Letter 3036: It is common practice for those who need help to turn to proven supporters.

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 383 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendshipimperial politics
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, Roman Senator
To: A friend (name lost)
Date: ~383 AD
Context: A brief letter recommending a young man named Eusebius who seeks an imperial pardon after a youthful indiscretion.

It is common practice for those who need help to turn to proven supporters. One such person is Eusebius, who, having slipped into the errors of youth and been marked by a judicial ruling, now implores the surest remedy -- an imperial pardon. But so that the desired result may smile on him quickly, he has hoped that the cause of his petition might be entrusted to your care. The essence of his request is this: that through the remission of the judgment against him, he may erase the wound to his reputation.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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