Letter 9026: The question is now in your hands: whether I should continue to maintain my regular habit of writing to you, or...
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 379 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
friendshiptravel mobility
The question is now in your hands: whether I should continue to maintain my regular habit of writing to you, or whether your reserve should teach me to be equally sparing. I have always believed that friendship thrives on the frequency of exchange, not on the rarity of carefully polished masterpieces.
A simple greeting, honestly meant, outweighs the most elaborate silence. So I ask you to meet me halfway: if my letters come too often, tell me — but do not punish my diligence with your own neglect. The only correspondence that dishonors friendship is the kind that never arrives. Farewell.
peUt F3 noster interuentus F^ 30 elusus] F3, elusum F^-^ lides querelae istius F2*3
254 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
F mann tna , utrnm posthac tenere in scribendo morem meum debeam , an verecnndiae
nostrae continua lam tacitnmitate consnlere.
LXII (LVIIII).
n ROMVLO.
Tu quidem patema adfectione pignns commune commendas, sed illi efficacins &
studia et amorem bonorum probabilis vita conciliat. habes iuvenem, cuins debeas
fruge gaudere, etsi scio, patres avaros esse voti nec uUa iiliornm bona putare esse
perfecta desiderio et cupiditate potiore. forte lactari animum tuum indicas dulci po-
tius nuntio quam fideli confore, cum tibi eius reditum favor divinus ad-
nuerit, ut in illius meritis deprehendas mei testimonii veritatem. lo
Lxm.
r Observantiam vetus usus induxit, ut domo profecti praestent auspicinm mntnae
scriptionis, sed ego longae expectationis inpatiens ordinem servare non potni. prior
igitur tibi honorificentiam stili defero; dehinc subicio postulatum, cnius haec forma
est, ut Laurentium domesticum meum, quod domus meae poscit utilitas, snfifragio tuo is
non dissimtiles adiuvare.
LXim (LX).
n PACATO.
Incitare debueras; sed prolixus in hac conqnestione esse non fpigeo. itaque ad
comraendationem^^ri devotissimi Olympii amicissimi mei flecto sermonem teque se- 20
dnlo rogo, ut eum secums testimonii in penetralia familiaritatis admittas. reperies
in eo momm bona, qualia iudicii tui eircumspectio consnevit eligere.
LXV (LXI).
ALEVIO.
Vehiculi rotae cuius debeant esse mensurae, linea missa testabitnr. superest , ut 25
omne carpentnm adfabre et firmis conpaginibns explicetnr. si parte pretii ad hoc
opus est, quod dandum scripseris, iubebo numerari. humanitas xeniorum tnorum de-
bet esse moderatior; religio enim animis potius quam muneribus aestimatur.
2 noBtrae om, F3 continua iaro taciturnitate] tgo^ continua etiam taciturnitate F^, ti idem correxU
(/f) ex continua tacituruitate , quod in ediUone Lypsii invenerat, ita ut saltem vox etiam in JI fuisae videa-
tur, etiam taciturnitate F2 2 m., et tocitumitate F^ / m., taciturniUte (r)F« uale add. F».2
suf^ie: Bed scio vei simite quid 10 illius] T, illis (7/)
11 epistulam om. (71), primus edidit Scioppiua in Verisbn, l. JIII 17 14 postulat. r 16 dia-
simUeB F
19 non debeo Kiestling^ non pergo LatinHu 22 circumspectio] lureiua^ circuDspectionis II
eligere] (r), elicere {II)
niorum] F, semorum (77)
LIBEB Vnn. 255
LXVI.
AD SAECVLAREM. iT^
Pretia desertorum confuso errore poscuntur. nam neque iudicia
certuB faturi laboris ingtitues. iixum enim ac definitum tenet amplissima praefectura,
5 nullum eius esse meriti, ut sublimitati tuae debeat subrogari.
LXVII (LXII) .
Et quiete provinciae et vigoris tui delector laude, nec quidquam magisterio meo F
vindico. cum omne, quod spectat ad gloriam, tuae potius indoli dejig^tur. macte igi-
tur primi honoris auspiciis et ad honorem et gloriam felices tende conatus, ut et tibi
◆
The question is now in your hands: whether I should continue to maintain my regular habit of writing to you, or whether your reserve should teach me to be equally sparing. I have always believed that friendship thrives on the frequency of exchange, not on the rarity of carefully polished masterpieces.
A simple greeting, honestly meant, outweighs the most elaborate silence. So I ask you to meet me halfway: if my letters come too often, tell me — but do not punish my diligence with your own neglect. The only correspondence that dishonors friendship is the kind that never arrives. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.