Letter 32
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 381 AD|symmachus
It's just like you — given our mutual devotion and the long history of our friendship — to insist that your own success is really my strength. The sentiment matches your well-known integrity, and the passing of time has never once proved you inconsistent.
May fortune generously grant what you hope for. I won't say more — excessive flattery would corrupt the dignity of truth. If you need anything from me, my brother Claudius, who is devoted to you and well-informed about my affairs, will see to it.
Facis pro mutua diligentia et antiquitate amicitiae nostrae, quod honorem tuum
vires meas esse confirmas. convenit dictum cum fide morum tuorum, nec umquam te
dissimilem scriptis talibus dies arguit. modo fortuna munifica prosperorum secundet
25 optata. longum de his loqui cautio est, ne blanditiae longiores corrumpant veri digni-
tatem. si quid de me scito opus erit, frater meus Claudius et cultui tuo deditus et
studii mei gnarus expediet.
1 partim FH 2 potioribas] iuretiM, bonoiibas VMFA iam] UVFA^, om, A^ parault] vr0,
parait F, paolt A^, parabit A^n
4 Syminacbas Aosonio] (/7), om, VM 6 spoeala /7 7 reram est at natara /7, natara est
reram at (/*) 8 dacantar (U) 9 rennao V miliari /7 10 responderint (27)
res ita (Z7) 18 qoi animam] M^ qaia nimiam V, qai animam (77) 19 aale om^ V
non ignaras M
16 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
xxvmi (xxm) post a. 370.
◆
It's just like you — given our mutual devotion and the long history of our friendship — to insist that your own success is really my strength. The sentiment matches your well-known integrity, and the passing of time has never once proved you inconsistent.
May fortune generously grant what you hope for. I won't say more — excessive flattery would corrupt the dignity of truth. If you need anything from me, my brother Claudius, who is devoted to you and well-informed about my affairs, will see to it.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.