Letter 8012: Among the good things parents leave behind, friendship too deserves to be inherited -- and perhaps one should pursue...
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Pastinatum|c. 371 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendship
Among the good things parents leave behind, friendship too deserves to be inherited -- and perhaps one should pursue the legacy of personal bonds even more eagerly than that of property, since wealth comes by fortune while affection is forged by judgment. I want the connection your family has extended to us to grow and strengthen between us. It's natural that the courtesies you began and I approved should take root and flourish.
So be generous with your letters from now on. My own attention won't fail you -- I'll repay you with a steady exchange. Farewell.
Inter cetera parentum decedentium bona amicitiae quoque adfectanda successio
est et fortasse studio validiore captanda familiaritatis bereditas, quia facultates for-
tuna praestat, caritas iudicio foederatur. volo igitur, ut inter nos promptius convalescat
familiae tuae propagata coniunctio. consentaneum quippe naturae est, ut officia a te
20 inchoata , a me probata coalescant. ergo in reliquum sermonis esto munificus ; mea
cura non deerit, quae te stili vicissitudine muneret. vale.
XXXXUII (XXXXIII) .
AD PASTINATVM. n
Litteras tuas agrorum fructibus iure contulimus; nam ut illorum proventus non
25 fallit temporis sui debitum, ita fidem nostrae expectationis annuus dignationis tuae
sermo non decipit. huius nunc mihi per homines nostros adportatio satisfecit. lectis
igitur paginis valere te gaudeo, et adloquie tui honore delector. nec me arbitror in
respondendo inparem iudicari. praestabit divinus favor, ut has inter nos officiorum
vices aetas prolixa multiplicet. vale.
ennius magis eratum F
6 hane epistukmi cum praeeedenti eoniungit (/7), diviait epittulaa (/*) ex coniectwa Leetii? proba-
bilem cansam ****] (/*), om, (H) 7 stndiis] 77, latet nomen oppidi^ quod in Jtalia meridionali iitum
erat $ed non in itinere, quo Roma SieUiam petentet ire solebant; fort. Rudiis definitum] 5tf«€, deflnit /*,
desinit (77) 9 raritas] Juretus^ cliaritas 77 10 bis] hoc {F) praedicanda] luretus, preo^anda 77,
precanda F
\h om, F 16 dona F^ amicorum F^ 17 non est ante studio infer, F^ cap-
Undae Fi.2 haec editas F^ 18 indicio F^ 1 m, foederatur] F(/^, foederat /7 ut om, (77)
promptis F^ 1 m, 20 calescant F2, conualeacant F3 isto F^ / m., isU F2 2 m. 21 qui F»
muneret] i7F2, muneretur F'«3 uale om, F^
24 contulerim luretua 27 aUoquiis (77)
29*
228 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
XXXXV (XXXXIIU).
◆
Among the good things parents leave behind, friendship too deserves to be inherited -- and perhaps one should pursue the legacy of personal bonds even more eagerly than that of property, since wealth comes by fortune while affection is forged by judgment. I want the connection your family has extended to us to grow and strengthen between us. It's natural that the courtesies you began and I approved should take root and flourish.
So be generous with your letters from now on. My own attention won't fail you -- I'll repay you with a steady exchange. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.