Letter 10077: The recommendation I make in this letter is made on the basis of genuine knowledge and genuine judgment, not merely...

From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, senator and orator To: [Unknown correspondent] Date: ~398 AD Context: Symmachus, Book X, letter 77; personal correspondence from his long career as a senior senator in the late Roman West. The recommendation I make in this letter is made on the basis of genuine knowledge and genuine judgment, not merely the performance of a social obligation. 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