Letters, Book II

Let antiquity, lavish of praise, be silent, which deemed Apelles, Zeuxis, or their like, as each age produced them, worthy of the honor of volumes. My speech concerning the commendation of Lucillus is more sparing, but my confidence is greater. For what does it profit to indulge in words, when the matter may be put to the test? Let your own judgment, then, be formed of him, you who have ever been an observer of the good arts. I, for my part, pledge Lucillus by my own modesty and honesty. Does he not seem to you worthy to be loved, whose gravity rests upon my surety, whose skill and learning deserve that you yourself be his judge? Farewell.

To wish to know the affairs of brothers is a dutiful and honorable concern. Gladly, then, will I answer your inquiries. We reached Capua amid much rain. Having tarried here three days to relieve our fatigue, we made for Terracina first, and on the following day, in a continuous journey, sought Formiae. Perhaps the produce of that same estate may be able to detain us for the space of two days more. Meanwhile, when you have finished what you intend to do at Rome, begin the Appian Way, with the gods' favor, so measuring your pace that you press upon our journey with steps close behind. Farewell.

I would have you rest, and take your leisure free of cares. For that honorable man Antonius has informed me that the plan for the African embassy has grown sluggish. Confirming the truth of the report, recent letters from friends have brought similar news on this matter. Is there now anything else you would wish to know? Nay rather, as I judge it, this above all ought to have been told you first. When we set sail from Cumae, almost at the whitening of the sky, more by the effort of the oarsmen than by the favor of the winds, I reached the Formian shore. Already the sun had broken past midday: the voyage of my friends, whom the smaller vessel had received, was slower; whether the wind opposed them, or through the negligence of the crew, is uncertain. This account, in the meantime, occasion has suggested that I write. I shall take care that by frequent letters I may deserve a like diligence of duty from you. Farewell.

Brought to Formiae after a great part of the day had passed, since we believed you anxious on that account, we forestalled your questioning with a letter. Nor were you more anxious about our voyage than we were fearful lest you should long remain uncertain. What, then, might have been answered to your letter, our earlier message already anticipated. Now consider how much better was our judgment concerning you than yours concerning us. For we had already taken account of the greatness of your anxiety before you sent your letter: since you sent it for this reason, that you thought we would not write unless reminded. Farewell.

Having passed also these shores, which stretch out beyond Formiae toward Anxur, we delay neither ship nor oarsmen. But the gods must see to it that this our return finds nothing to regret. For frequent report has it that, under scanty provisions, the common people are stirred to tumult. Nor is there any hope given that abundance may follow upon the present scarcity. The year everywhere draws near to famine. The fleet has turned its course elsewhere. Summer has all but yielded to autumn. To the gods, by Hercules, as I have said before, must the management of this uncertainty be entrusted. But human remedies, long dissembled, are now too late. Farewell to you, and hope for better letters, if the fortune of our city should exchange its bitterness for better things. Farewell.

I would judge you especially fortunate at this time, in that, removed from the troubles of your country, you take your leisure—did I not know that good citizens, and men like yourself, bear more heavily adversities which they do not see. For such is the nature of things, that whatever is learned from another is reckoned harsher and greater. Add to this, that an upright mind thinks its own innocence lessened, if it is absent from the perils of its own people. This I say, not to persuade you to a hasty return, but that you may know there is nothing in common misfortunes that one should prefer to another. For how would you help the commonwealth, though wisest of all men, were you to return? In the first place, there is no room for counsel, while, in deliberation, the standing of the one who gives opinion lends weight to his sentence. When is resistance offered to one more powerful, when does one yield to an equal? Besides, the present state of things requires not wisdom, but fortune.

We fear a failure of the grain supply, now that all have been driven out whom Rome, with generous and full bosom, once received. Perhaps by these remedies we may recover strength. At how great a cost of hatred from the provinces does that security of ours stand! Gods of our fathers, grant forgiveness for neglected sanctities! Drive away this wretched famine. May our city soon recall those whom, unwillingly, it dismissed. It does not please me to speak with you at greater length than necessary about our common misfortunes. Take care that you are well, and whatever is beyond human power, leave to the care of the gods. Farewell.

Your first letter has been delivered to me, so brief, so hurried, that it seemed to imitate your journey. But, if you believe me, no greater length was wanting in it. For all that I desired to know of the prosperous state of your excellency, you comprised in a concise enumeration: with what vigor of health you flourish, with what speed you were carried along, what serenity you found in our eternal emperor. I would venture to say that page of your letter was richer in matter than in words. For there was much that I ought to rejoice over, though there was little to read. Yet after this, remember also to water your familiar letters with the abundance of your eloquence. For you are not exhausted by the fact that you satisfy with untiring speech the prayers of petitioners, that you speak and pronounce the mind and oracles of our venerable emperor. Let these things be first; yet let them not be the only ones.

For I allow so much to be spent by you upon the public service, that you should take away nothing from my own consolations. Farewell.

Both for the sake of my regard for you, and for the sake of my own duty, any occasion for writing should be seized, so far am I from having to pass over one which a fellow-citizen has brought me. For you recognize a man of the Seven Hills; known at home by the goodness of his lineage, and abroad by the length of his military service: on whose behalf it is not necessary for me to speak at length to you. For commendation ought to be given to those unknown. But for this man, to win your favor, it is enough that he is both a Roman and a friend. Farewell.

Justice indeed requires no advocacy; but the speed of causes is generally aided by regard for friendships. To what purpose, you will ask, is this said? That your excellent dignity may know that a praiseworthy man (dearest among the companions) hopes indeed, from the nature of his business, to obtain the desired outcome: but understands that something will be gained toward winning the zeal of the judge, if he be supported by my letters. I ask, therefore, that you further the petitions of one whom I embrace with brotherly affection. These things I have undertaken to commend because, weighing the character of the petitioner, I have presumed them to be just. Farewell.

Having returned to Rome by the Ides of November (for I supposed you too would do the same), I await your arrival impatiently. And indeed I know that my letter will be delivered to you not far from the city. For the holy Patricius, whom you wished to be the guide of your journey, has announced that you will soon be here. May the gods turn it to good! For the present we have offered a few words; but we reserve more for our conversation. Farewell.

