After the customary greeting, let me come to a necessary request: my son's games are approaching, and we need to secure horses of curule quality. To that end, I've sent my most trusted men to Spain with ample funds to purchase pedigreed racing teams, chosen with the utmost care. But I'm worried that winter may block the horses' passage. I ask you, then, if the need arises, to provide fodder from your estates for three or four winter months, proportional to their number, so they can travel safely once the weather improves. I'd also appreciate your help if my people find any horses of outstanding speed and breeding in Arles — one should seize a nearby opportunity if something exceptional comes along. You can count on my lasting gratitude if your brotherly assistance, as I hope, contributes to our long-anticipated celebrations.
Salutationis honore praemisso snbtexo necessarinm postnlatum: filii nostri instat
edido; hnic eqnomm cnmlinm paranda nobilitas est. qnapropter ad Hispanias fide-
5 lissimos cnm copiosis snmptibns misimns , nt generosas qnadrigas snb diligentissima
lectione mercentnr; sed qnia veremnr, ne eqnomm transitum hiemis interventns ex-
cludat, qnaeso te, nt si necessitas postnlaverit, tribus aut qnattnor hibemis mensibus
pabnla illis in re tna pro numero iubeas ministrari, ut incipiente temperie sine vexa-
tione perveniant. praeterea adiumentum meis oro deceraas ad equoram coemptionem, 2
to si qnos in Arelatensi nrbe cnrsn et genere praestantes meoram cura reppererit. am-
plectenda est enim yicinae emptionis occasio, si eximinm aliquid casus obtnlerit.
stabit apud me iugis memoria beneficii tui , cum votivae editioni nostrae frateraa , ut
spero, cnra profuerit.
XXI a. 399.
◆
After the customary greeting, let me come to a necessary request: my son's games are approaching, and we need to secure horses of curule quality. To that end, I've sent my most trusted men to Spain with ample funds to purchase pedigreed racing teams, chosen with the utmost care. But I'm worried that winter may block the horses' passage. I ask you, then, if the need arises, to provide fodder from your estates for three or four winter months, proportional to their number, so they can travel safely once the weather improves. I'd also appreciate your help if my people find any horses of outstanding speed and breeding in Arles — one should seize a nearby opportunity if something exceptional comes along. You can count on my lasting gratitude if your brotherly assistance, as I hope, contributes to our long-anticipated celebrations.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.