Letter 2022: I have long been hoping to restore the health of my poor body, if only I could enjoy the healthful air of the...

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 376 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|AI-assisted
imperial politics

I would long since have repaired the health of my poor little body, if only I had been able to enjoy the wholesomeness of the countryside. But now the suburban district is unsafe because of brigandage, and therefore it is better to waste away in the leisure of the city than to fall into the dangers of the country. Nevertheless, I perceive my health profiting from your letters, in which you frequently enumerate the benefits of our lord Theodosius and affirm that your merits are pressed forward with great rewards. And for rendering thanks to him, indeed, your tongue will suffice; I, for my part, according to the modesty of my talent, have paid the tribute of praise to that most excellent man, the partner of our prayers on behalf of Flavianus. But now it is time that you allow that very man to return, the man to whom we are bound. How long will you keep the magistracy of a distant province for your own consolation? There is no excuse on the score of your wife's womb, since the timely birth has discharged the awaiting of it.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

Reparationem iamdiu corpusculi mei valetudinem, si frui agrorum

salttbritatem potuissem. sed nunc intuta est latrociniis suburbanitas, atqne ideo prae-
stat macerari otio civitatis, quam pericula mris incidere. tuis tamen litteris proficere

15 sanitatem meam sentio, quibns beneficia domini nostri Theodosii freqnenter ennmeras
et urgueri merita tua magnis praemiis adseyeras. et illi quidem ad agendas gratias 2
tua lingua sufficiet: ego pro mediocritate ingenii mei viro excellentissimo nostrique in
Flavianum voti socio vicem laudis exsolvi. sed iam tempus est, ut ipsum illura redire
patiaris, pro quo obligati sumns. quousque magistratum longinquae provinciae solacio

20 tuo vindicas? nulla de uxoris utero causatio est, cuius expectationem maturus partus
absolvit.

XXra a. 382—383.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern symmachus retranslated v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/qaureliisymmach00seecgoog

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