Letter 7031: You always claim you put my interests above your own.

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 381 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|AI-assisted
friendship

You always claim you put my interests above your own. That would be easier to believe if you'd let my son Attalus come home to me. He's under your influence and follows your guidance -- I agree that's as it should be. But don't extend your authority at my expense.

Isn't it enough that you -- equally delightful company -- have abandoned me and denied me the joy of your presence? On top of that, you're keeping a second hostage with all the arts of affectionate persuasion, guessing, I think, that if both of you are there, I'll come running. You're right.

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

Soles adfirmare, quod me tibi praeferas. posset hoc esse credibile, si filium
meum Attalum ad nos venire patereris. in tuo enim iure est, tuis monitis adquiescit; 20
quod quidem fieri oportere consentio, sed non eatenus pontificium tuum in nostra
damna protendasl parumne est, quod ipse aeque desiderandus consortium meum de-
seris et invides nobis exoptatissimam tui societatem? insuper alterum quoque deleni-
^cis amoris artibus retines, credo coniciens, adceleraturum esse me reditum, si utro-
que destituar. at ego denuntio, opus esse monitore, qui retrahat haerentem; nam, 25
ut scis, amo otium, pascor quiete. instruo itaque te adversum lentitudinem meam:
si absentis amici iam desideras reditum, patere brevem praesentis excursum.

xxvm.

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