Quintus Aurelius Symmachus → destinatário desconhecido
Tradução moderna em inglês
Your first letter reached me — so short, so hurried, it seemed to be imitating your journey. But believe me, the brevity wasn't unwelcome. You managed to cover in a few concise lines everything I wanted to know about your well-being: how strong your health is, how quickly you arrived, what reception you found with our eternal emperor. I'd go so far as to say that page was richer in substance than in words — there was much to be glad about, even though there was little to read.
Still, after this, remember to water even your personal letters with the abundance of your eloquence. It's not as though the effort would drain you — you who tirelessly dispatch the petitions of all who approach you, you who speak with the authority of oracles to the mind of our revered emperor. Let this letter be the first, but not the last.
Texto latino / grego
Redditae sunt mihi primae litterae tuae tam breves, tam festinatae, ut iter tunm 30 viderentur imitari. sed si mihi credis, non est in illis desiderata prolixitas. omnia enim, quae de amplitudinis tuae prosperis nosse cupiebam, succincta enumeratione conplexus es: quanta valetudine vigeas, qua celeritate pervectus sis, quid in aetemo principe serenitatis inveneris. ausim dicere, uberiorem rebus quam verbis fuisse illius naues F 4 remiger V morantur F Bediis P repperiat P 1 m, V, inueniat F 6 ad famem procliuus Oruter praeferas PVM iuuares om. P 1 m. ouram V 20 perBonam P 1 m, V 25 famam V reuocet urbs] VM^ reuocetur P 27 uale add. VM epistulae paginam; tBxa multa erant, quae gaudere deberem, cum essent pauca, quae PVF legerem. tu tamen post haec memento, etiam familiares chartas rigare facundiae 2 tuae copiis. neque enim te exhaurit, quod adeuntium preces indefesso absolvis adfatu, quod venerandi principis mentem loqueris oraculis. sint ista prima nec 5 tamen sola. tantum namque publico usui a te patior inpendi , ut nihil solaciis meis detrahat. VIIII ante a. 395.