Letter 3057: I testify that my servant Firmus has completed his military service with honor.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Ricomerem|c. 391 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
barbarian invasion
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To: [Unnamed correspondent]
Date: ~391 AD
Context: A letter testifying to the honorable military career of Symmachus's servant Firmus.
I testify that my servant Firmus has completed his military service with honor. He has earned his discharge through faithful duty, and I commend him to your attention as he transitions to civilian life. Those who have served the state in arms deserve the respect and support of their fellow citizens. Whatever assistance you can provide in helping him establish himself will be gratefully received. He is a man of good character who has proven his worth under the most demanding circumstances.
Firmum domesticum menm militiae stipendiis cum honestate perfunctum testi-
monio meo decuit adiuvari, nt faciliore aditu ad tuam notitiam perveniret. porrige
igitur, oro te. adiutricem manum legitima praemia ex more cupienti. huinsmodi quippe
veteranis praerogativa debetur, ut illis protectorum dignitas tamquam pretium longi
10 laboris accedat. quod Firmo incnnctanter eveniet, si tuus favor vota hominis ad con-
sneta nitentis adiuverit.
LXVIII antea. 394.
AD RICOMEREM.
Meritorum tuorum iusta ratio deposcit, ut familiaribus litteris operam frequenter
15 inpendam, expertus quippe, non perire ofGcia dclata sapientibus. fungor igitur salu-
tatione, quae sola cnram testatur absentinm, tuamque oro praestantiam , nt amicitiae
bonnm, sicuti facere soles, et sermone excolas et mente cnstodias.
LXVIIII a. 383.
AD RICOMEREM. PF
20 Dominnm meum et fratrem nostmm Flavianum celsum virtutibus et honoribns
vimm iustitiae tuae exsortem esse non patior. merito pro honoribus eins, quae cansa
poscit, allego sciens sine tna auctoritate commissa, quae snb obtentu tuo a quibusdam
scaevis dissignata dicuntnr. unde mihi maior fidncia, posse rem graviter vindicari,
cum tua quoque fama pulsata sit. querellae autem genns hominum eius suggestio,
25 gi iusseris, persequetur, quia multiplex iniuria modnm epistulae familiaris excedit.
non minora etiam filius inlnstris viri, et ipse iam honoris et meriti, in sua proconsulari 2
possessione toleravit, quae ad unius quidem pertinent noxam sed ad utriusque con-
temptum. ergo ut mos est tibi, anditis eorum allegationibus , qni tnentur absentium
facnltates, primo famam, quae optimo cuique pretiosa est, tnnc amicitiam fidei indicem,
30 postremo leges , pro quibus excubas , dignare defendere , ut ad inlustrem vimm , qui
per absentiam suorum nescit incommoda, prius gratia beneficii tui quam suomm dolor
et querella perveniat.
3 est opns F
b om. F 10 quld P 1 m. flnnio F
17 sermone^ P
(possit P l m.) allego P, eiasque cauu posita lego F 23 designata F eat post flducia ndd, P 2 m. F
sequitur PF excidit P J m. 26 et ipse etiam F 29 cuiqu|que P tum F 31 ab-
sentiam in ra8. P
12*
92 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
◆
From:Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To:[Unnamed correspondent]
Date:~391 AD
Context:A letter testifying to the honorable military career of Symmachus's servant Firmus.
I testify that my servant Firmus has completed his military service with honor. He has earned his discharge through faithful duty, and I commend him to your attention as he transitions to civilian life. Those who have served the state in arms deserve the respect and support of their fellow citizens. Whatever assistance you can provide in helping him establish himself will be gratefully received. He is a man of good character who has proven his worth under the most demanding circumstances.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.