Letter 8002: I'm overjoyed to hear you're well and that you haven't forgotten our friendship amid the hardships of public business.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Alevium|c. 365 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendshiptravel mobility
I'm overjoyed to hear you're well and that you haven't forgotten our friendship amid the hardships of public business. But when will letters make up for the losses of our time apart? I would have wanted you there first and foremost for my son's praetorian celebrations, adding distinction to our shared festivities. But I must accept that the senate's business takes precedence over my wishes. So take my earlier words as a declaration of longing rather than a complaint about your absence. Heaven willing, once you've finished your duties to the state, you'll make the happy journey to attend our games.
[To Alevius] A reply comes from obligation; an unsolicited letter comes as a gift. The second role has been left to me, since your pen outpaced mine. Now, having returned your greeting, I ask for your help and attention in the matters that Castor will bring to your notice on my behalf.
Abundo laetitia, postquam valere vos didici nostraeque amicitiae inter negotiorum
P dura meminisse. | sed quando fiet, ut solaciis litterarum damna abstinentiae sarciantur? 10
ego autem vos praetoris mei fascibus primos interesse voluissem festisque communibus
decus facere; sed feram necesse est anteferri mihi causapi senatus. quare in supe-
rioribus verbis desiderii magis contestatio est quara querella discidii. praestabit cae-
lestium favor, ut mandatis patriae absoluti iter felix ad ludorum nostrorum sollemne
relegatis. t^
XV.
AD ALEVIVM.
Ex debito venit sermo, qui redditur, ex beneficio, qui sponte defertur. secundae
igitur mihi partes relictae sunt, postquam stilus tnus mea scripta praevenit. nunc
vice salutationis repensa operam tuam curamque deposco in fis, quae Castor ex usu 20
atque utilitate nostra promovenda suggesserit.
XVI.
◆
I'm overjoyed to hear you're well and that you haven't forgotten our friendship amid the hardships of public business. But when will letters make up for the losses of our time apart? I would have wanted you there first and foremost for my son's praetorian celebrations, adding distinction to our shared festivities. But I must accept that the senate's business takes precedence over my wishes. So take my earlier words as a declaration of longing rather than a complaint about your absence. Heaven willing, once you've finished your duties to the state, you'll make the happy journey to attend our games.
[To Alevius] A reply comes from obligation; an unsolicited letter comes as a gift. The second role has been left to me, since your pen outpaced mine. Now, having returned your greeting, I ask for your help and attention in the matters that Castor will bring to your notice on my behalf.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.