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. 396 · score 0.02
This isn't a new request -- it's one you'll recognize. I'm defending the daughters of the late Rufinus, former urban prefect, with a father's devotion. They're alone in the world, and I want their interests protected through you and the others who bear responsibility for the state. So I come as their advocate: whatever …
symmachus · c. 367 · score 0.02
Having covered the coast beyond Formiae that stretches toward Axyr, we won't delay the ship and its rowers. But we need the gods' help — I hope our return finds nothing to regret. There's constant talk that the people are on the verge of rioting over the meager food supply, and there's no prospect of abundance replacin …
symmachus · c. 390 · score 0.02
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. 398 · score 0.02
We've returned to our home and household gods, only to find a few unpleasant surprises. Our estate at Ostia is being hit by repeated encroachments. But if things are going well for you, send me a letter -- its good cheer will clear away the cloud of my present troubles.
symmachus · c. 391 · score 0.01
I had resolved to be away from home for a long while and was enjoying a pleasant period of leisure with our friends at our suburban estate called Arabianum. But since fortune overturns human plans and our intentions do not always proceed as we wish, the Prefect's letter broke into my leisure. The letter contained good …
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. 391 · score 0.01
We'd planned to linger in the countryside a while longer, but news of the homeland's troubles changed our plans. In a time of shared crisis, my own comfortable detachment would have looked dishonorable. Besides, my duties as pontiff demand that I be present for the observances of the appointed month. I can't in good co …
symmachus · c. 398 · score 0.01
There's something in my daughter Galla's [the text says "Fusgania" — possibly a copyist error] complaints that I'll confess has actually worked in my favor: if she hadn't demanded a useful letter on her behalf, I'd have had no occasion to write at all. So let me begin with the greeting that serves my own duty. The rest …
symmachus · c. 397 · score 0.01
Rufus, the treasurer of the pontifical college, is bringing you the college's formal petition. He's been specifically entrusted with the matter of retaining the Vaganensis estate [a piece of land belonging to the priestly college]. I beg you: make it seem as though your help in this matter were divinely provided. And r …
symmachus · c. 398 · score 0.01
...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. 388 · score 0.01
The quadragesima [a 2.5% import duty] is being wrongly demanded from senators who are candidates sponsoring games. This imposition is both illegal and unjust. The senators are already bearing enormous expenses for the public entertainment, and to tax the very animals and materials they import for the games is to punish …
symmachus · c. 375 · score 0.01
I come to the aid of my conscience, which will not allow me to remain indebted to the services of friends. My brothers Romanus and Magnillus, distinguished men, bound me to them long ago by the merits of their devotion. Though they do not demand the rewards that lesser fortune usually expects, they press their claims o …
symmachus · c. 388 · score 0.01
I can tell that the devoted attention I pay your household is well known to you -- that's why you share good news with me and reported that my daughter's health has taken a hopeful turn. I offer my heartfelt thanks and pray to the gods that your own fortunes may prosper. For us, the slow arrival of the African grain sh …
symmachus · c. 397 · score 0.01
Indulge yourselves, by all means -- you're so overflowing with the bounty of land and sea that the wealth of both elements supplies your table with a feast fit for the gods. It's enough for us that we get a share of everything you take in, and so generously that we too are swimming in fine dining.
symmachus · c. 367 · score 0.01
[This letter contains multiple fragmentary sections heavily mixed with critical apparatus. The legible portions concern: recommendations of friends traveling to the recipient's province, requests for help with estate management, and standard greetings. The OCR corruption makes a continuous reliable translation impossib …
symmachus · c. 369 · score 0.01
After the customary greeting, let me come to a necessary request: my son's games are approaching, and we need to secure horses of curule quality. To that end, I've sent my most trusted men to Spain with ample funds to purchase pedigreed racing teams, chosen with the utmost care. But I'm worried that winter may block th …
symmachus · c. 376 · score 0.01
I'd owe you rich thanks for greeting me so promptly after my departure, if the hope of a greater favor didn't claim... [The Latin manuscript tradition for this letter (Symmachus, Epistulae Book 8, Letter 21) is heavily corrupt or fragmentary. The above is a partial rendering based on the best available 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. 394 · score 0.01
Recommending leisure is easy enough -- but that kind of advice requires a man who's master of his own time. The hostility of my rivals won't let me sit still, and my young son's education won't let me travel far. So I shuttle back and forth as best I can, varying the scenery with comings and goings. This letter, for pr …
symmachus · c. 370 · score 0.01
[This letter's text is heavily interspersed with critical apparatus notes. The legible portions concern: arrangements for public games, complaints about delays in horse procurement from distant provinces, management of household estates, and the customary exchange of greetings. A complete translation requires the clean …
symmachus · c. 392 · score 0.01
I was living at my suburban estate, which lies beside the Appian Way, when your letter was delivered to me by a courier sent for this purpose. You know the property I mean -- where I have built a large house on a small plot of land. Here I was enjoying a sweet period of leisure -- if anything can truly be sweet without …
symmachus · c. 370 · score 0.01
...you may be inspired by my example. Since I have fulfilled my part of this sacred duty, I expect that you too will discharge your obligation of reciprocity.