I have learned that a great many, after receiving letters from me, take their stroll in the forum of the Eternal City, though I fear greatly lest some deceit has crept in under pretense of haste. For this reason I have rightly appended to you copies of my letters, together with the names of the persons, for you to review. Do you, in turn, report to me concerning each, either the assurance of duty fulfilled, or reveal the treachery of duty betrayed. Nor with less concern do I wish to know whether you have received all sealed with that ring by which my name is meant to be understood rather than read. But when you have gone through the copies, you will judge that there is nothing I need fear being made public. Nor is there any reason for secrecy between us. With open heart we mingle pure duties. Nothing lies hidden in conscience that need be concealed by the burrowings of writings. But it is not right that we should allow our simplicity to be mocked.

For my diligence ought not to admit a traitor, merely because caution has spared me fear. Farewell.

When I ran through, with the honor of my pen, the civil and military praises of our lord Theodosius (for I confess that everything has rather befallen me than that I have adequately dealt with each particular), I also mingled among the blessings of peace his laws; which, though I knew they had taken away admiration from the ancient ones, I did not think had reserved an equal glory for the new. But truly this recent decree concerning trusts (fideicommissa), and the benefits of codicils forever repudiated by our excellent prince, so far surpasses in brilliance the light of the earlier ones, as it is more august for one who rules to set a limit upon himself than upon his subjects. And would that private avarice might understand the mind of the lawgiver, and draw its morals from the laws! For it is not hidden what he wishes others to do of their own accord, who himself first shuddered at the gains he had received.

I indeed fear lest the thirst of the wicked should consider the escheated matter still pertinent to their gain; and lest the cause of the innocent be made worse, if the occasion for fraud return only to those who are restrained neither by law nor by shame. Therefore, since the condition of masters is now more restricted, let the remedy of the law meet private cupidities. Long now the old decrees have grown cold among criminal men, whose force perished with their authors. As much severity must again be added to the laws as crimes have increased. Otherwise, if the correction of the greater part is neglected, in vain has the emperor alone bound himself by harsh sanctions, he who has always been good and upright in character. Farewell.

Aurelianus, my son, who now commands the urban cohorts, I have received into friendship at your bidding. Whence it has come to pass that I do not deny him the commendation which he earlier deserved from you. For it does not seem to you that what you yourself have done should be a burden. But the petition of this most modest young man arose from the misfortune of his father-in-law, whose deed he does not defend, but whose fall he desires to see relieved. Do as you are wont, out of regard for the one who asks; and if anything is lacking to strict justice, let it yield to compassion. Farewell.

To the most modest men, and lovers of you, Marcellus and Romanus, I have given letters more for the sake of the use of friendship than toward the effect of commendation, lest I add anything before you concerning men already approved. You know the modesty of these men, their diligent zeal; you do not doubt it, from the variety of their services. What place, then, remains for my testimony, when nothing can be added to your own judgment of them? And yet, if they will allow, being already full in merit, that a further increase be added, I ask that they understand your favor toward them has been augmented by my entreaties. Thus it will come about that they will credit to me also what they would have deserved from you without any sponsor. Farewell.

If you have not yet learned the praiseworthy character and honorable pursuits of my son Nicasius, receive a most ample surety: my Promotus, conspicuous for virtue and humanity, with whom he has long enjoyed the leisure of a friendship dating from birth; and weigh the merits of this excellent young man by his judgment. For it is a just conjecture that is drawn from the weight and estimation of friends. For the case of my own attestation is of less account, when the authority of the aforesaid person outweighs it. To whose honor it must be granted, that he be regarded by you not as one newly subjected to examination, but as one already approved. Farewell.

A familiar letter is wont to begin with a general greeting. This, then, I strive to wish for you more earnestly by prayer than to express by pen. So, in place of the customary words, I shall include matters worth knowing. Our sons still linger in the bosom of their grandmother. Forgive her, if, being burdened with years, and meanwhile lacking your consolation, this woman tenaciously retains the second comfort of her age and solitude. Yet we are preparing for one of them the means for his journey, and for the other, companionship in counsel. That your exile is a burden to your old age, I have heard with reluctance, or rather, what is more worth saying, I have scarcely believed it; since you possess the blessings of your country and the joys of your pledges in the favor of our excellent emperor. Wherefore cast off thoughts of Baiae, and a leisure unfruitful for virtue. This labor of yours is more joyful than any ease. Let us embrace, I urge, this lovable service under a loving prince. Farewell.

So may a happy outcome smile upon my prayers for you, as I take it gravely that our brother Hephaestion, known to me through you, approved of himself, has fallen into I know not what bitterness. And because regard for your virtues makes me apply to his fortune what is, with you, a matter of lesser weight, I turn to entreaty, that you may answer for yourself and consider your reputation, I ask. Grant this to your comradeship, grant it to your own judgment, that patience not be lacking in you, if measure was lacking in him. I would not have you seem to satisfy, by the slight of a friend, a certain person recently returned to Rome, whose complaint among us has increased your glory. Certainly Eusebius, foremost of physicians, delivered by me into your service, and apt for soothing offenses, will now be able to season what is bitter: concerning whose wit I pledge two things, that neither will moderation be lacking to Hephaestion, nor consolation to you. Farewell.

Behold for you our son, whom we have plucked away from our own solace, while we yield to your longing. At last, sustained by so dear a relief, return to the grace of your former joy. But if you will incline to my opinion; as soon as you shall have warmed your paternal spirit with the sight of your pledge, put the useful before the pleasant, and strive to send the young man forth to the civil fasces. For what is there for you in the camps, in the presence of both? This is the form of my counsel. You yourself will do what you shall have chosen with greater prudence. For he sees more who judges of the conditions of affairs in person. What I say is a wish: do you form your judgment from what has been set before you. Farewell.

Come to the aid of my good faith, which no longer suffers me to remain a debtor to the services of friends. My brothers Romanus and Magnillus, most illustrious men, have long since bound me by the merits of their devotion. And although they do not demand rewards, such as lesser fortune is wont to expect, yet they more sharply move my mind by honorable considerations, and that the more often. I should be lying were I to allege that I lack time to render service, since my influence is estimated by the strength of your own honor. Grant, I beg, that by the effect of their honor they may perceive, on account of the concord which exists between me and you, that whatever is bestowed upon one is owed by both. Farewell.

The reasoning of my duty has persuaded me to write, since the person who will deliver this letter is such that he may hope more from your judgment than from my assistance. And so all those things which it is customary to set forth in letters, I entrust rather to him to be related; from whom your greatness will learn both whatever he shall have believed worthy of your knowledge concerning me, and whatever his own fortune demands. Farewell.

