Letter 8026: My silence shouldn't be held against me.
My silence ought not to be charged against me as a fault; for the practice of friendly services is neglected amid adversities. But since hope is given to my Symmachus of gradually restoring his good health, my spirit returns to the obligations of friendship, so that, if my silence had caused you any fear, the assurance of my speaking may free you from it. Farewell.
To Antiochus.
I hold it for certain that you value nothing more highly than my letters; for I too am of the very same mind concerning [the expectation of] your own [...]. Deservedly have I taken up this duty of friendship; and if you repay it in equal measure, my zeal will be sharpened by the spur of devotion. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Silentium mihi duci vitio non oportet; familiarium quippe usus officiorum inter 30
adversa neglegitur. sed quia spes datur Symmacho meo integrandae paulatim bonae
4 non] r, nam (/7) sit post dedux ifuerit F 5 ordines] luretw, ordine (Z7) 8 uo-
cauit {U) desidiam me«m] J^, desideria mea (Z7)
quod F3, quo FU« 17 relegere urbi F, aupple: relegere iter in urbi propinqua sinat fortunae] JIF^j
uult nanque F\ om. F^ hoc] fortune hoc det F^ 2 m, 18 scripturis F^ conaentiant] II,
conueniant F uale om. F^
LIBER Vni. VIIII. 235
valetadinis, redit animus ad amicitiae mania, ut si qnem tibi taciturnitas mea metum F
fecerat, sermonis securitas absolvat. vale.
LXXira (LXXIII) .
ANTIOCHO.
5 Certum habeo, nihil te litteris meis antiquius aestimare; nam mihi quoque ea-
dem de tui iprmoTli'? ^"^""^^*«^^ sententia est. merito amicitiae munus adripui; quod
si pari lance reddideris, studium meum incitamento religionis acuetur. vale.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern symmachus retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/qaureliisymmach00seecgoog
Related Letters
I commend your decision to stay at home for now.
I was glad to receive your letter and even more pleased by its contents.
What debt you say I have not repaid, I do not know.
Jerome urges Paulinus, bishop of Nola, (for whom see Letter LVIII.) to make a diligent study of the Scriptures and to this end reminds him of the zeal for learning displayed not only by the wisest of the pagans but also by the apostle Paul. Then going through the two Testaments in detail he describes the contents of the several books and the les...
Under other circumstances I should think it a special privilege to meet with your reverence, but above all now, when the business which brings us together is of such great importance. But so much of my illness as still clings to me is enough to prevent my stirring ever so short a distance. I tried to drive as far as the martyrs and had a relaps...