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. 387 · score 0.02
They say that Socrates, whenever his plans were thwarted or his intentions went awry, considered whatever happened to be for the best. Confident in his own merit, he assumed that what chance delivered was better than what his mind had desired. I follow the wise man's example and put a good interpretation on the fact th …
symmachus · c. 375 · score 0.02
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 t …
symmachus · c. 398 · score 0.02
I have been sent to Milan by the senators to entreat the aid of the divine emperor, which the anxiety of our common fatherland demanded. A speedy return, with God's promised favor, is assured to me by the prosperous course of affairs. But you will crown these present joys if news of your well-being reaches me by letter …
symmachus · c. 366 · score 0.02
You'll learn from the official senate records exactly what the most distinguished order [the Roman Senate] decreed when consulted under imperial instructions about the grievances of the Africans and the complaints of the military. But since you've also asked me personally to report on what happened, I won't keep silent …
symmachus · c. 375 · score 0.02
And if fortune favors, I'll follow the letter in person soon. [The Latin manuscript tradition for this letter (Symmachus, Epistulae Book 8, Letter 19) is heavily corrupt or fragmentary. The above is a partial rendering based on the best available source.]
symmachus · c. 390 · score 0.01
My return and arrival in the city -- which is always welcome to everyone -- did not match our expectations in terms of speed. If you want the reasons, here they are. First, to put public matters before private ones: the grain supply of our city is not being increased by any imports. Even hope itself -- which usually su …
symmachus · c. 386 · score 0.01
You were joking, I think, when you wrote that you'd been frightened by soldiers on the road -- a transparent excuse to keep us from following you deep into Campania. If even you, a man who spent years in military camps, felt some alarm, what would a soft civilian like me have suffered? But I won't let a pretended scare …
symmachus · c. 367 · score 0.01
Meanwhile the city buzzes with the murmuring of the distressed. You, my friend, go hunting, and torment those of us who are overburdened with the boast of your pleasures! But how can I believe that so great a man as yourself has time to search out the lairs of hares? How is it, then, that in the same letter in which yo …
symmachus · c. 395 · score 0.01
There is plenty to write about, but my spirit recoils from speaking things that are painful to recall. I can see, though, that news about the city can't be suppressed -- and rumor, as it loves to do, will exaggerate the present situation. So to prevent that, I've attached a brief summary of what you need to know: this …
symmachus · c. 381 · score 0.01
...and you care for me, but I worry that you might take up some fight on my behalf while I'm away and draw hostility onto yourself. Please, I ask you, stand down. Perhaps one day I'll have the chance to make my case before the eternal emperor, our lord Theodosius [Emperor Theodosius I, r. 379–395], whose favor toward m …
symmachus · c. 370 · score 0.01
[This is a lengthy letter substantially corrupted by OCR artifacts and interwoven editorial apparatus. The readable sections discuss: the Roman Senate's proceedings on a matter of public importance, detailed references to legal precedents, and Symmachus's role as a senior senator in formal deliberations. The critical a …
symmachus · c. 383 · score 0.01
Has it really pleased our common father [the emperor] to keep you detained longer than I would wish? Or do you so detest city life that you frustrate my expectations with a pious excuse? Truly, nothing is done or said here that a good heart and a pure nature could embrace. But however things stand, if you were in Rome, …
symmachus · c. 372 · score 0.01
When I was surveying in writing the civil and military achievements of our lord Theodosius [Emperor Theodosius I, r. 379-395] -- I confess I touched on everything rather than doing justice to each -- I included his laws among the blessings of peace. I had known they had stripped the ancients of their claim to admiratio …
symmachus · c. 368 · score 0.01
Your letter was delivered to me while I was staying at the seventh milestone on the Via Ostiensis [the road from Rome to its port city of Ostia]. I immediately arranged through the distinguished vicarius [deputy prefect] to have the official records released at my request. But your servant left the city without my know …
symmachus · c. 382 · score 0.01
My brothers Dorotheus and Septimius, praiseworthy men, carried a single letter from you. But my sense of duty would not allow me to take the shortcut of a single reply: I wanted both to return you double the courtesy of your service, and to give each man individually the honor of a deserved testimonial. Even though our …
symmachus · c. 369 · score 0.01
Your letter was delivered while I was at the seventh milestone along the Via Ostiensis, and I immediately arranged through the distinguished vicarius to have the official documents produced at my request. But your servant left the city without consulting me — slaves being all too familiar with that kind of insolence. W …
symmachus · c. 389 · score 0.01
I am staying in Milan for the moment, summoned for the ceremonies of our lord Valentinian's inaugural consulship. The occasion is grand, as befits an imperial inauguration, and the city is full of notables from across the empire. I have taken the opportunity to attend to various matters of business while here, and I ho …
symmachus · c. 390 · score 0.01
We need to renew our petition for the emperor's visit. The distinguished Theodorus has taken on the Milanese embassy and is reportedly pushing to have the provincial request take priority over the Senate's petition. The urban prefect wants you involved in this matter, and I expect he'll be writing to you about it himse …
symmachus · c. 367 · score 0.01
But fortune will never gain such power over me that I, overcome by sorrow, should fail to honor your advancement. Rather, I seek in such consolations a remedy for my wound. Though these are insufficient for the magnitude of my grief, the most effective medicine your own words can bring will do me much good. You see wha …
symmachus · c. 376 · score 0.01
I have long been hoping to restore the health of my poor body, if only I could enjoy the healthful air of the countryside. But the suburbs are unsafe because of bandits, and so it is better to waste away in the idleness of the city than to risk the dangers of the rural districts. Yet I feel my health improving through …
symmachus · c. 377 · score 0.01
I practically seized Simplicius, the imperial agent, at the very gate of the Via Flaminia, just to dictate these few essential words to you. Our boy Flavianus arrived in Rome on the last day of February. He'll soon set out for Asia under favorable auspices. I thought you should know right away, so that the good news wo …
symmachus · c. 368 · score 0.01
Your letter was delivered while I was at the seventh milestone on the Ostian road, and I immediately arranged through the distinguished vicarius to have the official records produced at my request. But your slave left town without consulting me — a typical piece of slave insolence. Whether you let that go unpunished is …
symmachus · c. 394 · score 0.01
To Patruinus. The most august senate has appointed my lord and son Attalus, chosen from among the leading men, as envoy to our lords and emperors, equipped with the customary instructions. The matters in question concern the public good. If you lend him your support, I believe the fruit of his labor will be secured. I …
symmachus · c. 373 · score 0.01
I had every intention of making the journey, but the late summons left too little time to arrive. It seemed more decent to beg your pardon than to appear after the consul's ceremony was already finished. I have already sent the fullest explanations to our most merciful emperor and to all who wished me present — letters …