I would long since have restored the health of my poor body, had I been able to enjoy the wholesomeness of the fields. But now the suburbs are unsafe because of brigandage: and therefore it is better to waste away in the idleness of the city than to fall into the perils of the countryside. Yet from your letters I feel my health improving.

You often enumerate the benefits of our lord Theodosius, and assert that your merits are increased by great rewards. And to him indeed your own tongue will suffice for giving thanks. I, in proportion to the mediocrity of my talent, render to that most excellent man, the partner of our vow toward Flavianus, my share of praise. But it is now time that you allow him himself to return, for whose sake we are obligated. How long will you claim the magistracy of a distant province for the solace of your presence? There is no pretext left in the matter of your wife’s womb, since a timely delivery has fulfilled the expectation. Farewell.

I supposed that by so many admonitions and exhortations of mine something of patience had been added to your spirit. But in truth you even trouble our venerable kinsfolk about your absence from home. But what does this complaint accomplish? Those for whom your return is a matter of prayer do not endure your impatience. For they see that under certain rival citizens a hasty departure will bring no praise. Nay, rather assume constancy, and weigh what is fitting rather than what is pleasing: especially since you yourself confess that in the love of our lord, the venerable prince Theodosius, you have found the favor of all your dearest pledges. Farewell.

I detained Simplicius, an agens in rebus, almost at the Flaminian gate, in order to dictate to you a few things, not to be omitted. Our son Flavianus came to Rome on the day before the Kalends of March, and will shortly set out for Asia under favorable auspices; which it was fitting to make known, so that the promised hope may wipe away the anxiety which you have hitherto borne on account of his delay. Farewell.

You abound indeed in counsel: prepared for every use of affairs, and, by the cultivated arts of wisdom, you do not need a monitor. But it is right that you allow my vigilance also to contribute something to your private affairs. Wherefore, if any premeditated thought a brotherly pen has suggested to us both, carry it out the more steadfastly, as approved by two. If you should read anything new therein, consider it as found by yourself, though suggested by one who loves you. I have subjoined the heads of the matter, because I was unwilling, by fleeing tedium, to embrace it all in a letter. It will be yours to weigh what has been intimated. For I have so discharged my office that I might reserve the judgment for you. Farewell.

Being much offended by the solitude of Baiae, I preferred to stay at Puteoli. For the wholesome dwelling of that place delights us. Thereafter, if with God’s help our wishes go forward, we plan to make an excursion to Capua, and we devote this whole month of November to the various places and cities of Campania. This is the sum of our purpose. But that a more eager spirit may carry forward what is intended, it must be roused by your converse: since we count nothing more precious than the token of your health and happiness. But this you will do of your own accord, out of your notable devotion. And so there is no need to apply the goads of exhortation to voluntary services. Meanwhile, that you promise, my brother, to be present, I embrace most warmly. And would that your whole household might accompany you!

That the arrival of all may grant us a fuller joy, and that you may have no cause to hasten back to your homeland sooner, out of longing and love for those remaining. Farewell.

Although rumor has outstripped my letter, having announced that you have been relieved of public burdens: yet, that the assurance may be the more trustworthy, I confirm the report in writing. But although you may rejoice at the discharge of the public office, I wish you to be fortified against uncertainties: namely, that, under the compilation of your Acts, if you still retain the power, or of the vicarial prefecture, which will not be lacking to you upon request, an account of your diligence may be drawn up, one able to show how many animals in number you stationed, and with what equipment you furnished the post-stations, and how much your care advanced in the exacting of the fiscal levies. For by this testimony you will be protected against all complaints, whether accidental or contrived through malice. Farewell.

Blame, as you wish, the counsels of affairs after the outcome, and impute it to me as a fault that the prefecture has complained of being held in contempt. An accuser deserted of aid finds it easy to accuse. And so I prefer to take upon myself the confession of an error, rather than charge either my friends with negligence or my adversaries with harshness. Let it be attributed to fortune, not to my conscience, that I should seem defeated, who had not yet begun to litigate. But you also write that I should abstain from similar causes. You see how much is allowed to outcome. You have forgotten my character. I indeed will join to my accustomed modesty even a cowardly timidity, and will give thanks to your letters, which exhort me, having laid aside all confidence in law and friends, to silence in the face of all injuries. Farewell.

Whoever intervenes on behalf of excellent men seems no more to be aiding their advantage than commending his own judgment. Wherefore, in that I pursue by letter the wishes of my brother Maximus, it is not so much of use to him as of praise to me. For he is a man distinguished alike in life and in the learning of the liberal disciplines, second to none of the foremost philosophers, and therefore most worthy of your friendship. When he, sent on business, shall have concluded his affairs with you, I beg that with that humanity for which you are renowned you would follow up his just petitions with weighty support. Farewell.

With what feeling I received news that the Sicilian affair had been damaged, you easily conjecture, since you know me to be stung even by the iniquity of judges in the cases of others. Nay, I am even charged by you with imprudent counsel because of what has been lost. You do rightly. For why did I hope that the insult to the sacred tribunal would be avenged? Why did I presume upon lawful and just claims from friends? And to what have we been reduced? I have lost justice while waiting for vindication. Now how shall I explain this, that Probus is judged more mild, who yielded the retention of a small plot to the prejudice or ill-will of my possession, when the whole inheritance of the poor woman was being promised to him? For this alone was the reason for referring the matter to the Prefect of the City: not that the governor of Sicily should pay the penalty for having received appeals, but that the judge of the sacred tribunal should avenge his own injury.

Now let it be referred back to the case, after my victory, against the sentence of the prefecture, to which the opposing party consents. If the referral pertained to the merits of the case, and they had given supplements or rebuttals to the litigants; I ask, on what actions will judgment be given, which one party produced in Sicily after my appeal, to which the acts of the tyrannical times have been joined? So great is the ill-will against me, and so pleasing to some is reproach. Yield to the will of my adversaries, and deign to suggest to our lord, the most invincible prince Theodosius, ever august, that riches are not worth more to me than reputation. I prefer a good judgment of me from the father of the public, my preserver, to any inheritance whatsoever. If it is pleasing that I should depart from my whole hereditary possession, it shall be law to me, whatever the lord of all shall decree with pacified authority. Farewell.

