Resultados25 letters/passages
symmachus · c. 372 · score 0.02
I can see you're still wondering whether the confiscation of property followed Rufinus's punishment [Rufinus was a powerful praetorian prefect whose spectacular downfall was a major political event]. The proof is right there, sealed in imperial decrees. And really, given the long record of that old plunderer, no one sh …
symmachus · c. 396 · score 0.02
You may be surprised that I'm recommending a bishop. It's the man's cause, not his creed, that moves me to write [a telling remark from the last great pagan senator]. Clemens, performing the duty of a good citizen, protected Caesarea — his hometown — by negotiating peace with the highest authorities. You've heard, I'm …
symmachus · c. 388 · score 0.02
It is the mark of youthful vigor to rouse wild beasts from their woodland lairs and to pursue liberal studies with the pleasure of the hunt. These pleasures of the countryside are not merely recreation -- they train the body for hardship and the mind for quick decision. I envy your energy and your freedom to enjoy it. …
symmachus · c. 398 · score 0.02
...your delight prompted a letter written in high spirits. [The Latin manuscript tradition for this letter (Symmachus, Epistulae Book 7, Letter 75) is heavily corrupt or fragmentary. The above is a partial rendering based on the best available source.]
symmachus · c. 390 · score 0.02
I'm perfectly willing to write, but I'd rather save the news for my dear son Sibidius to relay in person at his leisure. So this page serves only as a greeting -- its brevity will satisfy the respect due to you without stealing his thunder. Farewell.
symmachus · c. 395 · score 0.02
You wrote that you'd taken a purgative to clear your bowels, hoping it would bring down the inflammation in your eyes along with the rest of the toxins. I need to know: did the treatment work? Or did it turn out you also needed bloodletting to relieve the veins? My affection demands equal frankness from you about my da …
symmachus · c. 376 · score 0.01
We ought to help our friends when they ask for what's just — especially our friend Alexander, whom we approve in judgment and embrace in affection. Though you know he's not the kind of man moved by desire for honors, our shared sense of propriety won't let his military service go unrecognized. The emperor Valentinian h …
symmachus · c. 387 · score 0.01
We tried to keep the crocodiles -- the ones displayed at the theater show -- alive for your visit. But they refused to eat, and after fifty days of fasting had wasted them away, they were finished off in the arena during the second round of games, in the usual style of staged combat. Two are still breathing, and we're …
symmachus · c. 372 · score 0.01
Since no official courier was available, I entrusted this letter to a private traveler. Him I would ask you to... [Text breaks off here in the source.]
symmachus · c. 371 · score 0.01
Take my letter as your model -- and if you refuse to follow it, I will be marked both as arrogant and lumped together with those whose great pretension in words masks an utter emptiness of thought. --- To Protadius (~400 AD): The same consul who summoned me had called you to Milan. I hoped the occasion would bring us t …
symmachus · c. 365 · score 0.01
I feel utterly unequal to the task of thanking you properly for what you've done for my son Flavianus. Words come easier than deeds, and yet I cannot make my words match the scale of your kindness. The joy isn't mine alone — with Flavianus, lost honor has returned to favor, and the senate and all good men share this ha …
symmachus · c. 377 · score 0.01
Our ancestors did well and wisely — as was their way in so many things — when they built the temples of Honor and Virtue side by side with matching facades. Their insight anticipated what we've seen in you: that the rewards of honor are found where the merits of virtue reside. And nearby stands the shrine of the Muses …
symmachus · c. 386 · score 0.01
I know this letter will reach you late — either because of the duties that will keep you busy for a while, or... [The Latin manuscript tradition for this letter (Symmachus, Epistulae Book 1, Letter 44) is heavily corrupt or fragmentary. The above is a partial rendering based on the best available source.]
symmachus · c. 374 · score 0.01
[Only a fragment survives:] I am often urged by your warm correspondence to write about the literary studies we've both undertaken [Text breaks off in source.]
symmachus · c. 378 · score 0.01
I'm delighted to mean more to you than most people, since you're the kind of man who looks out for my interests without waiting to be asked — you act on nothing more than a hint of what I might want. I've received the four travel warrants [evectiones — official permits to use the imperial post], and they'll be enormous …
symmachus · c. 400 · score 0.01
It's a sign of your devotion that you take me to task for my silence. But please believe me: it was misfortune, not indifference, that kept me from writing for so long. I don't think you're unaware of how savagely fortune has treated me — it robbed me of my most loving and best of brothers. If, in time, the passage of …
symmachus · c. 389 · score 0.01
The hunt for wild animals testifies to your full and robust health -- no weakling could manage such exertions. I am therefore reassured about your condition and grateful for your efforts on behalf of our games. The beasts you are collecting will add greatly to the spectacle. Keep up the good work, and know that your co …
symmachus · c. 394 · score 0.01
Old custom dictates that the person leaving home should send the first letter. But it seemed too long to wait for yours -- and I don't fault you for the delay -- so I've broken with tradition and written first. It's your turn now to gladly repay what you should have started, and to put pen to paper with news of your he …
symmachus · c. 383 · score 0.01
Symmachus to Ausonius. Since you yourself do nothing for the sake of display, one must be careful not to praise your genuine virtues as though they were affectations. But know this one thing from me with absolute certainty: there is no mortal whom I love more than you. So completely has your honorable affection held me …
symmachus · c. 371 · score 0.01
You know that our silence is an equal offense on both sides, and so the blame is unfairly placed on me alone for what we share in common. I have a defense, though: the comings and goings of travelers are hard to track, and you never stay in one place -- you shuttle between Trier on official business and the Five Provin …
symmachus · c. 385 · score 0.01
The urgency of a repeated request adds great weight to my first petition, and so I press my case again about providing the animal hunters, hoping that a second letter may stir your diligence more effectively. The day of our spectacle is drawing near, and the generosity of the candidate alone will not suffice [Text brea …
symmachus · c. 369 · score 0.01
I trust that a steady flow of letters from me is enough to comfort your heart. To my recent ones I'm adding this, which will promise you my return -- if Fortune confirms what I expect. The reasoning is plain: after the magnificent performance of the consular games, only the arena show remains. So turn your anxiety into …
symmachus · c. 365 · score 0.01
This is a letter where the social gap between us actually shapes what we write. You write as a favor; I write out of obligation. That thought, among others, has kept me from neglecting my duty to correspond. Now let me bring you up to date on what I've been doing — I enjoy giving an account of my leisure as much as my …
symmachus · c. 378 · score 0.01
I was thoroughly displeased by the solitude of Baiae [a famous resort on the Bay of Naples, now largely abandoned] and chose instead to stay at Puteoli [Pozzuoli, a busy port city nearby]. The healthful living conditions here suit me well. From here, God willing, I plan to make an excursion to Capua and spend the entir …
symmachus · c. 396 · score 0.01
Considering how much affection you are kind enough to show me, I expect that my servant Cyriacus will find a warm welcome with you. I commend him to your care and ask that you assist him in whatever matter he brings before you. A kindness shown to him is a kindness shown to me.