Letter 10074: I remain, despite everything, convinced that the way of life we have built — the culture, the friendship, the...
I remain, despite everything, convinced that the way of life we have built — the culture, the friendship, the cultivation of the mind alongside the cultivation of one's civic duties — is the best that human beings have yet achieved.
The practical question I raise will be clear enough from the text of the letter; I will not repeat it here in the covering note. What I want to say, which would not fit naturally into the official form, is that the matter in question is one on which my judgment is confident even if the official presentation requires more hedging than I would choose.
Please respond at your earliest convenience. The situation will not wait indefinitely for resolution, and a delay that is optional now will become costly if allowed to continue.
More cheerfully: the dinner I owe you has been planned for next month if circumstances cooperate.
Your devoted friend,
Symmachus
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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