Letter 2008: Your first letter reached me — so short, so hurried, it seemed to be imitating your journey.
Your first letter reached me — so short, so hurried, it seemed to be imitating your journey. But believe me, the brevity wasn't unwelcome. You managed to cover in a few concise lines everything I wanted to know about your well-being: how strong your health is, how quickly you arrived, what reception you found with our eternal emperor. I'd go so far as to say that page was richer in substance than in words — there was much to be glad about, even though there was little to read.
Still, after this, remember to water even your personal letters with the abundance of your eloquence. It's not as though the effort would drain you — you who tirelessly dispatch the petitions of all who approach you, you who speak with the authority of oracles to the mind of our revered emperor. Let this letter be the first, but not the last.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Redditae sunt mihi primae litterae tuae tam breves, tam festinatae, ut iter tunm 30
viderentur imitari. sed si mihi credis, non est in illis desiderata prolixitas. omnia
enim, quae de amplitudinis tuae prosperis nosse cupiebam, succincta enumeratione
conplexus es: quanta valetudine vigeas, qua celeritate pervectus sis, quid in aetemo
principe serenitatis inveneris. ausim dicere, uberiorem rebus quam verbis fuisse illius
naues F 4 remiger V morantur F Bediis P repperiat P 1 m, V, inueniat F 6 ad
famem procliuus Oruter
praeferas PVM iuuares om. P 1 m. ouram V 20 perBonam P 1 m, V 25 famam V
reuocet urbs] VM^ reuocetur P 27 uale add. VM
epistulae paginam; tBxa multa erant, quae gaudere deberem, cum essent pauca, quae PVF
legerem. tu tamen post haec memento, etiam familiares chartas rigare facundiae 2
tuae copiis. neque enim te exhaurit, quod adeuntium preces indefesso absolvis
adfatu, quod venerandi principis mentem loqueris oraculis. sint ista prima nec
5 tamen sola. tantum namque publico usui a te patior inpendi , ut nihil solaciis meis
detrahat.
VIIII ante a. 395.
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