Letter 10054: The question of the appointment is one I have raised before and raise again now with more information than I had...

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 390 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
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From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, senator and orator
To: [Unknown correspondent]
Date: ~390 AD
Context: Symmachus, Book X, letter 54; personal correspondence from his long career as a senior senator in the late Roman West.

The question of the appointment is one I have raised before and raise again now with more information than I had before; I hope you will find the case more compelling.

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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