I know you to be a friend of justice and a lover of me, and I fear lest you undertake any contest on behalf of one who is absent's reputation, and turn upon yourself some measure of hatred. I ask therefore that you remain quiet. There will perhaps be an opportunity for me to bring forward the truth at some time before the eternal prince, our lord Theodosius, whose favor toward me has caused envy meanwhile to contrive something. I do not think that in good times my case will be in that condition in which it was under the tyrant, by whose letters, given upon Marcellinus's suggestion, you know my people were fined. Which I did not pass over in silence in the defense of my panegyric. Farewell.

He will render you my letter who ought to have delivered yours to me. For the same excuse of silence does not suffice for us as for you. You are surrounded by the manifold din of a crowd of public affairs; I, released from all business, wear away a sad leisure. And what I used to do before for the sake of your honor, I now take up for my own comfort. For the mind is relieved of its sickness whenever it is directed to friendly duties. That I speak from truth, not for glory's sake, my retirement is witness. For when, wounded with grief, I was in turmoil, I approached the seat of our common lady mother as if some shrine of the saving God. Now by her counsel my wound has closed into a scar. I rest in her admonitions, by her aid I breathe again. There are present also your other venerable kinsfolk: and what delights me above the rest, our conversation daily makes fond mention of you.

For which reason the greater part of the summer was spent within the borders of Campania; since both the presence of these things is pleasing, and such is the condition of our homeland, that we who can be excluded by wicked men ought meanwhile to be absent as though of our own choice. Farewell.

The report of the spectable man, our brother the vicar, will set forth the unworthiness of the crime discovered. And therefore there is no need that my discourse should recount things unspeakable to say and hear. There is one thing that both my petition and the wishes of the rest desire: that for the sake of your justice you not allow this to be treated with contempt, which will set a most grievous precedent unless the daring of others be checked by a stern penalty. There is a report that you have ordered Ampelius and certain others, said to be senators, brought from Sardinia into accusation, to observe the competent forum. These I now hear have been transferred to another tribunal. Wherefore, if you yourself recall it to have been so judged by you, I deem it fair that you should deign to be present at your own decisions. Farewell.

I thought you were preparing your return, since the sacred rites of the Mother of the Gods were drawing near. You instead advance your journey by a single day, and leave us and your homeland behind your back. Mock, as you will, the compliance of your friends: who, if this injury stung them, would at least abstain from letters in return for such ill favor. But now we soothe your departure with attentions, and offer soothing balms to your mind, though you set the care of your household affairs before all else. For you will recall that you framed your letter with this preface: "Nothing at this age is to be handled more earnestly than domestic matters." Which, as I contemplate the vein of your character, I know was conceived in jest. For when would the loftiness of your genius be bent to baser cares? I judge, therefore, that you should reserve such words for others, who do not know the sacred inner sanctuary of your mind.

You will satisfy me in one way alone, if, setting aside the defenses of letters, you yourself return. Farewell.

I too embrace the ancient form in writing, and I greatly wonder that an error of a copyist has crept in on me; who, being accustomed to place only names at the head of my letters, has changed the simple custom by a novel addition. But it will be clear that this happened rather by chance than by design, if you recall that in earlier times such a heading was never sullied by this practice. And yet, however the matter fell out, I am glad that something new has been offered, which might free me from the usual manner of replying. For how long shall we babble words in giving and returning greeting, when no other matter is at hand for the pen? Yet formerly our forebears used to bring even the affairs of the fatherland—which are now scant or nonexistent—into familiar pages. Because, turned toward leisure, we have set this aside, we must for the most part seek out untried seeds of writing, which may wipe away the tedium of commonplace letters.

The fault, then, which I have wiped away, has pleased me, and, if I am not mistaken, it has given you too an opening for an unaccustomed reply. Farewell.

Has it then so pleased our common father that you must be detained longer than I would wish? Or is your avoidance of city affairs so great that you frustrate my expectation with a pious pretext? And truly what is done or said here is something a good mind and sincere nature could well embrace. But however these things stand, if you were at Rome, they would perhaps be softened by mutual access between us. Now, being alone, as it were, the vexations of all matters are more grievous from without. Take one example, from which you may conjecture the rest. The virgin priestesses of sacred Vesta intend to dedicate a statue-monument to our Praetextatus. When the pontiffs were consulted, before they weighed the reverence of that lofty priesthood, or the practice of long ages, or the condition of the present time, they gave their assent—apart from the few who followed me in urging that his office be considered.

I, perceiving that such deference on the part of virgins toward men neither befits their modesty, nor accords with custom—since what Numa established and Metellus preserved as guardian of the religious rites, and all the pontifices maximi before him, never earned—said nothing of this, lest, if declared to the rivals of the sacred rites, it should create harm, they judging it unprecedented. I only wrote back that the precedent ought to be avoided, lest a matter arising from a just beginning should soon, through ambition, fall to the unworthy. Not to speak at length, I have sent you the very words, approved by good men, though perhaps to be overcome in number; although in the decrees of the pontiffs the form is not the same as that of the senate. But ignorance will make light of this too. If you were present, the soundness of two minds would accomplish much.

Therefore, as soon as our common father has emerged from the uncertainty of his illness, give yourself back to me, that shared consolations may make our course of life more equable. Farewell.

I cannot decide what manner of writing is most fitting for me. For already for a long time there has been such an intemperance of varied rumors that I ought neither deceive those most dear to me with falsehoods, nor disturb them with truths. Yet hope, which always persuades patience in adverse circumstances, is secure. And if it should bring any advantage, I shall by no means delay to be the herald of better things. Farewell.

The arrival of my son Parthenius requires no enticements of recommendation to help it. But I think it will add to his favor that my own word is joined to his presence. From him you will learn what has happened at Rome, though report will have outstripped the letter. For great and unlooked-for events do not suffer themselves to remain secret. Our populace changes for the better; so much so that the punishment of the seditious is now continually demanded, and the insolent have already turned their backs. There is no need of many words. Nor indeed ought I to detract anything from the telling, since I have reserved the fullness of the matter for the messenger who is coming to you. Farewell.

Horus the philosopher, distinguished in life and learning, has long been dear to me and a friend; and he counts it among the first gifts of fortune, if he be joined to the best of men. Wishing therefore to bring his desire to effect, I ask you that, both for the sake of his own merit and in honor of my recommendation, he be reckoned among the foremost and most honorable of your intimates. Farewell.

I congratulate my Ignatius that our diligence toward him is surpassed by your affection. What I wished has come to pass; for I had sent ahead a more modest guarantee of testimony concerning him than you have come to feel. Now if you wish to know anything of my doings, he will explain them. Such is his virtue, and such the trust of both of us arising from familiarity, that he can be ignorant of nothing concerning me, and can hide nothing before you. Farewell.

