Letter 2016: I wrote this letter for the modest and devoted Marcellus and Romanus more as a gesture of friendship than with any...
I wrote this letter for the modest and devoted Marcellus and Romanus more as a gesture of friendship than with any expectation of actually influencing you — for what could I add to men you've already approved? You know their character, you value their efforts, and you have no doubt about their reliability.
What room is there for my testimony when your own opinion of them needs no improvement? And yet, if things that are already full can still receive a little more, I'd like them to know that my appeal has increased your warmth toward them. That way, they'll credit me with the benefit too.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Modestissimis et tui amantibus viris Marcello et Romano magis ex usu amicitiae
quam in efifectum commendationis litteras dedi; nam qnid apud te adicerem iam pro-
batis? nosti hominum verecundiam, dilig/s studia, de officiomm veritate non dnbitas.
quis ergo locus testimonio meo superest, cum tuo de illis iudicio nihil possit accedere?
15 et tamen, si cumulum sibi addi plena patiuntur, quaeso intellegant, meis precibus
auctam circa se tuam gratiam. ita fiet, ut mihi quoque acceptum referant, quod ipsi
a te sine adstipulatore memissent.
XVI ante a. 395.
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