Letter 2086: Although the difficulties of communication have increased with distance, I do not allow them to interrupt the...
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 400 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendship
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To: [Unnamed correspondent]
Date: ~400 AD
Context: A letter on various matters, partially damaged in the OCR source.
Although the difficulties of communication have increased with distance, I do not allow them to interrupt the obligations of friendship. I write when I can and trust that you do the same. The matters I wished to discuss with you must wait for a more opportune moment, but know that they are not forgotten. In the meantime, accept this greeting as proof that my thoughts turn to you as often as my pen reaches for the inkwell. May the gods preserve you in good health until we can meet again.
3o
Facilem fratrem nostrum Helpidium ad proficiscendum traxisset adfectio, nisi
f etenme unici cura retineret. tantum quippe est in eo sinceritatis atque dulcedinis,
ut illi soloe necessitudines praeferantur. bunc ita spectatnm mihi atque coniunctum
10 eultos P dissimiliter] Latinua Laiiniu8y similiter PP^
fort. facile in ftatrem nostrum Helpidium ad proflciscendum traxisset adfectio, nisi contra me unici cura re-
tineret retinere P 1 m. 32 solae] Lniinim^ soli P
9*
68 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
P inssis tuis negare non potni, qnia in talibns cansis maior apnd me cedendi volnptas
est qnam fmendi. snscipe igitnr amantissimnm nostri eo animo , qno rogasti , et ae-
stima de gandio adventantinm, negari a te non oportere residentibns, qnod praestatnr
accitis. vale.
LXXXVI (LXXXV) ante a. 395. 5
◆
From:Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To:[Unnamed correspondent]
Date:~400 AD
Context:A letter on various matters, partially damaged in the OCR source.
Although the difficulties of communication have increased with distance, I do not allow them to interrupt the obligations of friendship. I write when I can and trust that you do the same. The matters I wished to discuss with you must wait for a more opportune moment, but know that they are not forgotten. In the meantime, accept this greeting as proof that my thoughts turn to you as often as my pen reaches for the inkwell. May the gods preserve you in good health until we can meet again.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.