Letter 1036: SYMMACHUS TO AUSONIUS:

[The opening lines are interrupted by editorial apparatus; the letter text resumes:] ...and at the same time, because you yourself do nothing for the sake of display, it is to be feared that we may seem to be praising as affected the qualities that are genuinely good in you. Yet learn this one thing from us as an undoubted truth: that there is no mortal whom we love more than you; so firmly have you held us bound to you by an honorable affection. But in this matter you seem to us excessively bashful, in that you charge with treachery the man who betrayed your little book. For it is easier to press down glowing embers with one's mouth than to keep secret the existence of a brilliant work. Once a poem has gone forth from you, you have laid down all rights over it. A published oration is a free thing; or do you fear the poisons of an envious reader, lest your little book be scorched by the bite of a hard tooth? To you alone, up to the present point, has favor granted nothing, nor has envy taken anything away. Whether men are grateful or not, to both the perverse and the upright you are worthy of praise. Therefore from now on shut out these empty fears and indulge your pen, so that you may often be betrayed. At any rate, assign to our name too some didactic or hortatory poem. Make trial of my silence, which, although I wish to display it to you, I nevertheless do not dare to promise. I myself know what an itch there is to publish a work that wins approval; for in a certain way the man who is the first to announce another's well-spoken words lays claim to a partnership in the praise. For this reason, in comedies the writers have, broadly speaking, indeed carried off the glory; yet to Roscius and Ambivius and the rest of the actors fame was not lacking. Therefore expend your leisure on such a task, and sustain our hunger with new volumes. But if, shunning ostentation, you dread a chattering informer, then do you too grant me your silence, so that I may safely pretend that what you have written is ours. Farewell. LETTER XXXII (XXVI), after the year 378. AUSONIUS TO SYMMACHUS. Only now do I understand what a honeyed thing an oration is, how soothing and how persuasive eloquence is. You have persuaded me that the composition of my letter, delivered to you at Capua, was not uncultivated; but this only so long as I was reading your letter, which, while I gape at your flatteries, leads me on as if I had been smeared with the juice of nectar. But when I set the little page down and question my own self, then my wormwood recovers its taste and I detect the cups smeared around with your honey. If indeed, as I often do, I go back to your letter, again I am enticed; and again that most delightful, that flowery breath of your speech, once the reading is laid aside, fades away, and forbids the weight of true testimony to reside in its sweetness. This delights me no longer than while it is seen, like the false sheen of gold leaf or a painted cloud, after the manner of that little beast the chameleon, which takes its color from the things placed beneath it. I feel one thing from your letter, another from my own conscience. And do you dare to deem me worthy of the praise of the most eloquent of men? You, I say, you offer me such things, you who have put yourself forth beyond the correction of all men. Hardly does anyone so shine that, when compared with you, he does not appear shabby. Who would so attain the gracefulness of Aesop, who the sophistic perorations of Isocrates? Who would so attain the enthymemes of Demosthenes, or the opulence of Tullius [Cicero], or the propriety of our Maro [Virgil]? Who would so aim at single qualities as you fulfill all of them? For what else are you than a perfection gathered from the whole genius of the liberal arts? These things, my lord and son Symmachus, I do not fear may seem to be said of you more flatteringly than truthfully. You have tested the good faith of my mind and of my words, while we both spent time at court, of unequal age, where you as a recruit earned the rewards of long service, and I, already a veteran, was still