Letter 8004: I pray the gods that the health I'm enjoying extends to you and your family as well.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 367 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendshipillnesstravel mobility
I pray the gods that the health I'm enjoying extends to you and your family as well. That opening, I think, covers what needs saying — a prayer for your well-being and a note of my own happiness. But you won't let my letters be short! So what shall fill a longer page? Where I've been and what I've been up to — since friendship is especially curious about such things — here it is, if you'd like.
The chain of pleasures begins at the Bay of Formiae, a city once said to have been home to the Laestrygones — a people reputedly so devoted to their appetites as to earn a reputation for outright savagery. I spent several days on that shore, though I kept to the simple life — only the healthy air and the cold springs justified the stay. My children had come from the city to join me, and once they were there, I had no reason to travel further. Following their lead, we traced the coast between Formiae and the Cumaean shore. Now we move back and forth between Bauli and Nicomachus's estate on Mount Gaurus [near modern Pozzuoli], trading visits with a steady flow of friends who keep arriving.
[Separate letter — congratulations on a promotion] It serves the public interest that greater responsibilities have been entrusted to you. My congratulations can therefore be brief — I wouldn't want any suspicion of flattery to tarnish the truth of my judgment. I hope your new post suits you, though I have no doubt that integrity like yours is unshakeable, and that good habits are only spurred on more happily by the reward of recognition.
[To Eudoxius] I was overjoyed to receive your letter as a mark of friendship. But when our friend Annius reported that your health is uncertain, my happiness turned to deep concern. Travel, which is already a kind of sickness in itself, now has the added burden of actual illness. Still, I'm comforted by the fact that you're known for your self-discipline and your philosophical composure in the face of adversity — qualities that tend to restore the body's strength and a healthy outlook. I hope for better news about you, and I'm readying my ears for happier reports. Justice, which watches over the faithful, will see to it that after this brief bout of trouble your life resumes its normal course.
Deos oro, ut quae mihi interim valetudo est, eadem tibi ac tuis suppetat vi-
deor plene hoc anteloquio scribenda conplexus, de tua sanitate votum, de mea gau-
dium. sed epistulas breves esse non pateris. quae igitur uTrdOsoK; erit paginae lon-
gioris? ubi sim , quid egerim — nam praecipue amicitia rerum talium curiosa est — ,
20 Bi placet, prosequar. principium voluptatum de Formiano sinu nascitur, quae civitas 2
quondam Laestrygonum populo fertur habitata. hos ventri et gulae usque ad feri-
tatis invidiam legimus obsecutos. plusculos in eo litore dies sed deliciarum parcus
exegi tantum caeli salubritate et aquarum frigore suadentibus moram. adfuerunt pig-
nora mea, quorum cupiens nostra urbe processeram. nec fuit operae mox ulterius
25 iter adgredi, cum praesto essent desiderati. illorum dehinc arbitratu legi oram, quae 3
Formias et Cumanum litus interiacet. nunc mutuis invitationibus aut in Baulos aut
in Nicomachi Gaurana migramus. amicorum subinde mihi adfluentium largiter est.
non vereor, ne me lascivire in tanta locorum amoenitate et rerum copia putes. ubi-
c^ropia P*2m.y cycropia F^ latialis Fl, latina F^ nec P '^ m, aequa] umquam F^
amicorum diligens F bibliotaecae P 6 pro boc dignum] P, de hoc dignum F^, de hac dignum F^,
dignum pro boc F^ 7 cum caUe tenuis inser, F^ /faoundlae P, facundia F ingenio F
emm F^, noui homerum F^ 10 carerent F^ flama bonorum uirorum F2 oelebritates si uon
minoribus contestatum esset F3 11 quid om, F^ hoc F^ breuitate P l m, 12 oaro F2«3
ut] autem F^ adiceris F3 integrato FS 13 uale add, F i*2
15 fiofi mperwini <n P hvuus epUUdae niii haee : 17 da . . • de m . . . IS uis ee i . . . erit pag . . .
19 egerim n . . . talium curio ... 20 principium u . . . sinu nasoitur qu ... 21 l^strygonum popul . . .
hos uentri et gulae ... 22 inuidiam iegimns obs . . . in eo — sed del . . . 23 exegi — salu . . . rii fri-
gore suadentlb; . . . pignora mea quorn cu . . . 24 processeram nec fuit o ... 25 iter adgredi cU pr^st . . .
ti iUorum — arbitr . . . quae — litus int . . . p. 222, 1 . . . agimus . . . umus 2 . . . la in con . . . en-
tatio . . . end procaces 3 . . . ee iiilux6ria {cotr. 2 m.) 15 Ad Martianum praecedenti epishUae propo-
nit {II) iUiut inaeriptione (Audronico) in hane trantlata^ Symmachus Marciano {P) 17 de mea gaudiom] /^,
de me ac studium (77) 18 breues] (77), ///uis P 22 sed] P[r), om, (77) 23 tantum] P,
tanUm (7/) 27 nichomachi (77)
222 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
n qne vltam agimus consularem et in Lucrino serii sumus. nullus in navibus canor,
nuUa in conviviis helluatio, nec frequentatio balnearum nec uUi iuvenum procaces
natatus. scias nullum esse in luxuria crimen locorum.
XXnn a. 396.
◆
I pray the gods that the health I'm enjoying extends to you and your family as well. That opening, I think, covers what needs saying — a prayer for your well-being and a note of my own happiness. But you won't let my letters be short! So what shall fill a longer page? Where I've been and what I've been up to — since friendship is especially curious about such things — here it is, if you'd like.
The chain of pleasures begins at the Bay of Formiae, a city once said to have been home to the Laestrygones — a people reputedly so devoted to their appetites as to earn a reputation for outright savagery. I spent several days on that shore, though I kept to the simple life — only the healthy air and the cold springs justified the stay. My children had come from the city to join me, and once they were there, I had no reason to travel further. Following their lead, we traced the coast between Formiae and the Cumaean shore. Now we move back and forth between Bauli and Nicomachus's estate on Mount Gaurus [near modern Pozzuoli], trading visits with a steady flow of friends who keep arriving.
[Separate letter — congratulations on a promotion] It serves the public interest that greater responsibilities have been entrusted to you. My congratulations can therefore be brief — I wouldn't want any suspicion of flattery to tarnish the truth of my judgment. I hope your new post suits you, though I have no doubt that integrity like yours is unshakeable, and that good habits are only spurred on more happily by the reward of recognition.
[To Eudoxius] I was overjoyed to receive your letter as a mark of friendship. But when our friend Annius reported that your health is uncertain, my happiness turned to deep concern. Travel, which is already a kind of sickness in itself, now has the added burden of actual illness. Still, I'm comforted by the fact that you're known for your self-discipline and your philosophical composure in the face of adversity — qualities that tend to restore the body's strength and a healthy outlook. I hope for better news about you, and I'm readying my ears for happier reports. Justice, which watches over the faithful, will see to it that after this brief bout of trouble your life resumes its normal course.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.