Letter 4017: I owe it to men of proven worth to recommend them to you, since admission to your circle of friends is a supreme gift.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Protadius|c. 373 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendship
I owe it to men of proven worth to recommend them to you, since admission to your circle of friends is a supreme gift. Please welcome these men — foremost in birth and character — and honor them with your deepest confidence from the very first meeting. The provincial council of Campania gave them their public commission; they have just causes to plead. Justice supports their case; my personal concern supports the men.
I saw our dear Protadius in Rome — a young man whose recommendation needs no supplement. Farewell.
Spectatae frugis viros apud te debeo commendare , quia praecipunm munns est,
nt tuis amicitiis inserantur. suscipe igitur, quaeso te, ortu et moribus facile summa-
tes eosqne in primore congressu penetrali familiaritate dignare. legationem illis 5
Campanonmi provincialium commune mandavit habent oranda. iustitia
negotium, personas mea cnra commendat. advertis duas esse causas exercendae in
eos benignitatis, pro qnibus publice aequitas petitionura, privatim non gratiosus lauda-
tor iutervenit,
• xxxxvn. 10
PVF AD Q. S.
Vidi Romae Protadium filium nostmm, cuins commendationi nihil ex familiae
vestrae ornamentis praeter litteras tuas defuit. quas cum desiderassem , de citeriore
Gallia imperatum sibi a socero iter te procul agente respondit. excusationem iuvenis
non libenter accepi; cetera morum probavi. satis est hoc auribus patris, cui nolo in 15
me gratiosnm videri testimonium brevis experimenti. simul vereor, ne qnid amori
tuo in filium derogem, quem non decet iuvari apud te per suffragium conciliationis
alienae.
xxxxvin.
PVM AD Q. S. 20
Litteras nonnnllis hnmanitate praestamus; has autem domino et fratri meo Basso,
qui sororis fortunas tuetur, iusto amore detulimns. petitio ab aeqnitate non discrepat,
quin potius iure atqne iustitiae mnnitur auxiliis. nam rebellem servum sibi
poscit adduci, ad cuius investigationem nec praecepti caelestis auctoritas nec Africani
comitis vigor potnit pervenire; siquidem facti audacis conscius inminentem poenam 25
latebramm vitavit effugio. cum igitur super eius facto atque nequitia ad te vir lauda-
bilis Africae comes scriptum publicum dedisse dicatur, erit iustitiae et benignitatis
tuae in favorem clarissimi viri divinnm provocare iudicium, ne ulterius innocens domus
commentis feralibus vilis mancipii terreatur.
XXXXVffll a. 400? s«
◆
I owe it to men of proven worth to recommend them to you, since admission to your circle of friends is a supreme gift. Please welcome these men — foremost in birth and character — and honor them with your deepest confidence from the very first meeting. The provincial council of Campania gave them their public commission; they have just causes to plead. Justice supports their case; my personal concern supports the men.
I saw our dear Protadius in Rome — a young man whose recommendation needs no supplement. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.