Letter 2078: Both the usual and the unusual contributions are being made by you for the production of our games.

From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus To: [Unnamed correspondent] Date: ~398 AD Context: Symmachus thanks a friend for contributing both customary and extraordinary provisions for his public games. Both the usual and the unusual contributions are being made by you for the production of our games. Everything is coming together for the celebration, and your generosity has been a major part of that. I note with gratitude that you have gone beyond what custom requires, adding extra provisions of your own initiative. This kind of friendship -- which gives more than it owes -- is what makes the burden of public spectacles bearable. I will ensure your contributions are used to their best effect and that the people know who their benefactors are.

Editioni muneris nostri et usitata a te et insolita conferuntur; ita omnia ad con- 25 ciliandum quaestori nostro plebis favorem et sollemnium rerum largus et novarum re- pertor excogitas. ut nunc septem Scotticorum canum probavit oblatio, quos praelusio- nis die ita Roma mirata est, ut ferreis caveis putaret advectos. ergo et hnius rei causa et praeterea mnnerum ceterorum, quantas maximas possum tibi gratias ago, licet in lis, quae studiose fratribus pro magnitudine animi tui tribuis, beneficium te 30 non putes praestare sed sumere. LXXVm (LXXVH) a. 394.