Letter 5033: My affection for you urged me to write; the haste of the departing courier limited me to a few words.
Your affection, to be sure, prompted me to write, while the haste of the man passing through prompted me to say but few words. Therefore, content yourself with a greeting which, even if it does not fully discharge the obligation, nevertheless attests my affection, and in return send me something to read; and, if it must be so, rival my brevity. For although I am desirous of your most polished discourse, yet my awareness of this cramped page makes me not dare to demand from you an abundance of words.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Amor quidem tuns suasit, ut scriberem, praeterenntis festinatio, ut panca dicta-
rem. quare salntatione contentus, quae etsi non explet officium, tamen contestatnr
adfectum, redde invicem, quae legamus, et si necesse est, aemulare brevitatem. nam &
cum sim nitidissimi sermonis tui cupidus^ conscientia tamen huius angustae paginae
non audeo a te verborum copiam postulare.
Ln (L) a. 398 ?
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
Ambrose, Bishop, to the Emperor Gratian.
How to provide assurance to the synod If you could personally take the time to join them in deliberating at Ephesus,...
Burning coals were set ablaze byit.
You asked why the righteous suffer, and there is no better place to begin than the book of Job.
A benefactor's word and deed comfort Evagrius in the shadow of repentance.