Letter 2079: Some men delight in profits and gains; I prefer to spend on what fulfills my desires.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 399 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
property economics
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To: [Unnamed correspondent]
Date: ~399 AD
Context: Symmachus reflects on the pleasure of spending his wealth on worthy things rather than hoarding it.
Some men delight in profits and gains; I prefer to spend on what fulfills my desires. The proper use of wealth lies not in accumulation but in its application to worthy purposes -- public games, the support of friends, the maintenance of estates that honor the family name. Those who die rich but ungenerous die poor in everything that matters. I write this not to boast but because your letter prompted reflections on the proper use of fortune. We are of one mind on this, I think.
Pars hominum [alii] conpendiis et quaestibus gaudent, me votiva delectat ex-
pensio. itaque avidus civicae gratiae quaestoriis filii mei sumptibus studeo aliud ge-
35 nus largitotis adicere, ut curulibus stabulis nrbis aetemae etiam quina mancipia lar-
IS lybica P 19 copiam] LatimWy copia P 21 par^ P
33 alii del, lurttua, aliis alii Haupt^ mali conpendii quaestibus Momm^en conpendii P 1 m,
Q. AVSB14V8 STMMACaVB. 9
66 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
P 2 giamur. et qaoniam servorum per limitem faeilis inventio et pretium solet esse tole-
rabile, quam maxime te deprecor, ut per bomines strenuos viginti iuvenes praedicto
negotio congruentes iubeas conparari. in quam rem .... solidos ad te misi babita aesti-
matione bominum, quorum non forma sed aetas et sanitas eligenda est.
LXXVnn (LXXVin) ante a. 395. 5
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From:Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To:[Unnamed correspondent]
Date:~399 AD
Context:Symmachus reflects on the pleasure of spending his wealth on worthy things rather than hoarding it.
Some men delight in profits and gains; I prefer to spend on what fulfills my desires. The proper use of wealth lies not in accumulation but in its application to worthy purposes -- public games, the support of friends, the maintenance of estates that honor the family name. Those who die rich but ungenerous die poor in everything that matters. I write this not to boast but because your letter prompted reflections on the proper use of fortune. We are of one mind on this, I think.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.