Letter 1087: Every time I receive a letter from you, a kind of image of your actual presence appears before my eyes.

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 400 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|AI-assisted
friendship

Every time I receive a letter from you, a kind of image of your actual presence appears before my eyes. That's why the pleasure is so rich — I feel the force of both your devotion and my own place in your esteem.

But to keep this generous attention flowing, I've taken the initiative of writing first. I've learned from experience that the affection of a loyal heart is best stirred by the incentive of reciprocity.

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

to Quotiens tua sumo conloquia, quaedam mibi ante oculos praesentiae tuae imago
versatur, atque ideo uberiorem capio voluptatem, quod et tui officii et mei meriti sen-
tio vigere momentum. sed ut promptior circa me huius muneris diligentia perseveret,
etiam ipse ouram deferendi sermonis adripui, frequenter expertus dilectum religiosi
animi incentivo vicissitudinis provocari.

15 LXXXV (LXXVIIII).

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