Letter 3042: I'm well. That should always be the opening line of a letter, since it's what the reader most wants to hear.

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 385 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|AI-assisted
illness

I'm well. That should always be the opening line of a letter, since it's what the reader most wants to hear. I'm equally delighted to learn you're in good health — your recent report cheered me enormously. I also count it a great joy that your latest letter shows you haven't forgotten me. I shouldn't keep quiet about my gratitude for that, so you'll be encouraged to keep up your literary correspondence.

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

Recte valeo. hoc enim scribendi debet esse principium, quod maxime expetunt

15 vota lecturi. aeque tibi oblatum vigorem nimis gaudeo; nam me indido tali nuper

hilarasti. illud quoque in summam pono laetitiae, quod te memorem mei honorificen-

tia proximae scriptionis ostendit. cuius rei gratiam silere non debeo, ut hoc invita-

mento ad perseverantiam litterarii muneris provoceris.

XXXXI.

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