Letter 14

Good fortune usually makes a man talkative, eager to burst the bounds of a quiet heart. But in your case, success has made you forget to write. I couldn't follow that example — the heavenly speech of our lord Gratian [Emperor Gratian, r. 367-383] filled me with hope and high spirits. So I've taken it upon myself to write to you, whether you're idle or not, both as a duty of friendship and to share my joy. Now, if you have a moment, let me tell you what happened. It was the first of January — Janus was opening the new year. The Senate was packed; we'd come to the chamber before dawn, before daylight had fully chased away the night's gloom. A rumor suddenly reached us that a speech from the long-awaited emperor had arrived during the night. And it was true — there stood the exhausted courier, weary from his night watches. Before the sky had even turned light, everyone rushed together. Lamps were lit. The words that would shape a new era were read aloud. What more can I say? The light we'd been waiting for — we received it before dawn. "Tell me," you'll say — and this is worth hearing — "what did the senators think of the speech?" Nature herself will tell you how enthusiastically a people receives the devotion they've longed for. We know how to embrace our blessings. Believe me, I'm still suffering a kind of indigestion from that joy. The good Nerva, the energetic Trajan, the blameless Pius, the dutiful Marcus — they were all helped by the times they lived in, times that knew no other standard. With our emperor, the praise belongs to the man himself, not to the age. Why should we think these virtues are merely echoes of the past? Let Fortune protect what she's given, and let her at least preserve for the Roman name these delights we enjoy! May no evil eye touch our public happiness! You've heard the summary, just a taste. The official record of our Senate proceedings will tell you more. And when you've read everything that was written down, consider how much more a single heart could wish for than even a whole assembly's applause could express.

Solet facunda esse laetitia et angustias clausi pectoris aspernata gestire: tibi, h amice , scribendi oblivionem peperit res secunda. id mihi imitationi esse non potuit, quem domini nostri Gratiani caelestis oratio bonae spei et hilaritatis inplevit. ultro igitur adloqui residem non peperci vel officii vel gaudii mei gratia, quorum alterum familiaritas nostra, alterum felicitas publica suggerebat. nunc si operae est, utendum 2 mihi tantisper animum fac remittas. primores kalendas lanus aperibat. frequens se- 10 natus matutine in curiam veneramus, priusquam manifestus dies creperum noctis ab- Bolveret. forte rumor adlatus est, sermonem desiderati principis multa nocte yenisse. et erat verum, nam tabellarius vigiliarum fessus adstabat. nondum caelo albente con- curritur; luminibus accensis novi saeculi fata recitantur. quid multa? lucem, quam adhuc opperiebamur, accepimus. dic mihi, inquies, — nam id praestat audire — quid 3 15 nostri ^atres super ea oratione senserunt? rerum tibi natura respondedt, quibus suf- fragiis exoptata pietas audiatur. novimus bona nostra conplecti. si credis, etiamnum illius gaudii mei quandam patior cruditatem. bonus Nerva, Traianus strenuus, Pius innocens, Marcus plenus officii temporibus adiuti sunt, quae tunc mores alios nescie- bant: hic in laude est natura principis, ibi priscae munus aetatis. cur verso ordine 20 ista optimarum artium putemus exempla et illa de saeculo priore vestigia? beneficium 4 suum fortuna tutetur et has saltem Romano nomini velit servare delicias ! nullo fascino felicitas publica mordeatur! audisti omnia sed summo tenus ore libata; monumenta curiae nostrae plenius tecum loquentur. ubi cum plura scripta reppereris, aestima, quanto uberiora unius mens optaverit, quam plausus effuderit. 25 xiin vnr a. 370—371.