Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 401 AD|symmachus
I see, most distinguished consul, what a heavy obligation your affection places on me. You ask me to come and share in the joy of your magistracy. How can I refuse — unless you forgive me with the same warmth with which you invited me?
What am I to do, caught between competing claims? On one side, I'm drawn to the duties of honoring your consulship. On the other, I'm held back by grief for my lost brother. Two incompatible roles face me at once. How can one face serve two opposite emotions?
So please, with an understanding heart, grant me this release. Let fortunate men attend your chair of office in a happy crowd. Let any friend untouched by fate join your celebrations. But let me be [Text breaks off in source.]
Video, consnl amplissime, qnantum mihi amor tnns honoris inponat. inbes, nt
te adeam et cbram defmar magistratus tni gaudio. quo pacto istud possum negare, 20
nisi ea religione ignoveris, qua vocasti? nam quid agam fortunae dubius, cnm hinc
2 inviter ad obseqnia honoris tui, hinc luctn amissi fratris impediar? dnae mihi simnl per-
sonae dispares ofiemntur. qni fieri potest, ut os unum contrariis adfectionibus indua-
mus? proinde animi aeqnus huius operis facito mihi gratiam. fortunati sellam tnam
laeto agroine prosequantur; auspiciis tuis quivis fati integer amicus intersit: me sinito 25
3 interim tempore aut ratione decoquere amissi fratris crudum dolorem. qnid quod
etiam parentes mihi in communi maerore solandi sunt? quomm aemmna geminabitnr,
si illis tam inmaturae peregrinationis meae cnra iungatur. esto igitur promptus
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I see, most distinguished consul, what a heavy obligation your affection places on me. You ask me to come and share in the joy of your magistracy. How can I refuse — unless you forgive me with the same warmth with which you invited me?
What am I to do, caught between competing claims? On one side, I'm drawn to the duties of honoring your consulship. On the other, I'm held back by grief for my lost brother. Two incompatible roles face me at once. How can one face serve two opposite emotions?
So please, with an understanding heart, grant me this release. Let fortunate men attend your chair of office in a happy crowd. Let any friend untouched by fate join your celebrations. But let me be [Text breaks off in source.]
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.