Marcus Cornelius Fronto→Antoninus Pius|c. 156 AD|Marcus Cornelius Fronto|From Rome (career hub)|To Rome (career hub)|AI-assisted
To Antoninus Pius Augustus, from Fronto.
1. If it could come about, Emperor, that our friends and intimates should conduct all their affairs by our own standards of character, I should wish for it above all; and if not by our character, then at least that they should everywhere avail themselves of our counsel. But since each man's own nature governs his life, I confess that I take it hard that my friend Niger Censorius showed too little restraint in his words in the will by which he named me his heir. I should be without principle if I were to demand to excuse that act of his by defending it. 2. Yet I should be forgetful of friendship if I did not at least relieve him by pleading on his behalf. Niger Censorinus was, beyond doubt, a man without command of his own words and too little considered in them; but the same man was also one of worth in many matters, and brave, and blameless. It belongs to your clemency, Emperor, to weigh this man's single fault of words against the rest of the things he rightly did. 3. For my part, when I entered into friendship with him, others had earned for him an ampler glory by his vigorous service at home and in war. To pass over his other friends, he was on the most intimate terms with Marcius Turbo and Erucius Clarus, two outstanding men who held the first rank, the one of the equestrian, the other of the senatorial order. Afterward, indeed, from your own judgments too there had accrued to him very much both of honor and of authority. It was the friendship of such a man that I sought. 4. I am not sure whether someone may say that I ought to have brought my friendship with him to an end once I had learned that his favor in your regard had been diminished. I was never of such a disposition, Emperor, as to abandon friendships begun in prosperous circumstances if some note of adversity should have sounded against them. And altogether—for why should I not bring out the thought of my mind?—the man who will not love you I shall hold in the number of enemies; but the man whom you love less I shall judge to be wretched rather than an enemy. In short, for these reasons [text damaged] ... new ... more intently; for it makes a great deal of difference whether you disapprove of someone or [...] you hate him.
5. [text damaged] ... the whole ... whose ... diminishing ... in honors ... [...] ... he was in need of [...] and counsel; and would that Niger, just as in most matters he afterward obeyed me, had likewise asked my counsel beforehand in drawing up his will! He would never have branded so great a stain upon his own memory with immoderate words that wounded himself rather than others, nor [...] would so vast an interval have come between, by which [...] a man [...] intolerable [...] ... this man at the very time when he gave offense; but he gave offense by loving, just as most animals, which lack the art and diligence of rearing, handle their eggs and their young badly with claws or teeth, and crush them not from hatred but from inexperience in nurturing.
6. I, at any rate, call to witness the gods above and below and the hidden faith of human friendship, that I have always been the supporter of [text damaged] ... me ... in my mind ... both causes ... and indeed ... that you should grieve the more that the man [...] had fallen into [this], but faithfully [...] to wish to act in the same way in which [...]; and indeed ... it could have been expected in him whom [...] nor [...] so great kindness and so many benefits [...] but to you not [...] for my part [...] however he may have his own end. But as for those matters, which we neither wished to keep silent nor believe it right to deny, and which, if the gods are just, are true and in keeping with the straightforwardness of our friendship—may we always attain them.
