Letter 5021: I'm overjoyed that an old debt has been paid to your merits at last.
I'm overjoyed that an old debt has been paid to your merits at last. You've long placed the republic in your debt through your virtues, and now, having found a prince of divine faith [i.e., the emperor], she has in a sense obtained the consulship she owed you.
I would have rushed to the celebration with eager heart, if the late arrival of the imperial travel permit hadn't squeezed the window too tight. Winter, too, held me back — heavy cold and short daylight hours slow a traveler down.
But my heart and my joy are with you. I alone have reason to grieve that misfortune robbed me of such a blessing; for you, the number of those present will suffice, along with the devotion of those who are absent.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Supra modum gaudeo redditum esse meritis tuis vetu^ debitum. iamdudum enim
rem publieam virtutibus obligasti, quae nancta divinae fidei prineipem sibi quodam- 5
modo consulatum, quem tibi solveret, impetravit. ad huius celebritatem voto alacri
cucurrissem, nisi diplomatis sacri tarda perlatio artasset intervallum diemm. accessit
hiemis contemplatio~quae magno frigore et brevibus lucis horis moratur excursus.
meus tamen animus, meum gaudium tecum est. ego solus dolere debeo, quod mihi
tantum bonum casus inviderit; tibi et praesentium satisfaciet numerus et cnltus ab- 10
sentium.
XXXVim (XXXVII) a. 389.
Revision history
- 2026-03-20v2.1.0-import
Initial corpus import from Seeck edition OCR from Internet Archive.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/qaureliisymmach00seecgoog
Related Letters
Not only the first of the letters but probably the earliest extant composition of Jerome (c. 370 A.D.). Innocent, to whom it is addressed, was one of the little band of enthusiasts whom Jerome gathered round him in Aquileia.
Other letters of mine have been chasing you across Spain -- I had assumed you were living there because of the...
So where am I supposed to find an abundant supply of words when you've lent me nothing in the way of literary capital?
On Laconicism. To be laconic is not merely, as you suppose, to write few words, but to say a great deal in few words. Thus I call Homer very brief and Antimachus lengthy.
You have lived uprightly, acquired your wealth justly, and are slandered openly.