Letter 9019: The memory of the former consul Petronius, whose home was in Ariminum [Rimini], requires me to defend his orphaned...

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 375 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
imperial politics

The memory of the former consul Petronius, whose home was in Ariminum [Rimini], requires me to defend his orphaned children. Their house has been designated for military billeting, and unless public authority intervenes, it will suffer total destruction.

If my intercession means anything, please send stern letters to the magistrates and council of Ariminum, ordering the soldiers removed and the old security of these little orphans' home restored. Those abandoned by their parents are supposed to be under the courts' protection. Farewell.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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