome, but from his service with you in your army. However, I must repeat yet again the request which I fear I have not sufficiently urged upon you - at least, so my affection makes me fancy - and I beg you, Sir, that you will as early as possible see your way to let me rejoice in the advancement of my quaestor's dignity, and in the advancement of my own dignity through his.
L To Trajan.
Your kindness to me, Sir, has cemented the friendship between Rosianus Geminus and myself, for he was my quaestor when I was consul, and I found him most remarkably devoted to my interests. Since the end of my consulship he has shown me extraordinary deference, and he is constantly renewing the pledges of our official friendship by the private attentions he pays me. I beg, therefore, that you yourself will favourably entertain my request for his advancement, for if you follow my advice you will bestow upon him your warmest favour. He will do his best in any commission you may give him to deserve still higher posts. I feel compelled to be less lavish in my praise than I might be from the fact that I trust his honesty, uprightness, and industry are already well known to you, not only from the office he has held under your eyes in Rome, but from his service with you in your army. However, I must repeat yet again the request which I fear I have not sufficiently urged upon you - at least, so my affection makes me fancy - and I beg you, Sir, that you will as early as possible see your way to let me rejoice in the advancement of my quaestor's dignity, and in the advancement of my own dignity through his.
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To Trajan.
Your kindness to me, Sir, has cemented the friendship between Rosianus Geminus and myself, for he was my quaestor when I was consul, and I found him most remarkably devoted to my interests. Since the end of my consulship he has shown me extraordinary deference, and he is constantly renewing the pledges of our official friendship by the private attentions he pays me. I beg, therefore, that you yourself will favourably entertain my request for his advancement, for if you follow my advice you will bestow upon him your warmest favour. He will do his best in any commission you may give him to deserve still higher posts. I feel compelled to be less lavish in my praise than I might be from the fact that I trust his honesty, uprightness, and industry are already well known to you, not only from the office he has held under your eyes in Rome, but from his service with you in your army. However, I must repeat yet again the request which I fear I have not sufficiently urged upon you - at least, so my affection makes me fancy - and I beg you, Sir, that you will as early as possible see your way to let me rejoice in the advancement of my quaestor's dignity, and in the advancement of my own dignity through his.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.