Letter 9021: We should be silent about fortune's blows, lest a belated consolation tear open the scar of past grief.

From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, Roman Senator To: A friend (name lost) Date: ~376 AD Context: A consolation letter, tactfully avoiding the friend's recent loss and instead praising his son Nemesius. We should be silent about fortune's blows, lest a belated consolation tear open the scar of past grief. It is better, then, to speak with you about the outstanding -- or rather, the richly promising -- character of our young Nemesius. You have a man most worthy of being esteemed for his large family. I return him to you personally -- something I would have wished to do for both of them. You will judge from the cultivation of his character and learning how much more his studies could have added, had not our concern for your fatherly longing held us back from keeping him longer.

Tacenda snnt damna fortonae, ne sera conso/atio seindat praeteriti cicatricem do- loris. rectias ergo tecnm de filii nostri Nemesii omatissima indole vel potins fecnnda landnm fmge contnlerim. habes viram dignissimnm pro nnmerosa prole censeri. hunc & tibi in manum reddo, quod facere de utroque yoluissem. aestimabis de cultu morum eius ac litteramm, quantum illi studiomm mora potuisset adicere, nisi respectum pa- temi desiderii timor noster habuisset. LV (Lir.