I forestall by petition your voluntary kindnesses, so that what you grant of your own accord may seem to be obtained by my asking, and the goodness of your nature may pass over into my favor. I have ordered Nicagoras, a most illustrious man who discharged the fasces of Sicily, to present himself under escort. To you he is commended both by the integrity of his life and by fraternal merits. To his advantage is added my entreaty; and though I hope your beneficence will answer to his uprightness, yet I earnestly ask that this occasion of appearing may turn to the good of this most upright young man. Farewell.

I had recommended to you some time ago the son of Macedonius, a most illustrious man, when he had enrolled his name in your court. I believe that this has been of some advantage to the young man according to my wish. But because nothing is ever enough for parents, and because the repetition of a request seems to some more effective, being asked again I renew my petition—not that you should show the pleader some new benevolence, but that you should deign to increase what has already been granted. But in my own name I ask you not to suppose that this renewed desire arises because I distrust having already obtained it. Farewell.

The merits of Sexio, who formerly governed Calabria, many speak of favorably; and for this reason they have asked that he be commended to me by your vote of support. It is characteristic of your humanity and habit to deem others worthy of your affection also, once they have found favor. Therefore, if there is nothing to resist the wish of those who ask, bring it about, I beg you, that both my words and the prayers of many may profit Sexio with you. Farewell.

The palace officials accused of wrongdoing, whom your Highness ordered to be summoned from the Bruttii, a soldier sent from the praetorian guard has produced. But since the same case fell also within the competence of the sacred court, my lord and our father, the Prefect of the City, by the authority of law and by confidence in you, claimed for himself both the persons and the business. I write this so that you may know that the officer had just reason underlying his action, since he yielded both to your father and to the laws. Farewell.

Those who by God's favor obtain their desires reckon it a kind of thanksgiving to venerate in person the givers of good things; so now my brother Peronius, made secure by the rich gift of your testimony on his behalf, has hastened to greet in person the author of part of his honor. I would commend to you an excellent citizen, if you were able to think little of one whom you have already advanced so highly. These words, then, which are wont to serve as support for those setting out, must here be dispensed with. For it is no vain hope that the merits of one present will prove stronger with you, since you have already regarded him with favor while absent. Farewell.

They say that Socrates, whenever he fell short of his wishes or intentions, judged that whatever had happened was useful to him. Untroubled, as one who did not deem himself the arbiter of his own deserving, he supposed that what chance gave was better than what his mind desired. I follow the sage's example, and take it in good part that the number of Saxons, reduced by death, has remained within the sum decreed for the pleasure of the people, lest, if any had survived in excess, they should have been withheld from our exhibition. For when would private custody have restrained the impious hands of that desperate race, since the very first day of the gladiatorial games saw twenty-nine strangled without a noose? I therefore make no complaint about a household worse than that of Spartacus; and I would wish, if it can so easily be done, that this munificence of the emperor be exchanged for a gift of Libyan beasts.

For common care will provide those suited to gladiatorial combat—this being the prior concern in the quaestor's preparations—so that long practice may train those chosen for the contract. As for our men, to whom the selection and procurement of bears has long since been entrusted, I do not doubt that, by reckoning of time, they have reached you. But if they are delayed by the greed of the overseers of the public post, it will be for your kindness to release them from the delays by which they are held. Farewell.

By the help of the gods, with a favorable voyage and an easy journey, we arrived at our destination. It happened to be the fitting hour of the banquet. When we had begun to attend to our bodies with food, there ran up one who presented me with your kind letter, and at the same time the provisions caught by you from the sea, which soon after served us for food. For it pleased me to indulge my spirit, after the hoped-for news had shown our little one delivered from danger. There you have the whole matter: take care to keep well, and revisit as soon as possible the fatherland that loves you—by the good leave, as I hope, of our father, to whom you will soon be restored once the lustral ceremony is completed. Farewell.

On the third day before the Nones of October, at first light, I answered your letter, which, because of the distance of the journey that now keeps us apart, you should have received before noon. But as the writing delivered to me only toward evening revealed, the slowness of the courier held up my duty and my care. Yet I cannot be angry at this delay. For you would have had no cause to repeat your words, had you read our reply in good time; which I trust has by now been delivered—unless perhaps once more some wealthy man of the city, a highway-lurker, has stolen our letter. May the gods punish them in their own minds! Now let us return to your questions.

The humor that had beset our little one's chest and was stirring up a troublesome cough has been reduced in great part: and so the passages of his throat, now free, no longer make any wheezing sound. May the goodness of God be willing to establish the progress of his recovery on firm ground. As we have caught our breath from the fear of present dangers, so with prayer we fortify ourselves against what is to come.

Until now it did not please me to write, the complaints of weaknesses clamoring against it, which I forbear to describe. Hence it has come about that my duty has been anticipated by your address. Now that, by divine help, I have begun to enjoy the blessing of health, the care of writing returns. Take then this letter, late indeed, but suited to your wish and purpose: and as it has been long delayed, so it will make up for the longing for it by a better token. Farewell.

With the gods as our guides we shall begin our journey to our native land, a matter already known to you beforehand. But scruple has prompted me to make you certain also of the day. Learn then that tomorrow the road must be retraced by us. And since you are most faithful in keeping your promise, be sure to remember to hasten to the public solemnity. Farewell.

I had sent an earlier letter, which I assume by now has reached your hands. Not much time had passed when there came one who delivered to me your letter. Having read the page through with my eyes, I found that you asked me the day fixed for beginning the journey. But I had already forestalled this concern by my own spontaneous word. Thus we have used up what needed answering. What remains but that I should congratulate us both that our minds are kindred? For what I presumed you wished to know, I disclosed before you asked. Farewell.

The return and going back to one's native land, which is always welcome to all, has by no means answered to expectation in our haste. If you desire the reasons, hear them. First of all, to set public matters before domestic ones, no importation increases the grain-supply of our city. Hope itself, which is wont to sustain minds in adversity, refuses to promise any escape, since a barren year has not even returned the seed committed to the earth. Then, to speak to you of a private concern, a military encroachment presses upon our estate at Ostia. We call the law an empty name. Let the gods see to the outcome of the case. Meanwhile we are troubled not by fear of loss, but by the injury done to citizenship. The proceeding of my colleagues, which had summoned me, has restored to the eternal emperors the choice of the men to be sent as legates to Africa. Since therefore the deliberation of the senators is at a standstill, I am not called upon. Farewell.

