Letter 5067: The senatorial obligations are drawing our attention to pressing concerns.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 395 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
travel mobility
From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To: [Unnamed correspondent]
Date: ~395 AD
Context: Symmachus discusses his anxiety about the upcoming praetorship of his son, with its enormous financial obligations.
The senatorial obligations are drawing our attention to pressing concerns. The praetorship of our son is approaching, and with it the enormous expenses that this magistracy demands. The games alone will cost a fortune, and the expectation of the Roman populace is a burden that no amount of preparation can fully satisfy. I am soliciting contributions from friends and allies, and I turn to you as one of those on whom I most depend. Whatever you can provide -- whether in animals for the arena, theatrical performers, or simple financial support -- will be received with the deepest gratitude.
Curam nostram senatoriae functiones ad votiva sollicitant. praeturam quippe filii
mei, si fors dictum iuvet, proximus annus expectat, cuius instruenda^ causa amicis
nostris negotium dedimns, ut equos ex Hispania lectissiraae nobilitatis edecument. ex- 20
periantur igitur suffraginm tuum, siquid opis et favoris oraverint. decet enim te pro
amore mutuo mecum curanda partiri.
LXXXIIII (LXXXH) .
pri.2F SYMMACHVS HELPIDIO.
Silentium meum etiam ipse reprehenderem, si tuas litteras aliquando sumpsissem. 25
itaque arguere in altero non potes, quod a te admissum esse meministi. ego tamen
in haec officia primus erupi, ut et te ad scribendi studiura cohortarer et amicum meum
testimonii adstipulatione prosequerer. est enim eius industriae atque probitatis, ut
favorem tuum iure mereatur. pro quo ego petitor accedo, praesumens apud animum
tuum nostras litteras plurimum profnturas. 30
14 hiBpannls V^
instniendi PVM 20 edocumento V^ 2m., ut decument V\ ut prouideant M 21 opus P 1 m. V
fauorem V^
LXXXV (LXXXni) .
◆
From:Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
To:[Unnamed correspondent]
Date:~395 AD
Context:Symmachus discusses his anxiety about the upcoming praetorship of his son, with its enormous financial obligations.
The senatorial obligations are drawing our attention to pressing concerns. The praetorship of our son is approaching, and with it the enormous expenses that this magistracy demands. The games alone will cost a fortune, and the expectation of the Roman populace is a burden that no amount of preparation can fully satisfy. I am soliciting contributions from friends and allies, and I turn to you as one of those on whom I most depend. Whatever you can provide -- whether in animals for the arena, theatrical performers, or simple financial support -- will be received with the deepest gratitude.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.