serving out my apprenticeship. At court I was true to you; far less should you suppose that I am inventing fabrications now that I am abroad; at court, I say, which lays bare men's faces but conceals their minds, you perceived that I was to you both a kind of parent and a friend, and, if there is anything dearer than both, dearer still. But let us depart from these matters, lest this very recollection should seem to approach that fear of Sosia. As for that point which I almost passed over: with what affectation you added a request that I should send to you some didactic little work or a hortatory discourse! Shall I teach you, I who still need to be taught, if I were of an age to learn? Or shall I admonish you, who are vigorous and brisk? By the same effort I might also exhort the Muses to sing, and the seas to flow forth, and the breezes to be lively, and admonish the fires to be hot, and, if anything in nature happens even against our will, I might play the part of a superfluous instigator. It is enough that I made one error, in that something of mine was published to my own regret, which by good fortune fell into the hands of friends. For if the opposite had happened, you would not persuade me that I am capable of pleasing. Let these be my replies to your letter. The rest, which you are eager to know, I will treat summarily: even so this letter is already a long one. Yet I commend to you Julianus, a member of your household, if you judge there is anything to be inquired about concerning us; and at the same time I admonish you that, when you have learned the reason for his coming, you should aid the pursuit which you have in part already favored. Farewell. LETTER XXXIII (XXVII), after the year 369. [text ends here]

rachum] M{Il)y brachium V 5 uetustatero] /uretttf, uenustatem UVM uergeret] H, uigeret VMiF] tune] Af, tunc VIT 6 lldie VM oUmpium V[II) mironis VM{II) 7 buoulam] Af, ba- eulam 27, boculam V Polycleti canephoras iur«tiM, pole liticane forus V, policane forus Z7, proleti oeno- forum M rudea UV artes V, arte U 12 uale om. V cito] (77), scio V^ sero M uidebitur rusticus V, rusticus om, M 22 A B contensiu eodicvm Au9onianorum; A^ a VoMtanw 111 aaee. Vllll; A^ ms Paris. 8600 saee. XI III simacus ausonio Ai, epta symmachi ad ausonium A^, symmachus aui F, om. V 23 mQrum A^V, ue- rum UFA^ mici gaudium A^, gaudium mihi VF tu escripta A^ 1 m. 25 snie uictus id du- bito A^ incertus — 26 quippe ita fa parUm in ratura partim in margine A^ 2 m. 26 ceteris om. F formido — 27 conprobas in margine add. A^ 1 m. 27 uenigne A^ 1 m, 28 mutum A^ sed corr. scabere] A^ 1 m. F, scalpere A^ 2 m., scribere VA^ tui esse corr. ex tuisse A< simul qnod ipse nihil ostentandi gratia faeis, yerendum est genuina in te bona tam- VFA quam affectata laudare. unum hoc tamen a nobis indubitata veritate cognosce : nemi- nem esse mortalium, quem prae te diligam ; sic vadatnm me honorabili amore tenuisti. set in eo mihi verecundus nimio plus videre, quod libelli tui arguis proditorem. nam 2 5 £Btciliu8 est ardentes favillas ore comprimere quam luculenti operis servare secretum. cum semel a te profectum carmen est, ius omne posuisti. oratio publicata res libera est an yereris aemuli venena lectoris, ne libellus tuus admorsu duri dentis uratur? tibi uni adhoc locorum nihil gratia praestitit aut dempsit invidia. ingratis scaevo cuique proboque laudabilis es. proinde cassas dehinc seclude formidines et indnlge 10 stilo, ut saepe prodaris. certe aliquod didascalicum seu protrepticum nostro quoque nomini carmen adiudica. fac periculum silentii mei, quod etsi tibi exhibere opto, 3 tamen spondere non audeo. novi ego, quae sit prurigo emuttiendi operis, quod pro- baris; nam quodam pacto societatem laudis affectat, qui aliena bene dicta primus enuntiat. ea propter in comoediis summatim quidem gloriam scriptores tulerunt ; Roscio 15 tamen adque Ambivio ceterisque actoribus fama non defuit. ergo tali negotio expende otium tuum et novis voluminibus ieiunia nostra sustenta. quod si iactantiae fugax garrulum indicem pertimescis, praesta etiam tu silentium mihi, ut tuto simulem nostra esse, quae scripseris. vale. XXXn (XXVI) post a. 378. 