Letter 9027: It is my habit to be the first to seek out the friendship of worthy men.

[Letter LXV (LXIII)] ...you may illumine. I am accustomed to be the first to seek out the friendships of the best men: now the decline of my fortune has brought it about that I did not anticipate you. Pardon must therefore be granted to a tardiness that springs not from neglect but from my own sorrow, and our intimacy must be joined under a good omen, since you have furnished it with a more fortunate beginning. But although you yourself have outstripped me in the order and the courtesy of the duty, yet in time to come you shall by no means judge me sluggish, so that the union of our hearts, which took its beginning from your invitation, may be heaped up and completed by the frequency of my letters. Farewell. [Letter LXVIII (LXIIII)] I should indeed have preferred to obtain your return rather than your letters, but consolations too have their charm whenever we are cheated of what we wished. Yet I fear that you may keep yourself away from the city for a long time, for this is what the elaborate defense of your delay threatens us with. Wherefore I would have you know that to those who long for you no excuses for delay seem just. Whatever pretext you yourself may therefore bring forward will be heaped, as they say, upon deaf ears. This much in the meantime I send from the fourth milestone of the Latin Way, being about presently to make for the Laurentine countryside. For it is the way of those who grieve to disperse the cares of the mind by changing place. Farewell. [Letter LXX (LXV)] I should be accusing your silence, had I not seen you in your brother. He alone presented to me both the satisfaction of your duty and the image of your presence; for I recognized in him all the good qualities that I long ago approved in you. I love therefore the vein of your family, on whose account those who are not yet known to us already seem praiseworthy to us by the prerogative of an excellent stock. There now remains for me that customary urging on for letters, which I think ought neither to be wholly omitted, lest you should attend more remissly to what you suppose is not desired, nor to be greatly pressed, lest a perpetual demand should pluck from you the grace of a spontaneous service. [Letter LXXI (LXVI)] Although I must retrace my journey and forthwith make ready to depart for the country, yet I will not suffer this very brief interval of the day to be empty of letters: first, that I may match the duty of your writings by the exchange of conversation; next, that I may be understood to reward by the return of thanks the friendship I have sought; lastly, that by the announcement of my arrival I may obtain from you, who had resolved soon to go away, a little time for staying. For these reasons, being myself about to come, I have sent a letter as a kind of forerunner. But among these motives the chief consideration with me was not to be silent, because you were the first to entertain the wish of sanctioning our familiarity; whence it behooved me to take care that I should not incur the fault of disdain by neglecting a reply. And yet I should prefer that friendships should always be begun by my own effort, so far am I from receiving idly and negligently the gift of devotion that has been offered. I therefore render thanks to your good will, and I will take diligent care by my services that you may believe I could be anticipated in the order of writing, but cannot be anticipated in diligence of mind. [Letter LXXII (LXVII)] Alexander, as the histories relate, was bitten by a grievous envy, because fortune had granted Homer as herald to Achilles, the bravest man of his age. But my spirit swells with joy, because you have adorned the prosperous outcomes of the commonwealth with an equal eloquence of yours. Whence it has come about that to our gaze too, who live far off, a certain likeness of the deeds was set before us. Wherefore I both congratulate your fortune, which set you as a spectator amid prosperous affairs, and your eloquence, which answered the greatness of such matters with the weight of its oratory. The heavenly nod will bring it about that material for such tidings may never be lacking to the most ornate storehouse of your tongue. [Letter LXXIII (LXVIII)] I was anxious with care, before I received your letter, whether, your journey conveniently accomplished, you had arrived at your destination; but when I was made more certain that nothing had been diminished from your health by the toil of the journey, my mind returned to its security. The divine favor will grant that, just as we have learned of your absence the things we wished, so we may rejoice at your return. [Letter LXXIIII (LXVIIII)] [a. 398-400?] You promise your friendly assistance to our editions. I understand that the effect could have