You are performing the office of a good brother. But cease to remind one who remembers. The ceremonies of the gods and the appointed festivals of divinity are known to me. Unless perhaps you ask that I alone carry out your part, and, as is customary for sacred matters to be entrusted, you enjoin your duty upon me. Enjoy your abundant delights. We shall see to the appointed observances. But remember, once the feast days are over, to make sharers in your luxury those whom you took such pains to have as companions in fasting. Farewell.

A pleasing thing is the complaint that demands attendance. But since in writing I have never shown a sluggish will, I am accused in vain of neglected friendship. In this matter I make use of the testimony of your own men, who admit that a letter given to them was long ago delayed through the fault of the courier. I wish therefore that the account of our preserved friendship stand established with you. For it would be very unjust to draw, from another's fault, the blemish of a violated bond. Farewell.

In hope of good health we chose a place near the sea. But we do not yet enjoy salubrious breezes, the winds contending against us. Hence the lady's recovery to health is slower: and if a better day should add anything to her improvement, I shall not delay to give you the wished-for news of her. As you have deigned to hint, restless matters of the city mock a watchman who feels secure. For at another's risk an ineffective and harmful undertaking is attempted; so that when fear of low prices has driven the city into straits, then greedy selling increases the gain of those strong in wealth. Would you think these men, who by their counsel do more harm to their friends than they could have done by hatred to their enemies? But let us, who have long since discharged our part in this public business, keep silence about others' affairs. May the gods provide better things! For it is not fitting to rejoice, if any praise should accrue to me from another's error. Farewell.

In the greatest matters indeed, I have often noticed how much zeal and affection you bestow upon me. But I also embrace the courtesies of frequent correspondence, as things drawn from the depths of affection: whose constancy compensates in equal measure my own devotion toward you. Indeed the delight is so great that I confess your address rather kindles my longing than fills it. For such is the nature and reason of all things, that whatever charms human senses cannot bring on satiety. And so, since I cannot match you in the discharging and rendering of thanks, I do what dishonest debtors are wont to do, who, still burdened with another's debt, desire to bind themselves by a second obligation of interest. Wherefore, though your letters are numerous, I ask for even more of them—not out of ingratitude, but out of eagerness for your gift. It may easily be guessed, however, how poor a return of correspondence I myself, at leisure, can promise, when I so impatiently demand this office from one who is occupied. Farewell.

I had decided to be away from home for a long time, and was passing a pleasant leisure with our friends at my suburban estate of Arabianum. But since Fortune governs human affairs, and destined things do not always turn out according to one's wish: a letter from the Prefect broke in upon my leisure, mingling anxious matters with good hope.

They demanded my presence particularly, in view of an uncertain matter. I do not delay your expectation. He indicated that the senate was to be stirred by discussion among the colleagues, and moreover that an offering was to be made, in more confidential writings. Nothing was made public, nothing was read out. The magnitude of the requested sum exceeded any known wealth. A vast silence, a sudden stupor, took hold of all. As it went on longer, it was decided that the deliberation be put off to another time, lest the absent be overlooked: although I myself had said that those in Rome, or in the vicinity, ought either to be summoned, or consulted in the name of the rest, concerning the future offering, so that they might promise their assent to the resolutions of the order. You have the whole matter, and you know well enough what I think of it. Even though the cause is common to you too, being far away nevertheless serves as a consolation. Farewell.

A little while ago I sent a letter. Now I return replies, because those contained necessary matters: these are confined to greeting alone. We are well, as is true. If all things flow prosperously for you, share the common good with me by the assurance of a letter. Farewell.

I was dwelling at the suburban estate that lies beside the Appian Way, when the man sent on this errand delivered your letter to me. You know the country place we speak of, where I have set large buildings on a narrow plot. Here I have spent for a little while a sweet leisure (if anything is sweet without you). Now, for the sake of the festival of Vesta, I am returning home, uncertain whether I shall stay with my fellow citizens, or withdraw again to the neighboring place. What you decide to do (for certainly you have been away longer than is fitting) I ought to know. For the designation of my candidate, with the gods' favor, calls you to our senate-house as soon as possible; you will be an ornament above all others to it, you who follow us in the offices either of kinship or of friendship. Farewell.

I had wished for the empty ground near Naples, which adjoins mine, in order to build new buildings; you share with me the Lucellan works. And lest modesty repel what is offered, you deny that what I confess was never mine seems to be of your right. Allow me, at least, to owe you gratitude. For it is not right that I should recover in bad faith what I am able to receive in good faith. You add besides enticements, by which you provoke the malady of the builder: a double portico, curved in solid and unbroken workmanship, extending for many paces in length; that what I am constructing is near, and that with little trouble of building intervening it can be joined. Why do you labor against my modesty? I too do what you refuse. I am grateful for your gift: but I fear lest, as the expense mounts, while we strive to rival the old with the new, I find that you wish to grant more than I am able to restore. Farewell.

As his dress and hair show, Serapa does not promise skill in letters: had he remembered himself to be devoid of it, he would never have assumed an attire befitting philosophers. But of this let your judgment decide, you who profess knowledge of such matters. It was a matter of scruple for me to refuse words to one asking. You will therefore do a thing worthy of your character, if you aid with help and kindness the fortune of one journeying abroad. Farewell.

After I had given a letter to Gaudentius your agent, reporting the journey I had completed, an official courier brought me a sacred letter suited to my hope and desire, from which I learned that the designation of my consulship was to be clearly proclaimed to the public ear. What then, full of joy, should I wish for your excellent spirit, except that we may soon enjoy a like joy concerning you also; which I hope our lord Theodosius, revered by all and especially by the good, will bring about with solid regard for his friends: since it is fitting that the patron of the most august honors should match with dignities those whom he knows to be equal in mind. Farewell.

Many things commend Cresconius my friend to your affection. First, that he delivered the sacred letter which contains the designation of my consulship; then, that his native Africa commends him no less to you than to me. Though I ought to have judged his character in the first place, I preferred to reserve it for your examination. Receive, therefore, I beg you, a man known in military service, who believes he will have attained the summit of happiness if the splendor of your patronage shines upon him. Farewell.