20 AVSONIVS SYMMACHO. Modo intellego, quam mellea res sit oratio, quam delenifica et quam suada facun- dia. persuasisti mihi, quod epistulae meae aput Capuam tibi redditae concinnatio inhumana non esset, set hoc non diutius, quam dum epistulam tuam legi, quae me blanditiis inhiantem tuis velut suco nectaris delibuta perducit. ubi vero chartulam 2s pono et me ipsum interrogo , tum absinthium meum resipit et circumlita melle tuo pocula deprehendo. si vero, id quod saepe facio, ad epistulam tuam redii, rursus 2 inlicior ; et rursum ille suavissimus, ille floridus tui sermonis adflatus deposita lectione vanescit et testimonii pondus prohibet inesse dulcedini. hoc me velnt a^rius bratteae fncus aut picta nebula non longius, quam dum videtur, oblectat chamaeleontis bestio- 30 lae vice, quae de subiectis sumit colorem. aliut sentio ex epistula tna, aliut ex con- scientia mea. et tu me audes facundissimorum hominum laude dignari? tu, inquam, 3 honorauili A^ 1 m. amor Ai, a morte V 4 mici A^ nereoundius V plns nimio uideris F 5 fabiUa Ai 1 m. ad comprimere cuiicr, in mg, continere /7 serbare A^ 1 m, 6 perdidisti F res om. A 7 a^ morsu Ai, ad morsum F, a morsu F 8 nicil A* prestitit A^ de- pressit F ignatis A2, ingratus II VF 9 proboque cofY. ex probo A* es om. F deinc A* I m. bere obto A^ 1 m. 12 emutiendi A^F qod A* probatur F 14 «ummatem gloriam qui- dem V 15 ambibio AVF, ambio /7 auctoribus A^ deflcit V 16 tuum corr. ex tum A^ nobia A^ 1 m. geionia A^ 1 m. 17 iudicem II pertimescea V presta A^ selen- tium Ai i m. mici Ai simUem V 18 uale om. VF 21 deUniflca A^ 1 m. et om. F facunda Ai 1 m. 22 mici A^ epistolae Ai 23 hu- mana A^ epistola tna A* 1 m. mae A^ 24 iniantem A^ 1 m. tibi uero KF, ubi enim A^, ubi non A^ cartolam A^ 1 m. 25 cum F absintium A^ respicio F 26 depr^endo A^ bero A* 1 m. sepe A^ Qpistolam A^ 27 in licio retrorsum V^(/^), illicior retrorsum F inlicior persuadeor A^ 2 m, in marg. suabissimus A^ afl^atus F 28 euanescit F proibet A^ 1 m. brattee A^, bractee A^, bractea VF 29 nondum longius V cameleontis AVF uestiole A^ l m. V 30 Qpistola Ai Q. AVKBLIVS Stmmaohts. 3 1 8 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE VFA mihi ista, qni te ultra emendationem omninm protnlisti. haut quisqaam ita nitet, nt conparatns tibi non sordeat. quis ita Aesopi venustatem, quis sophisticas Isocratis conclusiones? quis ita ad enthymemata Demosthenis aut opulentiam Tullianam aut proprietatem nostri Maronis accedat? quis ita affectet singula, ut tu imples onmia? quid 4 enim aliut es quam ex omni bonarum artium ingenio collecta perfectio? haec, domine & mi fili Symmache , non vereor , ne in te blandius dicta videantur esse quam verius. et expertus es fidem meam mentis adque dictorum , dum in comitatu degimus ambo aevo dispari, ubi tu veteris militiae praemia tiro meruisti, ego tirocinium iam veteranus exercai. in comitatu tibi verus fui, nedum me peregre existimes conposita fabulari; in comitatn, inquam, qui frontes hominum aperit, mentes tegit, me tibi etpa- lo ^ 5 rentem et amicum et si quid utroque carius est, cariorem fuisse sensisti. set abeamus ab ^. his, ne ista haec conmemoratio ad illam Sosiae formidinem videatur accedere. illud quod paene praeterii, qua adfectatione addidisti, ut ad te didascalicum aliquod opus- culum aut sermonem protrepticum mitterem? ego te docebo docendus adhuc, si essem id aetatis, utdiscerem? aut ego te vegetum adque alacrem commonebo? eadem opera i5 et Musas hortabor, ut canant, et maria, ut efQuant, et auras, ut vigeant, et ignes, ut caleant, admonebo, et si quid invitis quoque nobis natura fit, superfluus instigator 0 agitabo. sat est unius erroris, quod aliquid meorum me paenitente vulgatum est, quod bona fortuna in manus amicomm incidit. nam si contra evenisset, nec tu mihi per- suaderes, placere me posse. haec ad litteras tuas responsa sint. cetera, quae noscere 20 aves*, conpendii faciam: sic quoque iam longa est epistula. lulianum tamen familia- rem domus vestrae, si quid de nobis percontandum arbitraris, tibi allego, simul admoneo, ut, cum causam adventus eius agnoveris, iuves studium, quod ex parte fovisti. vale. XXXm (XXVn) post a. 369.