Letter 5057: ...so that I might discharge my obligation to you according to the ancient custom.
...so that I might discharge my obligation to you according to the ancient custom. For this practice has grown from an old institution, and I would not wish to be found wanting in the observance of traditions that our ancestors held sacred. Accept this courtesy as it is intended -- not as mere formality but as a renewal of the bonds that connect our time to theirs.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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