Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Campania|c. 389 AD|symmachus
Our reasons for not writing are different, but the result is the same. I'm held up by the duties of the pontificate; you, by the pleasant negligence of your holiday at Baiae. Relaxation makes a man just as lazy as overwork. And no wonder that coast claims you entirely — we know for certain that Hannibal himself, undefeated in war, surrendered to Campania. Not even the legendary lotus tree that held travelers captive, or Circe's seductive cup, or the songs of the half-bird Sirens could equal the allure of that sky and soil.
Not that I'm accusing you of fattening yourself on idle holidays, or suggesting your virtue has been softened by luxury. But while you read for yourself, write for yourself, and rest your mind from urban affairs in solitude — enormous as your spirit is — you're neglecting the duties of friendship entirely.
So pick up your pen and show my affection the courtesy it deserves — unless you'd prefer to test the authority of a pontiff. We priests have much to deliberate in our college. Who gave you leave from your public duties? You'll feel the rights of a priest if you fail to fulfil the rights of a friend. Farewell.
Silentii nostri ratio diversa est, sed nnns effectus. me inpedit pontificalis officii
cura, te Baiani otii neglegentia. neqne enim minns rofiidem facit remissio animi
qnam occupatio. nec mirum, si te illa ora totnm sibi vindicat, cum ipsum Hannibalem
fides certa sit, bello invictum manus dedisse Campaniae. non illius caeli ant soli il-
lecebram retinax advenarnm lotos arbor aeqnaverit et suada Circae pocnla ettricfninm 10
2 semivolncmm pnellamm. neqne ego te pingnes ferias agere contendo ant virtntem
pnto frignisse deliciis. sed dnm tibi legis, tibi scribis et nrbanamm remm fessns
ingentem animnm solitndine domas, amicitiamm mnnia nnllns exeqneris. quin adripis
stilnm nostraeqne in te adfectioni honorem mntnnm facisi^ nisi mavis anctoritatem
pontificis experiri: mnlta nobis in collegio deliberanda sunt; qnis tibi bas indntias i&
pnblici mnneris dedit? senties ins sacerdotis, nisi inpleveris ins amici. vale.
XXXXVra (XXXXU) ante a. 385.
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Our reasons for not writing are different, but the result is the same. I'm held up by the duties of the pontificate; you, by the pleasant negligence of your holiday at Baiae. Relaxation makes a man just as lazy as overwork. And no wonder that coast claims you entirely — we know for certain that Hannibal himself, undefeated in war, surrendered to Campania. Not even the legendary lotus tree that held travelers captive, or Circe's seductive cup, or the songs of the half-bird Sirens could equal the allure of that sky and soil.
Not that I'm accusing you of fattening yourself on idle holidays, or suggesting your virtue has been softened by luxury. But while you read for yourself, write for yourself, and rest your mind from urban affairs in solitude — enormous as your spirit is — you're neglecting the duties of friendship entirely.
So pick up your pen and show my affection the courtesy it deserves — unless you'd prefer to test the authority of a pontiff. We priests have much to deliberate in our college. Who gave you leave from your public duties? You'll feel the rights of a priest if you fail to fulfil the rights of a friend. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.