Letter 90
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Unknown|c. 400 AD|symmachus
If the opportunity to write came often enough, my will would never fail to match it. Proof: the moment a reliable chance presented itself through our mutual friend, I gladly seized the duty of writing.
I knew my letter would be all the more welcome if it was delivered by a messenger you know and trust — someone who'll faithfully convey not just the letter but a full account of how things stand with me.
Si facultas mihi ad scribendum saepe suppeteret^ voluntas numquam deesset of-
ficio. huius rei evidens certumque documentum est, quod ubi primum amici commiu-
nis fida adfnlsit occasio^ libens scribendi munus adripui. intellexi enim iucundiores 5
fore litteras meas, si has tibi familiarior tabellarius tradidisset, qui non solum epistu-
lam sed insinuationem quoque actuum meorum tibi fideliter exhibebit.
LXXXVIII (LXXXII) .
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If the opportunity to write came often enough, my will would never fail to match it. Proof: the moment a reliable chance presented itself through our mutual friend, I gladly seized the duty of writing.
I knew my letter would be all the more welcome if it was delivered by a messenger you know and trust — someone who'll faithfully convey not just the letter but a full account of how things stand with me.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.