Letter 6062: Your first letter, quickly followed by a second, had given me some hope of your return.

Your first letter, quickly followed by a second, had given me some hope of your return. The second one undid those promises, and after listing all your reasons for refusing, you left the decision to my judgment. But when I consider, first, my daughter's fragile health -- she can't be deprived of your comfort -- then your own weak stomach, which you say isn't up to travel, then the advice of a fatherly friend who prefers you to rest, then the arrival of a distinguished man you're expecting, and finally the gossip of people who suspect you've taken on a public commission as cover for your private affairs -- well, given all these obstacles, I'm sending the decision right back to you. It wouldn't be fair for my opinion to be held hostage to so many competing considerations, or for the credibility of my advice to be tied to uncertain future outcomes. In the meantime, I think the deadline should be extended. I've held off delivering your letter to the magistrate for now: first, because it's too bare in its courtesies, and second, because it buries the reasons for your refusal beneath a dismissive tone -- and I knew your words would be read by many. So if you're determined to avoid the trip and its obligations, I want you to strengthen your excuses with more deference and weightier arguments. Farewell.

Anteriores litterae tuae, quas mox aliae consecntae sunt, spem mihi aliquatenus reditus tui fecerant ; secundae promissa vacuarunt, ita ut post multas causas negationis meo consilio sequenda committeres. sed ego cogitans primo filiae meae contnrbatam 12 nichomaeuB P Q. AVBBLTTS STMliAOHVii. 22 170 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE P valetQdinem , quae spoliari Bolacio tuo non potest, dehinc stomachi tni inbecillitatem, quam esse inparem scribis itineri promovendo, tunc consilium amici patemi otiam praeferentis , dehine expectationem inlustris viri, quem diu existimas afuturum, prae- terea interpretationes hominum, qui te, ut ais, opinabantur munus publicum recepisse 2 in occasionem negotiorum tuorum , permissam mihi deliberationem vobis refundo. ini- s quum est enim tot oppositis quaestionibus obnoxiam fieri sententiam meam et fidem suadentis incertis futurorum casibus obligari. interea constituendae rei dies existimo prorogandos et epistulam tuam magistratui tantisper reddere temperavi: primo qoia reverentiae nuda est, dehinc quia causas negationis infra devotionis s tulit, et quod nossem pluribus legenda, quae scripseras. volo igitur, ut reverentia cumula- lo tiore et gravioribus querellis excusationem tuam munias, si voluntas manserit laboris et itineris deprecandi. vale. LX (LXI).