Letter 5024: Since I know you are a man of merciful disposition, I have undertaken the task of requesting a pardon on behalf of a...
Since I know that you are of a forgiving disposition, I have taken up on a friend's behalf the task of asking for pardon; for we have not strayed so far from what is right that we should ever suspect you of being moved without cause. The distinguished gentleman Epictetus, slipping into the manner of pleaders, while he wished too eagerly to please in the case he had undertaken, grazed with an indiscreet remark the holy Sabinus, a man approved by all good people. That affair is believed to have provoked the feelings of all of you who have him in your care, and not without reason. The complaint of the governor has even stirred up the praetorian authorities. Why say more? Epictetus, deprived of the honor of the lawyer's gown, is to be preferred to very many who are protected by firm patronage. Now that crowd of clients heaps insults upon one man's chance error; that this should not last long, your humanity will see to it. Enough has been granted to correction; now have regard to your own good nature. Let the former be earned by the case, grant the latter to leniency. I know that the illustrious gentleman, the praetorian prefect, will likewise yield promptly to these letters of yours. Epictetus, the distinguished gentleman, will be a debtor to you even for his own amendment, whom the great impunity of those who offend had made a little incautious. [...]
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Cnm sciam, te animo esse placabili, recepi pro amico operam Yeniae postnlaiidae ;
neque enim sic a recto devii sumns, nt te nmqnam moveri temere snspicemnr. v. c. Epi-
5 ctetns cansidicornm more prolapsns, dnm vnlt inpensins placere snscepto, sanctnm Sabi-
nnm probatnm bonis omnibns incanto sermone perstrinxit. ea res omninm vestmm,
qnibns ille cnrae est, animos creditnr asperasse, nec inmerito. qnerella rectoris etiam
praetorianas acuit potestates. qnid mnlta? Epictetns togae forensis honore privatns
est plnrimis praeferendus, quj firmo patrocinio protegnntnr. nnnc illa clientinm turba 2
10 unius fortnito insnltat errori; qnod ne din maneat, tna praestabit humanitas. satis
datnm est correctioni, nnnc ingeninm tnnm respice. illnd causa mernerit, hoc tribne
lenitati. scio inlnstrem virum praefectnm praetorio his qnoqne litteris tuis prompte
esse cessnmm. erit tibi Epictetus v. c. etiam emendationis snae debitor, qnem panlo
inconsnltum fecerat impnnitas magna peccantinm.
15 xxxxn (xxxx).
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern symmachus retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/qaureliisymmach00seecgoog
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