Letter 104

When I'm vouching for a friend to someone who already trusts me, I keep things brief. Elaborate speeches are beside the point when the relationship does the work. So here is my honest, unadorned assessment of my friend Ponticianus: I wouldn't be handing him over to you if I hadn't judged him worthy of our shared bond. His character is an open book, his life a public record [Text breaks off in source.]

30 Si quando mihi apnd amicnm testimonii dictio est, cohibeo operam plns loqnendi. nam qnid religio agit , nbi desideratur oratio? fero igitur ad te nudnm de familiari meo Ponticmno sed fidele iudicium, quem nisi amore nostro dignum probassem, minime S om. VF 9 praemia V hauxisti P 11 iDtelleg04t«*qaod P, intellego quod VF 13 est laudatio F iadidi om, F 14 credamus VF 15 diligens om, P 17 om, PVF 18 praeeedenU ephtulae eohaeret in PVF^ divMt Juretw 29 om.VF 31 ait V 32 Ponticiano] ef, V32, pontigano PVF{r) 40 SYMMACm EPISTVLAE PVF tao traderem. mens eiaB in aperto est, vita spectat ad landem. scis certe, nnmqnam me faciliorem favoris esse qnam veri. homm omninm fidem confirmabis, cnm in illo plnra reppereris. C (LXXXXini) Meme 380/1 ?