answered to the kindness of your letter, had the felicity of the province prolonged the term of your office. But although, the reins of the commonwealth laid down, you cannot set a limit to your promises, yet I confess that I am so bound to you in gratitude as if you had accomplished what was hoped. For the mind is obligated by the will of one who favors, not by the outcome of the matter. Meanwhile I abound in joy, because the report of all things smiles upon you, and I take my share in the praise you have earned. Farewell. [Letter LXXV (LXX)] You have made our senate-house and the Roman forum glad, the magistracy from which Sicily feared to draw lots through the recollection of those who went before. Be present, then, to us, who await you, and to be longed for by them; and take it to your credit, if the imitation of your successor should benefit the province. For he who has left an example is the author of the good deeds that follow. Farewell. [Letter LXXVI (LXXI)] I was silently complaining to myself about your silence, but a recent conversation appeased my friendly displeasure. Therefore let us return to our old custom and cultivate our mutual attentiveness with scrupulous greetings. Farewell. [Letter LXXVII (LXXII)] Your writings afford me very much pleasure, but if you had been willing to stay a little while at Rome, your presence would have conferred upon us far more than your conversation has conferred of grace. Yet I bear it with an even mind that you have preferred love of your homeland to our longing, and I hope, for the sake of visiting your son, who is now being instructed in liberal studies, that the opportunity of seeing you will be restored to me more often. Meanwhile, while we are apart, the labor of writing must be plied by you, so that my pen too may be provoked to an exchange. [Letter LXXVIII (LXXIII)] I believe you wonder that, while the wound of my fortune is still raw, I have broken my silence. These are my consolations, on these I feed, by these I am restored; though I count those things greater which are rendered to me from your heart and your speech. But I would not have you demand longer letters from me for so long; brief are the truces of grief, and soon the evils that have been dissembled a little while recur into wretched thoughts. Therefore let rather your discourse overflow, which may both win you praise for friendship preserved and bring me solace for my present distress. [Letter LXXVIIII (LXXIIII)] Would that a better cause had detained you: we should easily bear the losses of your absence. Yet you have soothed both [...] the longing for you with the solace of letters; which you will deign to send frequently, if any domestic necessity has thus far enjoined delay upon you. Farewell. [Letter LXXX (LXXV)] I am delighted both by the affection of your holy mind and by the assiduity of your correspondence; nor do I esteem it a benefit of less account that you furnish me with fit occasions for writing. For I hope that even these letters of mine can be restored to you, which they reclaim who by your judgment are chosen as the bearers of this service. And those things which, for our mutual friendship, you deign to enjoin, I gladly undertake to carry out, whenever they require my effort who are accompanied by your recommendation; but if anything obtains its effect either too negligently or too late, it ought to be ascribed to the dissimulation of those whom the care of being reminded deserts. For the rest, so just and honorable are the things you yourself for the most part delegate, that the execution of such approvable letters ought to be sought by me even of my own accord. [Letter LXXXI (LXXVI)] [a. 398] I confess that I longed for your letters for a long time, the bringing of which has most fully satisfied my expectation. But chiefly it was a joy to me that you announced you were faring according to your wish; next, that you gave a pledge of surety for your coming; and since I presume that you in turn rejoice over me, I signify that, after the immense perils which I alone endured in the disturbance of our common homeland, I have returned to a good condition. It remains that, to the fullness of prosperity, the gladness we have hoped for may come to us, which you have pledged me concerning your return. Farewell. [Letter LXXXII (LXXVII)] I would do honor in writing abundantly to your fruits, if I were strong enough; but now, beset by pains in all my limbs, I set aside the praise of your woodlands. Your frequent kindness will bring it about that often, at other times, we may celebrate the good things of the Phaeacians transferred to the Marsians. [Letter LXXXIII (LXXVIII)] I was taking my leisure in the country with my kinsfolk, that by the coolness of my Praenestine lodging I might shut out the blaze of the torrid summer heat. In that place your letter