Letter 4032: The results will show how much your diligence has accomplished for the public good, once unnecessary expenditures...
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Evsignium|c. 381 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
barbarian invasionillness
The results will show how much your diligence has accomplished for the public good, once unnecessary expenditures are curbed and the remaining funds are directed toward completing the works already begun. In matters of public construction, it is not the man who spends the most who earns the greatest praise, but the one who spends most wisely.
I have examined the accounts you sent and find them generally in order, though I have noted a few items that deserve closer scrutiny. The details I will share when we next meet, but in the meantime, hold firm to your present course. Farewell.
pantionis auxiliis, qno minora ofGcia fidem praebitomm vel invectpmm cogantur
aperire. probabit exitus, quantum reip. tua cura prospexerit, cum cohibitis sumptibus
novis consummationi opemm satisfecerit summa reliquorum.
5 LXXI (LXXU) a. 397?
AD EVSIGNIVM.
Summo gaudiO; quotiens scribis, adficior, et tum maxime, cum abest amaritudo
querimoniae. nunc stilus tuus ab usitata incunditate dissenbit. arguebat enim falso
iniquitatem quandam pignoris mei, cum quo tibi limitum nulla certatio est. itaque
10 litteras contra ius amicitiae ad eum missas repressi, ne amantem tui dolor iustus offen-
deret. fuit autem matri eius cum procuratore tuo finalis in Sicilia qnaestio, quam
disceptatio non, ut scribis, Venusti, sed alterius rectoris absolvit. ergo in utraque
persona error suggerentis retectus eam pignoris mei eximet invidiam. advertes ergo 2
pro singulari verecundia tua, cui potissimum parti satisfactio debeatur. et nihil de
i& praesenti fortuna istius loquor, quae scribentem debuit temperare. adde, quod pecu-
niarias cansas nsque ad detrimentum amicitiamm non oportet extendi. sed quid haec
plnribus? posthac opto sermonem tuum placidiorem mereri et constantiam veteris erga
me observantiae tnae porrecto etiam in meos amore colligere.
LXXn (LXXni) ante a. 388.
ao AD Q. S. PVF
Frequens usus ostendit et clara animi tui documenta testantur, exempla verae
amicitiae de te esse capienda. neque enim quisquam constantiam firmiorem familiari-
bus inpendit ofliciis, in tanta praesertim publicarum mole curamm, quae alterius stu-
dium possit hebetare, nisi obstrepentes necessitates adfectio fratema superaret. quod
ib solnm igitur verecundiae convenit, cedo praestantissimae religioni meque inparem
referendae vicissitudini pudenter agnosco. nec vereor, ne diligentia tua tali laude
lentescat; quin potius spero benivolentiam tuam, si quid pleno potest adici, largio-
rem; quia bonis familiare est studia benigna cumulare, quomm gratiam sentinnt non
perire.
80 . LXXni (LXXmi) a. 384—387.
AD EVSIGNIVM. PVM
Facio, quod suadet humanitaS; ut amicitiae tuae viros bonae ftmgis adinngam.
horam unus est Felix honorabilis gradu atque exercitatione militiae. cni si quid amo-
ris inpenderis, ad meam gratiam pertinebit.
hoo V, om. Af 13 eximet] Sutt^ exemit PVM advertes] KiesBUng, aduertis PVM 14 satis-
facio V 16 baec de pluriboa V
31 om. VM 33 faelix FAf tui V
16*
124 SYMMACHl EPISTVLAE
LXXim (LXXV) a. 383.
◆
The results will show how much your diligence has accomplished for the public good, once unnecessary expenditures are curbed and the remaining funds are directed toward completing the works already begun. In matters of public construction, it is not the man who spends the most who earns the greatest praise, but the one who spends most wisely.
I have examined the accounts you sent and find them generally in order, though I have noted a few items that deserve closer scrutiny. The details I will share when we next meet, but in the meantime, hold firm to your present course. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.