Letter 3030: Your long-expected letter has arrived, and it makes me all the more prompt to return the favor of correspondence.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 380 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
travel mobility
Your long-expected letter has arrived, and it makes me all the more prompt to return the favor of correspondence. Do not be surprised that my reply reaches you late — my various obligations claim their share of time, and sometimes the busiest moments are the least productive for letter-writing.
But now that I have a moment's peace, I seize the pen gladly. I hope this exchange marks the beginning of a more regular rhythm between us. Farewell.
Expectatae mihi tuae litterae contigerunt, quibus promptior ad yicissitudinem
ireddar officii. nec mireris, quod tibi sermo noster sero tradetur, cum aliquid occupa-
^^ tiones sibi yindicent, nonnumquam desit facultas, tabellariomm quoque neglegentia
susceptam operam plemmque frustretur. desine igitur animum nostmm epistulamm
seyeritate me^iri, cum rebus potius quam yerbis spectetur adfectio. yale.
« habundana VF aed om. F beneflcio Plm., beneflcil P2m,F 8 una P i m. V 9 galacia VF,
QaUaeeia ed. Veneta noUem F 10 praetoreo V 11 lene F 13 parum] PVDPy om. F,
oamm Seioppius ipse sentias (^ 14 hieml] Sirmondw, emi PVPfi, enim F indumentum 0
seueritatem P, seritate Qnder, raritate MommHn^ seduHtate ego metiri] Qfuiery mereri PVMDP
80 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
xxvnn.
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Your long-expected letter has arrived, and it makes me all the more prompt to return the favor of correspondence. Do not be surprised that my reply reaches you late — my various obligations claim their share of time, and sometimes the busiest moments are the least productive for letter-writing.
But now that I have a moment's peace, I seize the pen gladly. I hope this exchange marks the beginning of a more regular rhythm between us. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.