Letter 5002: I received the very fine sea-carp which you sent me.
L To Calpurnius Flaccus.
I received the very fine sea-carp which you sent me. The weather is so stormy that I cannot return you like for like, either from the market here at Laurentum or from the sea. So all you will get is a barren letter, which frankly makes no return and does not even imitate Diomedes' clever device in exchanging gifts. * But your kindness is such that you will excuse me all the more readily because I confess in my letter that I do not deserve it. Farewell.
(*) Alluding to the story in the Iliad (vi.235) where Diomedes receives from Glaucus arms of gold in exchange for arms of brass.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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