? 154–156 A.D. to Antoninus Pius Augustus. 1. If it could be brought about, Imperator, that our friends and relations should in all cases act by our principles of conduct, there is nothing I should desire more; next I would have them follow, if not our principles yet at least our advice on every occasion. But since each man's own character governs his life, I can only confess that I am sorry my friend Niger Censorius used such intemperate language in his will, in which he made me his heir. If I claimed to clear him by justifying his action, I should be unprincipled; I should be disloyal to my friend if I did not at least say what I could in his excuse. 2. It cannot be denied that Niger Censorius was unrestrained and ill-advised in his language, but at the same time in many respects he was an honest man and manly and blameless. It will accord with your clemency, Imperator, if you set his other creditable actions against his solitary misconduct in word. 3. When I first came to be his friend, his strenuous achievements, civil and military, had already won him the love of others. Not to mention his other friends, he was on the most intimate terms with Marcius Turbo and Erucius Clarus, who were both eminent men in the first rank, the one of the Knights, the other of the Senators. Subsequently, however, a great accession of honours and authority accrued to him from your courts also. Such was the man whose friendship I coveted. 4. Possibly some might say that I ought to have given up my friendship with him when I realized that he was not held by you in the same favour as before. But, Imperator, I was never of such a spirit as to cast off a friendship formed in prosperity as soon as a whisper of adversity was audible. And in any case—for why should I not say what is in my mind?—I shall hold as an enemy one who bears you no love, but one for whom you have but little love I shall count as an unfortunate rather than as an enemy . . . . There is a very great difference between blaming a man and hating him . . . . was in want of friends and advice. And would that Niger, as in most things subsequently he was guided by me, so had asked my advice in drawing up his will! Never would he have seared his memory with such a stain by reckless words that injured himself more than anyone else. 5. Nor . . . . would an interval have intervened . . . . a man at the very time of his offence. But he offends from very love, just as most animals that lack skill and perseverance in maternal duties injure their eggs and their young with talons or teeth, maltreating them not from malice but from want of experience in nursing. 6. I at least call to witness the Gods above and the Gods below and the hidden loyalties of human friendship, that I have ever been the author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nor has he been influenced by kindness so great and benefits so many whenever . . . . . . . . . . . . he has his own end. But let us always strive for those things, which we have neither been willing to pass over in silence nor think it right to deny, and such things, if the Gods are just, as are true and in accord with the straightforward nature of our friendship.
ad Anton.Pium 3 [162 Hout; 1.254 Haines]
Antonino Pio Augusto Fronto.
1 Si evenire posset, imperator, ut amici ac familiares nostri nostris moribus cuncta agerent, maxime vellem; tum si non moribus, at saltem ut consiliis ubique nostris uterentur. Sed quoniam suum cujusque ingenium vitam gubernat, fateor aegre ferre me quod amicus meus Niger Censorius testamento suo, quo me heredem instituit, parum verbis temperarit. Id ego factum ejus improbus sim, si defendendo purgare postulem. 2 Immemor amicitiae nisi saltem deprecando sublevem. Fuit sine dubio Niger Censorinus verborum suorum inpos et minus consideratus, sed idem multarum rerum frugi vir et fortis et innocens. Tuae clementiae est, imperator, unicam hominis verborum culpam cum ceteris ejus recte factis ponderare. 3 Ego quidem cum ad amicitiam ejus accessi, alii ampliorem gloriam strenua opera domi bellqiue promeruerant. Ut ceteros ejus amicos omittam, Turboni Marcio et Erucio Claro erat familiarissimus, qui duo egregi viri alter equestris, alter senatoriordinis primari fuerunt. Postea vero ex tuis etiam judiciis et plurimum et honoris et auctoritate accesserat. Talis ego viri amicitiam adpetivi. 4 Haud sciam, an qui dicat debuisse me amictiam cum eo desinere, postquam cognoveram gratiam ejus apud animum tuum imminutam. Numquam ita animatus fui, imperator, ut coeptas in rebus prosperis amicitias, si quid adversi increpuisset, desererem. Et omnino (cur enim non sententiam animi mei expromam?) ego eum, qui te non amabit, hostis numero habebo; quem vero tu minus amabis miserum potius quam hostem judicabo. Denique eis . . . e . . rs . ad . it nat . s novas i . . mi . . . . intentius; permultum enim refert inprobes aliquem an cii . . . oderis.
