Letter 10039: The grain supply from Africa has been interrupted; I write to report the situation and to request the imperial...
The grain supply from Africa has been interrupted; I write to report the situation and to request the imperial intervention that only the highest authority can provide.
I write briefly because the day has been long and my powers of composition have been exercised to their limits by obligations that do not carry my name. What remains is still genuine, even if it is not fresh.
The season passes; the city makes its demands; the literary projects that I meant to complete this year remain the projects I mean to complete next year. This is the condition of every serious person who also has serious responsibilities, and I accept it with the grace that long experience has made available.
Write to me when you can.
As always,
Symmachus
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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