found me, which at first I received gladly, in the expectation of more prosperous news -- for up to that point you had cheered me with no gift of conversation -- but when I went carefully through, in a careful reading, all the troubles which you endured with the Po for their author, having accused your home-bred river, whose turbid courses and treacherous current you experienced, I gave thanks for your preservation to the gods as authors and to good fortune. For which reason the late-rendered duty of the conversation you have shown has pleased me, whose long cessation I might have reproached amid your prosperous affairs. For it came about, by the scruple that it ought, that I learned of your deliverance before I learned of your peril. Wherefore with the gods, the preservers of your safety, this care will abide, that they may ever dwell upon you with their benefits and endow you, for your merit, with a long course of years, so that old age may boil away nothing of your strength. Meanwhile, since a pleasing retirement and sweet repose embrace you, I beg you to deign to take up the care of speaking with us more often. You will add a little to the refreshment of your body, if you ease your sojourn either by sending forth letters or by receiving them in turn. Certainly nothing will be more precious to us than to read you, for whom in the meantime it is not granted to hear the charms of your lips. Farewell. [Letter LXXXIIII (LXXVIIII)] What our comic poet says -- "never do I depart from you but that I go away more learned" [Terence, Eunuchus 791] -- this I might justly recall concerning your letters, which are stuffed with many witticisms, sometimes of maxims, for the most part of verses. Even as now your letter, breathing Platonic nectar, has given how great a gift and honor to me! For unless I had been esteemed by you a man well versed in the best [...] parts, you would never have thought me to be made a partaker of the Attic Muses. Wherefore gird yourself frequently for work of this kind, and diligently persevere in the carefulness of friendship, since the exchange of our service commends this business to you. Farewell. [Letter LXXXV (LXXX)] It is a token of friendly will that, having attained the most ample consulship, you have granted me knowledge and fellowship in so great a joy. Wherefore for this gift the rich praise belongs to you in my eyes, since you are so confident of me that you know we can rejoice at your prosperous affairs. What of this too, that it was the work of your consular office to spread more widely the tidings of your honor? For joys which few enjoy are confined: and then you have rendered the benefit of the eternal prince himself more celebrated and more ornate, to whom, on the occasion of such letters, you seem to have given thanks among many, because he so kindly takes note of services. See to it, I beg you, that you continue that grace by the assiduity of writing. Farewell. [Letter LXXXVI (LXXXI)] You have made me a partaker of welcome tidings; for I confess that this is the rule of true friendship, that we rejoice mutually in our advantages. I congratulate you therefore both on our familiarity and on the fame of the times, which the equity of a recent judgment has vindicated unto eternal glory. You have performed the duty of an excellent citizen with much labor, with unceasing solicitude; but I would not have you repent of it: virtue shines forth in harder tasks and scorns a downhill ease, and with the greatest sweat strives toward the steep of praise. Add to this, that you act in the sight of a most valiant prince and enjoy the public good without satiety; which thing does not merely compensate but even commends the labor. And now, how great a thing is this, that in a cause not your own alone, having struggled out of the uncertainty of fortune, you owe to no one of us the grace of your victory! I would say more, but I seem to myself for the present to have made enough of words. Now, if you have the power, I prefer that you should hasten back at once: if there is any cause of delay, I beg you to reply. [Letter LXXXVII (LXXXII)] With me you have the highest praise and a solid favor, since you so affect the cultivation of friendship that you deem me worthy of the honor of letters. But that part of your letter which assigned to me the praise of eloquence, though it be exceedingly delightful, is yet less true. I do not dare to write: "you lie and you deceive," when you proclaim these things of me, but rather this: I know that you are deceived by love. Should you call anyone eloquent -- you, a man of the highest rank in speaking, whose oratory is of patrician dignity? Cease therefore from words that flatter and are smeared with paint, and...

