Letter 6016: I foresaw the fear that news of my illness would cause you.
I foresaw the fear that news of my illness would cause you. Rumor, when it speaks of the absent, usually exaggerates beyond the truth -- and yet it seems not even to have matched the true magnitude of my danger. So as soon as my health allowed me to form letters, I didn't delay softening with my pen what I assumed had already spread.
Although my first message should have been enough to ease your worry, let this second attestation confirm that I'm safe. Meanwhile, please let me know what plans you've made about arranging the journey home. I confess that after this brush with death I've grown more tender in my feelings and can bear separation no longer.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Praevidi, quem metum vobis fama aegritudinis meae posset incutere, quae cum
soleat supra vemm de absentibus loqui, magnitudinem periculi mei ne fando quidera
30 videtur aequasse. itaque ubi primum mihi formare litteras per valetudinem licuit,
non distuli lenire apud vos stilo, quae vulgata credideram, et quamvis modificandae
sollicitudini vestrae prior sermo sufficeret, ad fidem tamen securitatis adtestatio se-
cunda proficiat. interea de ordinando reditu facite noverim. quid consilii ceperitis.
fateor enim molliore me esse adfectione post discrimen salutis nec ulterius posse sua-
35 dere, ut desiderio meo vestrnm otium praeferatis.
11 C. Th. VIIII 42, 14 dat. id. Febr. Constantinopoli, Arcadio IIII et Honorio III AA. coss.
30 aeq/Z/se P 33 proflciet P2m,
158 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE
xvn (X vni) .
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
This letter's Latin text is heavily corrupted by OCR artifacts and critical apparatus, making continuous translation...
Will you not give over, Basil, packing this sacred haunt of the Muses with Cappadocians, and these redolent of the frost and snow and all Cappadocia's good things? They have almost made me a Cappadocian too, always chanting their I salute you. I must endure, since it is Basil who commands.
I assembled all my brethren the chorepiscopi at the synod of the blessed martyr Eupsychius to introduce them to your excellency. On account of your absence they must be brought before you by letter. Know, therefore, this brother as being worthy to be trusted by your intelligence, because he fears the Lord.
You ask me to reply -- your letters are practically a challenge to a duel.
On matters that are plain and obvious, it's better to consult the facts than listen to gossip.