Letter 2039: My son Parthenius's arrival needs no embellishment of recommendation.

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 384 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|AI-assisted
illness

My son Parthenius's arrival needs no embellishment of recommendation. But I expect his standing will only rise when my own words accompany his presence. From him you'll learn what's been happening in Rome — though rumor has probably outrun the written account. Great and unexpected events don't stay secret for long.

The people of Rome have turned a corner. The punishment of the rioters is now being demanded by the very crowds that used to follow them, and the troublemakers have finally backed down. I won't say more — it would be wrong to steal anything from his account. I've left the full picture for the one coming to deliver it in person. 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AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

5 Filii mei Parthenii adventus nullis commendationis lenociniis postulat adiuvari,
sed accessumm gratiae eius existimo, quod praesentiae eius etiam meus sermo con-
iungitur. ex ipso Romae gesta noscetis, licet scriptum fama praevenerit. neque enim
res magnae et inspejratae in secreto se esse patiuntur. in bonam partem plebs nostra P
mutata est, adeo ut iugiter seditiosorum poena poscatur et iam terga dederint insolentes.

10 multis non opus est. neque enim quicquam narrandis debeo derogare, qui rerum
plenitudinem venturo ad vos indici reservavi. vale.

XXXVnn ante a. 395.

Related Letters