Letter 2006: Having covered the coast beyond Formiae that stretches toward Axyr, we won't delay the ship and its rowers.

Having covered the coast beyond Formiae that stretches toward Axyr, we won't delay the ship and its rowers. But we need the gods' help — I hope our return finds nothing to regret. There's constant talk that the people are on the verge of rioting over the meager food supply, and there's no prospect of abundance replacing the current shortages. The harvest is near-famine everywhere. The grain fleet has been diverted to other routes. Summer is already giving way to autumn. By Hercules, as I said, we need to leave the management of this crisis to the gods. As for what human effort can do — the remedies are long overdue and too late now. Stay well — and hope for better letters, if fortune turns this bitter time for our city to something brighter. Farewell.

Emensi haec quoque litora, quae post Formias in Axyrim porriguntur, navem ac remiges non moramur. sed diis opus est, ut hic reditus noster nihil reperiat paeni- tendum. frequens enim sermo est, tenui victu in turbas plebem moveri, nec uUa spes 5 2 datur, praesentibus angustiis copiam posse succedere. annus ubique ad famem proxi- mus ; classis in alios conversa cursus ; aestas prope decessit autumno. diis me hereule, ut praefatns sum, deleganda est huius incerti administratio ; hominum autem remedia diu dissimulata iam sera sunt. vos valete et litteras sperate meliores, si fortuna urbis nostrae secundis amara mutaverit. vale. 10 Vn a. 383.