Letter 3017: I have good grounds for complaint: you were raised to the honor of a pontificate and gave me no sign of our shared joy.
I have good grounds for complaint: you were raised to the honor of a pontificate and gave me no sign of our shared joy. But I will not steep my first letter in bitterness, lest harsh words make you withdraw. So I set aside my grievance on one condition: that from now on you make friendship your constant care.
Let honorable correspondence pass frequently between us. Silent harmony is no better than hostility. That is precisely why nature or skill produced the art of writing — so that affection would never be mute. 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AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Habeo expostulandi tecum.probabileB causaB, quandoquidem pontificio litterati ho-
noris auctus nullum mihi indicium communis gandii praestitisti. sed nolo primas lit- 5
teras meas felle obiurgationis imbuere, ne animum tuum contrahant amara sermonam.
quare decedo querimoniis et tecum hanc veniam sic paciscor, ut in reliquum pensi
2 habeas amicitiae diligentiam. sit inter nos frequens honesti mus officii, sint adsiduae
scriptorum familiarium vices. quippe tacita concordia instar^juliown est. ideo lit-
teras adfabra rerum vel natura vel industria peperit, ut numquam muta esset ad- 10
fectio, et si quando absumus, linguae ut operam fungerentur signa verborum. haec in
praesentia satis dicta sunt; opto deinceps materiam mihi ad respondendum dari gra-
tia muneris tui non dolore fastidii.
XVm a. 379.
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SYMMACHUS TO AUSONIUS:
The governor took part in your festival in the same way I did -- he missed nothing I had heard.
Late though it was, I did oblige you.