Letter 2023: I had thought that my many admonitions and encouragements had added some measure of endurance to your spirit.
I had thought that my many admonitions and encouragements had added some measure of endurance to your spirit. But no — you are even troubling our venerable family connections with complaints about your time abroad. What good does it do to grieve over what cannot be changed? The wise man adapts to necessity rather than fighting it.
Consider this: your exile, if we may call it that, is not punishment but circumstance. Many of the greatest Romans spent long years away from the city and returned with enhanced reputations. Use this time well — read, write, reflect — and when you return, you will find your friends' affection undiminished and your own character strengthened. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Pntabam tot monitis atque exhortationibus meis aliquid animo tuo accessisse
25 tolerantiae, at enimvero etiam reverendas necessitudines nostras peregrinationis con-
questione sollicitas. sed quid promovet ista confessio? non ferunt inpatientiam tuam,
quibus reditus in voto est. vident enim sub quibusdam aemulis civibus excessum
celerem nihil laudis habiturum. quin adsume constantiam, et quid deceat magis,
quam quid libeat, expende, praecipue cum ipse fatearis, in amore domini nostri
30 Tbeodosii venerabilis principis omnium te carissimorum pignerum gratiam repperisse.
r
li 1 aefltimatus V 2 cconcordia V
h om.VM 9 reddiderit VMiDP)
, 11 om, VF 12 reparationem««*»*»4(«ianidiu P, reparassem iamdin VF^ sperassem iamdiu F
nel uia V 16 urgueri P adseueras magnis praemiis F, magnis asseueras praemiis F ad] Py
fum V, cum ad F 17 sufflciat F 18 sotio P l m, 20 tua unndieas V
) etiam «euerendas P 1 m. conquestiones V 26 fuerunt V, fugerunt M 21 ualent P
snb] scHiret Lattniu» qnibus aemulis P 1 m. excessu incelerem P 29 factoris V{iy>), fe-
ceris M 30 te om. V uale add. VM
I Q. AtKBLIVS STMMACHT8. 7
50 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
XXnn a. 383.
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