Indeed the preparation for the consulship keeps me busy with hoped-for and happy affairs. But, as your letters frequently show, your concern for me outweighs it. You urge, you advise, you press, that I hasten whatever the discharge of the highest office requires; and though you are the enforcer of my diligence, you nevertheless claim all things for your own solicitude. Will there ever come the wished-for time when, engaged, I may match this spirit of yours with equal services on your behalf? I hope that soon, with the state flourishing and the principate of our lord Theodosius extended into ages to come, your virtues will be rewarded with the fasces. Then I shall not need the goad of letters, nor await a reminder. For from you I have learned to undertake of my own accord whatever must be seen to on a brother's behalf. Farewell.

Distinguished merits do not require corroboration: since virtue, conspicuous by its own light, spurns the assistance of another's commendation. Therefore, since the well-governed state, according to the standard of the old discipline, has made my lord and brother Licinius renowned, what can a private eulogy add to his dignity? With this part therefore stated beforehand, I wish to join to your most exalted spirit a man of the best faith and diligence toward his friends: not because your judgment is slow and difficult in gathering the character and testing the goodwill of good men, but lest a brief acquaintance between you and a hasty departure deny a fair time for examination. Farewell.

If the principle of friendship always demands that we assist one another's mutual affairs by good offices, how much greater care is owed to the interests of relatives, whose good and adverse fortunes are shared with us? What of the fact that often the goodness of the cause exhorts us, that what we owe to kinship we should render the more readily to fairness? These considerations move me no less for him than does our connection, as you yourself will judge once the matter has been learned from the report of Victor, a man of respectable rank. For, that the matter might become better known, I have preferred to attach copies of the public letter, lest I be thought to speak out of confident partiality rather than from favor. Now, if my wish is dear to you, grant this question a speedy resolution, which you would grant for the sake of justice even were I silent.

Small is the commendation of my writings, if an innocent life commends my friend Leontius to all good men. Endowed therefore with his own merit, he does not need the support of corroboration; and yet I ought not refrain from this kind of letter, more to satisfy friendship than to bring him any help. Only see to it, by that regard in which you are distinguished, that he knows his favor to be doubled also in my name. Farewell.

It is necessary that a speech be short, when it is entrusted suddenly to a hastening man. Wherefore it is enough for duty and suits the shortness of time, that I discharge toward you the honor of a greeting. But I ought not demand a return, which I judge will be repaid to me even without a reminder, by a man most observant of friendship. Farewell.

As I cannot be silent whenever occasion invites the pen, so, if there is lacking a reason for a longer address, I compress the course of the page into brevity. For it is a talkative abundance which, in a customary and solemn matter, overflows with a flood of words. So I say hail, and in turn ask that you favor me with news of your prosperity. Farewell.

It belongs to kindness to offer commendation to those who ask it. But in the case of Zenobius the cause for such an office is the more pressing, since he is my familiar friend, and indeed affection is owed to him rather than granted. Hence I desire your patronage to come to him. For it is the first thing that he be esteemed by my recommendation; it will be the second, that he please by his own honesty. Farewell.

Considering how much affection you deign to bestow upon me, I believe this letter will benefit my household attendant Cyriacus, for whom I beg that you regard his advantage with ready favor. Farewell.

The most distinguished Honoratus has above all pleased me by the honesty of his life. I believe that my judgment does not seem disdainable to you. If this is so, and my opinion of you is not vain, I think it will come to pass that, by the prerogative of this testimony, he will be admitted to the intimacy of your excellent harmony of spirit, as one also carefully approved by you. Farewell.

It delights me to address often those whose mind, loving toward me, I have found proven by evidence. Take, then, my letter, which I send gladly for this reason, that in return I am fed by the addresses of your devotion. This should sharpen us to more ready services, since a larger yield of profitable interest answers to you from this. Farewell.

Valentinianus the protector, long since handed over and entrusted through me to the patronage of your eminence, is detained by domestic occupations: and therefore he has earnestly begged that some business be obtained for him in the suburban provinces on this account. Wherefore, our glory, either exclude the desired favor for my familiar friend, or obtain leave, whereby he may be defended from the military mark under this grant. Farewell.

When a notorious case was pending in the judgment of the prefecture, Discolius, who had brought a charge of theft, and had touched many men of our order with accusation, having secretly entered into a bargain with the defendants, escaped examination, not without odium to the judge. If the officer sent to investigate this matter should obtain the assistance of the praetorians, a readier means of dragging back the accuser will arise. It concerns public discipline, and likewise pertains to the reputation of the judge, that you direct him, sought out with the utmost effort, to be brought back into judgment under guard, lest a suspicion liable to rumor stain the innocence of the senators. Farewell.

Your love for Domitius, known and strong, has taken from me the labor of commending him: on whose behalf it will suffice to have said only this, that I too am joined to the same man by an old familiarity. This, I hope, will bring him increase of your patronage: for a like judgment shared in common will make him more approved in your eyes. Meanwhile, though bears have often been promised us, and long hoped for, at the very moment of the spectacle we are in want of them. For we have scarcely received a few cubs, wasted by fasting and hardship. And of lions rumor has fallen silent: whose arrival might make it so that a Libyan encounter would compensate for the lack of bears. The ounce of bread, mischievously and rashly withheld, has by the spontaneous goodwill of the people been restored to the abundance of the stores. All things, therefore, are safe and secure, which rightly gnawed at your mind. And would that an equal happiness of successes had softened the anxieties of your quaestorship! Farewell.

Both customary and unusual things are furnished by you for the exhibition of our games; so much do you devise, both lavishly and as a discoverer of new things, all things to win for our quaestor the favor of the people: as now the offering of seven Scottish dogs has proven; which Rome so admired on the day of the preliminary display, that she thought them brought in iron cages. Therefore, both for this reason and besides for the rest of the shows, I give you the greatest thanks I can: although, in these things which you bestow so zealously upon your brothers according to the greatness of your spirit, you do not think you are conferring a benefit, but receiving one. Farewell.

A part of mankind rejoices in profits and gains; I am delighted by hoped-for expenditure. And so, eager for civic favor, I strive, at the expense of my son the quaestor, to add another kind of largess, that we may also bestow five slaves apiece upon the chariot-stables of the eternal City. And since along the frontier the finding of slaves is easy, and the price is usually tolerable, I earnestly beg you to have twenty young men suitable for the aforesaid purpose procured through capable agents. For this matter I have sent you solidi, with regard had to the estimation of the men, in whom not beauty, but age and health, are to be chosen. Farewell.