5 Cu . . . em totam e . . . . . aba . m . . . . . e . . . . . . . . cujus t . . . . . . . . . . . . . inminuente . . . r . . . in honoribus is . . . . . . . . . rat ini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f . uma . . . . . . . . . . . . inviis et consiliis indigebat; atque utinam Niger, sicut in plerisque mihi post paruit, ita consilium meum in testamento conscribendo antea rogasset! Haud umquam tantam maculam memoriae suae inussusset verbis inmoderatis ipsum se potius quam alios laedantibus nec . . . . . . . . e vastius intervallum intercessisset, quo . . . . . . vir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . erisatin . . . . . . . . . . . . . miurus . cui . . . . . . . . . s . isistoses . . . . ne . . . . . anonodus . d . . . lus intolerabile sat . . . . . . . . amas . . . en . . . tiva . . . etia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . otium me . . . . . . . . . . . . es hunc virum illo ipso tempore quo offendit; sed amando ita offendit, ut pleraque animalia, quibus abest ars et sedulitas educandi ova atque catulos suos unguibus aut dentibus male contrectant nec odio, sed imperitia nutricandi obterunt.
6 Ego certe deos superos inferosque et fidem arcanam humanae amicitiae testor me semper auctorem fuisse, cujus - - - me - - animo - - utraque causas - - - et sane - - - hominem - - - eum incidisse magis doleas sed fideliter quem - - - in eodem agere velle in quo - - - et sane - - - expectari poterat in eo, quem . . . . . xerat nec . . . . . . . tanta benignitas et tot beneficia - - - tri tibi autem non - - - equidem - - - cumque habeat suum finem. res autem istas, quas nec tacere voluimus nec negare credimus et, si dii aequi sunt, veras et congruentes simplicitati nostrae amicitiae, semper adsequamur.
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To Antoninus Pius Augustus, from Fronto.
1. If it could come about, Emperor, that our friends and intimates should conduct all their affairs by our own standards of character, I should wish for it above all; and if not by our character, then at least that they should everywhere avail themselves of our counsel. But since each man's own nature governs his life, I confess that I take it hard that my friend Niger Censorius showed too little restraint in his words in the will by which he named me his heir. I should be without principle if I were to demand to excuse that act of his by defending it. 2. Yet I should be forgetful of friendship if I did not at least relieve him by pleading on his behalf. Niger Censorinus was, beyond doubt, a man without command of his own words and too little considered in them; but the same man was also one of worth in many matters, and brave, and blameless. It belongs to your clemency, Emperor, to weigh this man's single fault of words against the rest of the things he rightly did. 3. For my part, when I entered into friendship with him, others had earned for him an ampler glory by his vigorous service at home and in war. To pass over his other friends, he was on the most intimate terms with Marcius Turbo and Erucius Clarus, two outstanding men who held the first rank, the one of the equestrian, the other of the senatorial order. Afterward, indeed, from your own judgments too there had accrued to him very much both of honor and of authority. It was the friendship of such a man that I sought. 4. I am not sure whether someone may say that I ought to have brought my friendship with him to an end once I had learned that his favor in your regard had been diminished. I was never of such a disposition, Emperor, as to abandon friendships begun in prosperous circumstances if some note of adversity should have sounded against them. And altogether—for why should I not bring out the thought of my mind?—the man who will not love you I shall hold in the number of enemies; but the man whom you love less I shall judge to be wretched rather than an enemy. In short, for these reasons [text damaged] ... new ... more intently; for it makes a great deal of difference whether you disapprove of someone or [...] you hate him.
5. [text damaged] ... the whole ... whose ... diminishing ... in honors ... [...] ... he was in need of [...] and counsel; and would that Niger, just as in most matters he afterward obeyed me, had likewise asked my counsel beforehand in drawing up his will! He would never have branded so great a stain upon his own memory with immoderate words that wounded himself rather than others, nor [...] would so vast an interval have come between, by which [...] a man [...] intolerable [...] ... this man at the very time when he gave offense; but he gave offense by loving, just as most animals, which lack the art and diligence of rearing, handle their eggs and their young badly with claws or teeth, and crush them not from hatred but from inexperience in nurturing.
6. I, at any rate, call to witness the gods above and below and the hidden faith of human friendship, that I have always been the supporter of [text damaged] ... me ... in my mind ... both causes ... and indeed ... that you should grieve the more that the man [...] had fallen into [this], but faithfully [...] to wish to act in the same way in which [...]; and indeed ... it could have been expected in him whom [...] nor [...] so great kindness and so many benefits [...] but to you not [...] for my part [...] however he may have his own end. But as for those matters, which we neither wished to keep silent nor believe it right to deny, and which, if the gods are just, are true and in keeping with the straightforwardness of our friendship—may we always attain them.
