Letter 5011: I was glad to learn from your letter that everything is going well for you and that your public responsibilities are...
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Magnillum|c. 370 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendshipillness
I was glad to learn from your letter that everything is going well for you and that your public responsibilities are being handled to general satisfaction. These are the kinds of reports I most enjoy receiving, and I encourage you to send them frequently. For my part, I can tell you that my household is in good order and my health reliable. I ask only that you maintain the same attentive correspondence that has characterized our friendship thus far — regular letters are the best remedy for the loneliness that comes with separation.
On another matter: I commend to you the bearer of this letter, a man whose character and competence deserve your favorable attention. Whatever kindness you show him will be received as a personal favor to me. Farewell.
Antecapere scribendi ordinem mei muneris fuit. habes festinati officii gloriam,
cum ego fatear tarditatem. et ceiiie potui allegare aliquid in excusationem morarum:
supererat mihi plurimum viae; malui te de laboris nostri absolutione facere securum.
sed pio studio praeveniri nullus est rubor. ama igitur sponte cedentem, cui haec ipsa
15 simplicitas conciliare debet frequentes litteras tuas; quas si non aequavero pari nu-
mero, rursus tibi praemium confessio mea faciet.
xxviin (xxvn).
AD MAGNILLVM. PVF
Amicum meum ad Brittios revertentem litteris credidi prosequendum , ut et tibi
2u salutationis munus exolverem et illi commendationis aliquid exhiberem. quaeso igitur
te, ut et meis litteris vicissitudo reddatur et illi defensio plena proveniat.
XXX (xxvni).
AD MAGNILLVM.
Proxime quidem urbe digressus es, sed ego quasi iam inveterato tut desiderio
25 convenirer, offieium scribendi et munus arripui nec expectato ordine nec more ser-
vato , qui solet amicis esse pro lege , ut peregre locati tribuant prius scripta quam
Bumant. et est vera jidfectio omnis inpatiens etiam iustae ac legitimae tarditatis. rupi
igitur consuetudinem religione maiore, quam si cam servare voluissem. quae res si
tibi grata est, et mihi fenus solve conloquii et perlatori talium litterarum benignus
30 adride. cui ut ipse nihil potui praestare quam litteras , ita tu nihil poteris plus tri-
buere quam favorem.
2 effectu PF
5 om, VM 7 a te owi. V
consUiare V
lam in 0 nova manu sic seriptum erat: Hic incipit Hazo
30 nihU magis potui P 2 m.
17*
132 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
XXXI (xxvim) .
◆
I was glad to learn from your letter that everything is going well for you and that your public responsibilities are being handled to general satisfaction. These are the kinds of reports I most enjoy receiving, and I encourage you to send them frequently. For my part, I can tell you that my household is in good order and my health reliable. I ask only that you maintain the same attentive correspondence that has characterized our friendship thus far — regular letters are the best remedy for the loneliness that comes with separation.
On another matter: I commend to you the bearer of this letter, a man whose character and competence deserve your favorable attention. Whatever kindness you show him will be received as a personal favor to me. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.