Letter 5076: The circumstances of our time test every friendship, and those that survive the test emerge stronger.
The circumstances of our time test every friendship, and those that survive the test emerge stronger. I have observed with admiration your steadfastness through recent difficulties, and I want you to know that it has not gone unnoticed. In better days, such constancy might be taken for granted; in times like these, it is a rare and precious thing. I attach my thoughts on the particular matters you raised, and I trust my judgment will prove as useful as your patience deserves.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
«
Romam redisse me nuntio. atque utinam sanitatis qnoque meae index esse potuis-
sem, quam labefactavit peregrinationis iniuria et hiemalis asperitas. sed otio redditus
30 spero meliora. ipse ut valeas, divina praestabunt. nam ut homines meos solito favore
tuearis, postulare non debeo, cum incitamentum spontanea officia non requirant.
I reddito V^ mihi lex V^, ex V^ fratrem V^ aliquid anit asperiUtis inur. V^
2 quoque] qq V^
misi Vt
II sym help V^, om, V^M 14 ///ria P exultoque ad V2 8//dium P 15 ex-
ortatione P l m, 16 lectionem V\ lectioni (F) 17 enim om, V^ silere (F) propo-
sitio V»
uore sollto V*
152 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
LXXXXVII (LXXXXV).
PV^m SYMMACHVS HELPIDIO.
Maiaerim quidem taum solamen adipisci, ned quia litteris secundus ad gratiam locus
est, desiderio tui scriptorum conpensatio satisfecit maximeque iuvit animnm, quod
tecum bonam valetudinem redisse in gratiam nuntiasti. ipse Formiis adhuc residere s
PV lconstitui, ut mitigatis autumni aestibus ad suburbana concedam. neque enim temporis
mei ratio patitur, nt communem patriam maestus ingrediar. vale.
LXXXXVin (LXXXXVI) .
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
1. Oh how I wish that I could continually say one thing to you! It is this: Let us shake off the burden of unprofitable cares, and bear only those which are useful.
On the question you raised in your last letter about the proper interpretation of the relevant precedent: I think...
If you have been caught by the poison of greed — which is the root of every evil [1 Timothy 6:10] — and it is...
I ask your friendship and protection for my dear Sosenas — born and raised amid learning, yet not meeting with the...
Your Holiness is well acquainted with Faventius, a tenant on the estate of the Paratian forest. He, apprehending some injury or other at the hands of the owner of that estate, took refuge in the church at Hippo, and was there, as fugitives are wont to do, waiting till he could get the matter settled through my mediation. Becoming every day, as o...