Letter 3053: I could have borne your silence patiently, knowing your habits, had not the fear of illness made me anxious.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Ricomerem|c. 390 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
monasticism
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To: [Unnamed correspondent]
Date: ~390 AD
Context: Symmachus expresses concern about his friend's silence, worried about illness.
I could have borne your silence patiently, knowing your habits, had not the fear of illness made me anxious. Your usual reluctance to write is one thing; a silence prompted by poor health is quite another. I beg you -- if you are well, write to set my mind at ease. If you are unwell, write so that I may share your burden. The worst torment is not knowing. Send me even a single line, and I will be satisfied. But if you delay much longer, expect me at your door.
Possem silentinm tuum ferre patienter morem tuum cogitans, nisi me aegritndinis,
qua laboras, dudum nuntius perculisset. metuo igitur, ne soUicita magis quam con-
sueta cessatio sermonis tui munus impediat, atque ideo qnaeso, ut curas meas fratemo
amore susceptas scriptis aut mandatis digneris absolvere. nam cum sim cnpidus lit-
terarum , in secundis tamen pono solaciis , nt animus meus pro te anxius , si nondum 20
epistulis, saltem nnntiis erigatur.
LVn ante a. 394.
AD RICOMEREM.
Vltro in me arguo culpam silentii, si qnando usum officii mei qnaelibet dieram
intervalla remorantur. nulla enim purgatio subpetit io, cum mnltum famiUaritatis 25
publico actui frcquenter interseras. sed idem, qui peccatum vito desidiae, aeque in scri-
bendo longns esse desino. nam licet sciam, animum tuum nequaquam obnoxium esse
fastidio, adverto tamen pro condicione curamm tuarum ponendum verbis modum : quia
ut desidenti prolixitas grata est, ita displicere non poterit brevitas occupato.
LVm a. 382. 30
AD RICOMEREM.
Amo et snspicio virtutes tnas; sed accidit, quod tibi etiam amicns invideam.
Flaviano meo aliquamdiu solus frueris. accipe planius, quid velim dicere: ad te
quid F^m,y quid P 1 m. 12 curae WingendofT^
tu ciiltum et q. 8. 28 aduero P 1 m. conditione P 1 m. 29 desidenti] ego^ desideranti PP
liomae optimum fuit. accipe planius, quid uelim dicere: Flauiano meo aliquamdiu solus fruerls
LIBEB III. 89
migravit, quidquid Romae optimum fuit. et vobis quidem societas vestra dabit mn- PF
tuum gaudium: mihi quid Bolacii erit? quem et ille deseruit, et tu minus desiderabis,
quia nnus tibi pro utroque sufGciet.
LVmi a. 385.
◆
From:Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To:[Unnamed correspondent]
Date:~390 AD
Context:Symmachus expresses concern about his friend's silence, worried about illness.
I could have borne your silence patiently, knowing your habits, had not the fear of illness made me anxious. Your usual reluctance to write is one thing; a silence prompted by poor health is quite another. I beg you -- if you are well, write to set my mind at ease. If you are unwell, write so that I may share your burden. The worst torment is not knowing. Send me even a single line, and I will be satisfied. But if you delay much longer, expect me at your door.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.