Letter 6003: Grand requests require a preamble; for easy favors, there's no need for elaborate pleading.
Grand requests require a preamble; for easy favors, there's no need for elaborate pleading. So let me be brief and to the point about what my friend Fulvius asks of you. He wishes, with your blessing, to marry the sister of Pompeianus — a woman long since of marriageable age. He is no less distinguished in family than she, and perhaps wealthier. I won't count among the wedding gifts the admirable qualities of his life or the promising connections he enjoys through good men's friendships — a man's own character and prospects belong to him alone. My commitment to seeing this match through is longstanding enough that I'll consider it a great personal favor if your efforts advance his cause. Since what is being asked is honorable in purpose and easy to accomplish, I urge you to apply as much energy to moving the matter forward as you can guess I want. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Praefato opus est, si ardua postulentur; pronis ac facilibns admoveri ambitum
non oportet. breviter igitur et strictim, quid frater mens Fulvins de vobis favoris
poscat, advertite. sororem Pompeiani olim viro matnram te auspice in manum optat
accipere, nec genere minor et re fbrtassis uberior. nam laudabiles vitae eins artes et
20 ex bonorum amicitiis spes secnndas inter sponsalia omamenta non numero ; sibi enim
qnisqne habet, quidquid laudi et spei ducitur. mihi autem tanta est perficiendae con-
innctionis huius antiqnitas, ut in gravi dono habitums sim, si illius votis cura vestra
profuerit. cnm igitnr res incepto honesta, effectu facilis postnletur, qnaeso, nt in pro-
movendo negotio, quantum me velle conicitis, adhibeatis industriam. vale.
25 nn.
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