Letter 2069: A brief message is necessary when it is entrusted to someone in a hurry.

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 395 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendship
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To: [Unnamed correspondent]
Date: ~395 AD
Context: A very brief note sent in haste, offering greetings.

A brief message is necessary when it is entrusted to someone in a hurry. Therefore, it is enough for duty and the shortness of time that I fulfill the honor of a greeting to you. I should not demand a reply in return, since I expect it anyway from a friend as reliable as you. Farewell.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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