Letter 2069: A brief message is necessary when it is entrusted to someone in a hurry.
A message must of necessity be brief when it is suddenly entrusted to one who is in haste. For this reason it both satisfies the duty owed and accords with the shortness of time that I discharge toward you the honor of a greeting. But I ought not to demand a return in kind, which I judge will be rendered back to me even without any reminder by a man most faithful in friendship. Farewell.
[Editorial note: numbered LXVIII (LXVII); before the year 395.]
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
20 Brevem necesse est esse sermonem, qni properanti repente committitur. quare et
officio satis est et brevitati temporis congruit, ut circa te salutationis honore perfungar.
vicissitndinem vero effiagitare non debeo, quam mihi arbitror a viro amicitiae servan-
tissimo etiam sine admonitione referendam. vale.
LXVrai (LXVra) ante a. 395.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern symmachus retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/qaureliisymmach00seecgoog
Related Letters
Augustine gives Nebridius a compact answer on the incarnation of the Son.
Ambrose, Bishop, to the faithful of Milan.
...was unexpectedly held up.
A gratitude letter praising Severianus' memory, action, and practical civic restoration.
To the Emperor Gratian — Ambrose, Bishop.