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
ad Anton.Pium 3 [162 Hout; 1.254 Haines] Antonino Pio Augusto Fronto. 1 Si evenire posset, imperator, ut amici ac familiares nostri nostris moribus cuncta agerent, maxime vellem; tum si non moribus, at saltem ut consiliis ubique nostris uterentur. Sed quoniam suum cujusque ingenium vitam gubernat, fateor aegre ferre me quod amicus meus Niger Censorius testamento suo, quo me heredem instituit, parum verbis temperarit. Id ego factum ejus improbus sim, si defendendo purgare postulem. 2 Immemor amicitiae nisi saltem deprecando sublevem. Fuit sine dubio Niger Censorinus verborum suorum inpos et minus consideratus, sed idem multarum rerum frugi vir et fortis et innocens. Tuae clementiae est, imperator, unicam hominis verborum culpam cum ceteris ejus recte factis ponderare. 3 Ego quidem cum ad amicitiam ejus accessi, alii ampliorem gloriam strenua opera domi bellqiue promeruerant. Ut ceteros ejus amicos omittam, Turboni Marcio et Erucio Claro erat familiarissimus, qui duo egregi viri alter equestris, alter senatoriordinis primari fuerunt. Postea vero ex tuis etiam judiciis et plurimum et honoris et auctoritate accesserat. Talis ego viri amicitiam adpetivi. 4 Haud sciam, an qui dicat debuisse me amictiam cum eo desinere, postquam cognoveram gratiam ejus apud animum tuum imminutam. Numquam ita animatus fui, imperator, ut coeptas in rebus prosperis amicitias, si quid adversi increpuisset, desererem. Et omnino (cur enim non sententiam animi mei expromam?) ego eum, qui te non amabit, hostis numero habebo; quem vero tu minus amabis miserum potius quam hostem judicabo. Denique eis . . . e . . rs . ad . it nat . s novas i . . mi . . . . intentius; permultum enim refert inprobes aliquem an cii . . . oderis. 5 Cu . . . em totam e . . . . . aba . m . . . . . e . . . . . . . . cujus t . . . . . . . . . . . . . inminuente . . . r . . . in honoribus is . . . . . . . . . rat ini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f . uma . . . . . . . . . . . . inviis et consiliis indigebat; atque utinam Niger, sicut in plerisque mihi post paruit, ita consilium meum in testamento conscribendo antea rogasset! Haud umquam tantam maculam memoriae suae inussusset verbis inmoderatis ipsum se potius quam alios laedantibus nec . . . . . . . . e vastius intervallum intercessisset, quo . . . . . . vir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . erisatin . . . . . . . . . . . . . miurus . cui . . . . . . . . . s . isistoses . . . . ne . . . . . anonodus . d . . . lus intolerabile sat . . . . . . . . amas . . . en . . . tiva . . . etia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . otium me . . . . . . . . . . . . es hunc virum illo ipso tempore quo offendit; sed amando ita offendit, ut pleraque animalia, quibus abest ars et sedulitas educandi ova atque catulos suos unguibus aut dentibus male contrectant nec odio, sed imperitia nutricandi obterunt. 6 Ego certe deos superos inferosque et fidem arcanam humanae amicitiae testor me semper auctorem fuisse, cujus - - - me - - animo - - utraque causas - - - et sane - - - hominem - - - eum incidisse magis doleas sed fideliter quem - - - in eodem agere velle in quo - - - et sane - - - expectari poterat in eo, quem . . . . . xerat nec . . . . . . . tanta benignitas et tot beneficia - - - tri tibi autem non - - - equidem - - - cumque habeat suum finem. res autem istas, quas nec tacere voluimus nec negare credimus et, si dii aequi sunt, veras et congruentes simplicitati nostrae amicitiae, semper adsequamur.