To our brother Andromachus all good arts are familiar, but above the rest, loyalty, by which, being expected, he desires also to win your good opinion. And so, while he sought after you, forgetful of his own frailty, he undertook a journey heavy for his weak strength. This was chiefly the cause of his enduring it, since the mind is often wont to lighten illness by hope and joy. Consider, then, with how ready and open a bosom of friendship he ought to be received, who preferred his desire for you to his own health. What more? He would need to be sought by you, were he not coming to you of his own accord. Therefore, to him hastening toward you, extend a devoted hand; that he who knows you superior in virtues may find you equal in fellowship. Farewell.

Commended to me by my brother Hilarius is a most devoted man, Titianus; with what other benefit can I reward him, than by presenting him, an intercessor not to be despised, to your holy heart? And already I hope my petition will be met with success, since you are of such zeal and purpose that you count it as a favor to yourself, if a worthy friend should come to you. Farewell.

Our son Symmachus, having completed the office of candidate, offers you the quaestorian gifts, and shares in equal honor the rest of our obligations. I ask, therefore, that you deign to accept in his name the diptychs and gifts, you who have granted many splendid things to his appointment. Moreover, to our lord and prince, to render a diligent rather than an equal thanks for his bounty, I have sent a diptych bordered with gold. I have also honored the other friends with ivory writing-tablets and silver baskets. To your authority, therefore, and to your judgment, I commit it that at the opportune moment these gifts sent may be presented to each individually. Farewell.

Many have asked me for a literary introduction; but to the merits of some, to the entreaties of others, I have granted equal favor: yet I do not fear that the distinction among citizens is unknown to you, who recall the common judgment concerning them. You will therefore grant pardon in certain cases to my modesty, which yielded to petitioners. But you will follow what you know I feel about each of them alike. I think from these words it may easily be discerned in what rank I esteem our son Attalus, a man of distinguished standing. For this free and open discernment has been safely entrusted to one who was not among the party of those pressing their claims. Wherefore, in your name and mine, embrace the friendships of one hastening to you; that for him it may be a fruit to cultivate good men, and for the wicked a source of grief, that they are not equally loved. Farewell.

Long since desiring to visit and approach the sacred retinue, a late but happy occasion has come to my lord and brother Alipius, that you as consul should summon him; so that he hastens eagerly into your presence, that he may render, in return for your kindnesses, the services owed by his vows, and, relying on the trust of your holy spirit, wipe away the cloud of former envy. Which I think will turn out for him according to his wish. For you will not suffer anything to be lacking to his reputation, you who have granted him full security. Farewell.

Rightly and commendably have you judged that our brother Titianus, a man of distinguished standing, ought to be present at your consulship: since equity demanded that he should enjoy the delight of his own wish. He has never yielded to any of us in love for you; rather, he has always claimed for himself the foremost place of devotion toward you. Thus he requires no other witness. For he knows that he holds more place in your heart than could be procured by my speech. I leave him, therefore, to his own confidence, since nothing can be more complete. This alone I am content to add, that I too, in his name, shall be obligated to you, if he obtains any favor. Farewell.

Affection would easily have drawn our brother Elpidius to set out, had not the care of his only child held him back. For there is so much sincerity and sweetness in him that necessities of kinship are preferred to him alone. Him, so esteemed by me and so bound to me, I could not deny to your commands: because in such causes there is for me a greater pleasure in yielding than in enjoying. Receive, therefore, one most devoted to us with the same spirit with which you asked for him: judge from the joy of arrivals that what is granted to those summoned ought not to be denied to those who remain behind. Farewell.

I seem to myself to be journeying with you, whenever some brilliant narrator conveys to me your goings and returnings. You so allure our acquaintance with reverence, and so illuminate it with the brightness of your speech, that whatever your discourse unfolds, our affection in some manner beholds. Wherefore we hold your health to be firm, and we continually pray with vows for your happy return. For since we cannot match our love to yours, we discharge in vows what we cannot in services. Farewell, then, my inimitable lord, and illuminate us, both generally with the rest, as you now do, and specially with the most distinguished, as you were wont, with these gifts of your countenance and heart, kindly bestowed. Farewell.

It is the voice of law and statutes: that a contract made in good faith cannot be rescinded. Our brother Elpidius desires to obtain the execution of this judgment; to whom, after the sale of his estate in Spain, the buyer swears against part of it; although, for the completion of the transfer of possession to the new owner, all things were duly performed according to custom. This is the sum of the petition, which is supported by my words indeed, but by his merits. I ask that, by the equity in which you are distinguished, you either confound by private rebuke the shame of the one resisting, or break his stubbornness by the public authority of a judgment. Farewell.

I delight both in your honor, with which you are now increased, and in your continual love toward me. I wish, then, that you not doubt that our common pledges are a care to me, which your merits, more than your letters, commend. It remained that I should ask for the constant gift of your pen. But it is a superfluous effort to ask for spontaneous goods, lest my pen seem to extort what the kindness of your spirit pledges. Farewell.

A little before I had sent a letter, but it did not displease me to repeat the greeting owed to you. For love does not keep a measure of duties. Besides, acquaintance with travelers demanded that the letter be furthered by adding their commendation. I do not ask for a reply, being secure in your excellent spirit, which promises me voluntary discourse without need of reminder. Farewell.

You are always for me the author of immense joys. But now it has gone beyond my hopes, that you have adorned me with the intimacy of a man plainly to be sought and courted. Nor do I conjecture this from suspicion. For the patrician's own words gave the indication, that his diligence toward me was aroused under your patronage; by which, rightly, among your other good deeds, this title too will be added to their number, which alone could satisfy however great a greed of desire. Farewell.

As often as we are bound by the kindnesses of our forebears, it is necessary that the bond of debt pass to their heirs. This general rule pertains to my son the senator, a distinguished and most accomplished man: whose father, illustrious in all things and worthy to be remembered by me with the highest veneration, showed very great honor and devotion to my house. Bound by his services, I wish to pay to the son what I contracted from the father. But your magnificence alone can free me from the obligation of that favor, if it shall aid his posterity, especially in those matters which are supported by the patronage of justice: since he complains that his lands, against your judgment, are being cut down in a large part. This would seem grave and unbearable, were it not that even the agreement of the parties is made sport of by evasions. For it is a lesser thing to spurn another's opinion than to depart from one's own.

It is therefore in your power, in so clear and commendable a kind of petition, the laws being preserved, and with regard to equity, to grant something also to my person: whose intervention was demanded by weariness of a long dispute, not by distrust of the matter. Farewell.