Letter 2032: The man who ought to have delivered your letter to me will instead deliver mine to you — for you and I do not share...
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 381 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
illness
The man who ought to have delivered your letter to me will instead deliver mine to you — for you and I do not share the same excuse for silence. You are surrounded by the clamor of multiple public duties; I am free from all business and could not be more at leisure if I tried.
So the fault of silence is more mine than yours, and I acknowledge it freely. Your obligations are your defense; my idleness is my accusation. From now on I shall write more regularly, since I have no excuse not to. Send me word of your affairs whenever you find a moment between your duties. Farewell.
Reddet tibi litteras meas, qui tuas mihi debuit exfaibere ; neque enim nobis eadem
silentii excusatio, quae tibi suppetit. te multiplex actunm publicornm cura circnm- 25
sonat; ego ab negotiis omnibus feriatus triste otinm tero, et quod tni honoris gratia
ante faciebam, nunc meo adsumo solacio. levatur quippe aegritudine animus, qnotiens
in officia amica dirigitur. me ex vero non ad gratiam meam loqui, secessio mea
2 testis est. nam cum dolore saucius aestuarem, sedem dominae meae commnnis pa-
rentis qnasi fanum aliquod dei salutaris accessi. nnnc ex eins consilio in cicatricem 30
vnlnus meum convenit. illius adquiesco monitis, ex illius ope respiro. adsnnt
etiam ceterae venerabiles necessitudines tuae , et qnod me prae ceteris invat, tui cot-
tidie blandam commemorationem sermo noster exercet. qua de re intra Campaniae
terminos maior mihi pars ae^tatis agitabitnr, quando et praesentia placent, et ea con-
tur Af 2 praefecta Vy profecto P 2 m. orbis P 3 auditoris P 4 nunc rescribere-
tur om. VM fortassc: nunc rescribetar in caasam post uictoriam meam contra sententiam praefecturae,
cui pars aduersa consentit, quasi relatio ad fortunam iiegotii pertineret et q. 8. 5 et om. VFM sup-
plimenta P 1 m. 6 refatatorios] luretu$y reputatorios PVM 10 plures P 1 m. V 11 cuius VM
hereditariam M, hereditariam V possessione] r0My posBessionem P, posaessionem ///// V dece-
dam] PVM0, decedant F 13 uale add. VM
sub] stili (?) P 1 m. 20 scis esse] scisse P 1 m. 21 uale add. VM
uulnus meum in cicatricem F 31 ope] P 2m. P, opere P I m. VDP 32 co^tldie P 34 aesta-
tis] cod. Pithoei, aeUtis PVF agiUbatur [F) et om. F placent] Suae, placet PVF
LIBER 11. 53
dicio est patriae, ut qui excludi per inprobos possumus, abesse interim vclut ex nostro PVF
arbitrio debeamus. vale.
XXXm a. 382—383.
◆
The man who ought to have delivered your letter to me will instead deliver mine to you — for you and I do not share the same excuse for silence. You are surrounded by the clamor of multiple public duties; I am free from all business and could not be more at leisure if I tried.
So the fault of silence is more mine than yours, and I acknowledge it freely. Your obligations are your defense; my idleness is my accusation. From now on I shall write more regularly, since I have no excuse not to. Send me word of your affairs whenever you find a moment between your duties. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.