inlumines. LXVm (LXIII) . Soleo amicitias optimorum primus expetere: nunc fortunae meae inclinatio, ne praevenirem, effecit. tribuenda est igitur venia tarditatis non neglegentiae sed mae- 1 5 stitudini meae et bono omine familiaritas copulanda , cui auspicium fortunatius prae- stitisti. sed licet me ipse officii ordine et dignatione praeverteris, in posterum tamen neqnaquam residem iudicabis, ut animorum nostrorum conciiiatio, quae tuo invitamento sumpsit exordium, meis litteris frequentata cumuletur. vale. Lxvrni (LXmi). 20 Mallem quidem reditum tuum quam litteras impetrare, sed habent etiam solacia iocum, quotiens fraudamur optatis. vereor autem, ne te diu ab urbe protermines, namque hoc nobis minatur tarditatis tuae elaborata defensio. quare velim noveris, nullas morae allegationes desiderantibus iustas videri. quidquid igitur ipse causa- tionis adtuleris, surdis, ut aiunt, auribus ingeretur. haec interim de quarto Latinae 26 viae mox agrum Laurentem petiturus emitto. est enim familiare maerentibus animi curas migratione discutere. vale. 2 epiaUtUim om, {11) , primw edicUt luretm in editione Symmaehi seeunda p. 304 , hoe loco colloeavit 8eioppiu8 indoU F^ 9 oneris F« et ad] Fi, ad F»^ tende] F«, tarde F^ l m., trade F^ 2 m., ten- deie F3 et tibi om. F^ 11 uale add. FU2 Igitur] ergo F«^ uenia] HF^'^, noU F* 15 homine F2 16 me ipse] n[r)F^F^ 2 m., uici p F^ 1 m., me nunc ipse F» puerteris F2, praeueneris F» 18 cumulata frequentotur F», freqnentata cnretur /7 uale om. F^ urbem FUi 22 defentio F2 noueris uelim F» 23 Istaa F« 1 m. tgitur] {II), om. F causationis] excusationis F» 24 ingeratur F» de quarto] IIF^^, die quarto F* 25 emitto] IIF^^ omitto F^ 26 nigratlone discurrere F^ 1 m. uale om. F^ 256 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE LXX (LXV). n Accusarem silentium tuum, Disi te in fratre yidissem. ille et officii tui satis- factionem et pmesentiae tuae imaginem mihi solus exhibuit; nam omnia bona in eo agnovi, quae in te dudum probavi. amo igitur venam familiae vestrae, de qua no- bis, etiam qui adhuc conpeiii non sunt, praerogativa optimi generis laudabiles iam s videntur. superest nunc mihi sollemnis illa efOagitatio litterarum, quam nec omitten- dam penitus existimo, ne remissius cures, qua^ putas non desiderari, nec magnopere perurgendam, ne tibi perpetua conventio spontanei gratiam decerpat ofGcii. LXXI (LXVI) . Quamvis relegere itcr atque ilico parem rure deccf/cre, hoc ipsum tamen breve lo intervallum diei vacuum esse litteris non patiar, primum ut ofGcium scriptorum tuo- rum vicissitudine sermonis aequiparem, dehinc ut expetitas amicitias relatu graliae intellegar munerari, postremo ut indicio adventus mei pauxillum de te, qui mox abire 2 decreveras, residendi tempus obtineam. ob has causas epistulam venturus ipse tam- quam praesulem misi. sed in his praecipua mihi fnit ratio non silendi, quod prior 15 votum sanciendae familiaritatis habuisti; unde curare me decuit, ne culpam fastidii contraherem dissimulando responsa. atqui mallem semper mea opera amicitias in- choari, tantum abest, ut pigre et neglegenter accipiam munus religionis oblatae. ago igitur gratias bonae voluntati tuae et curabo sedulo officiis meis, ut credas potuisse me scribendi ordine praeveniri, diligentia animi non posse. 20 LXXII (LXVII). Alexandrum, sicuti loquuntur historiae, gravis momordit invidia, quod Achilli fortissimo aevi sui Homerum praeconem fortuna tribuisset. at mihi animns gliseit gaudio, quod eventus reip. prosperos parili tuo sermone omasti. unde factum est, ut nostris quoque obtutibus, qui procul agimus, quaedam gestorum facies subderetur. 25 quare et fortunae tuae gratulor, quae spectatorem te secundis rebus adposuit, et fa- cundiae, quae talium negotiorum magnitudini orationis gravitate respondit. caelestis nutus efficiet, ut omatissimo linguae tuae promptuario numquam desit materia talinm nuntiorum. LXXIII (LXVIU). 30 Cura anxius eram, prinsquam litteras tuas sumerem, utmm commode peracto iti- nere ad destinata pervenisses; sed ubi certior factus sum, nihil valetudini tuae ex labore itineris deminutum, animus ad securitatem revertit. praestabit divinus favor, ut sicuti de absentia tua optata cognovimns, ita tuo reditu gaudeamns. 4 uenam] luretus, aeniam IT{r) qua nobis] (r), uobis (JI) 7 quae] hifttuaj qnam {II) 10 decedere] luretus, deducere II 13 qui] ego, si (II) 17 atqni] (r), atque (II) 19 ofll- ciis meis utj luretw, ut offlciis meis (//) 26 quae spectatorem — facundiae] /\ om, (II) 28 ornatissinio] (F), ornatissimae (11) LIBEK Vmi. 257 LXXIIII (LXVmi) a. 398—400? Editionibns nostris amicam operam polliceris. intellego litteris benevolentiue tuae F effectum respondere potuisse, si honoris tui tempus felicitas provinciae prorogasset. sed quamvis depositis reip. habenis nequeas promissis terminum dare, ego tamen fa- 5 teor ita me tibi vadatum gratia, ut si sperata perfeceris. voto enim faventis non exitu rei animus obligatur. interea abundo gaudio, quod tibi omnium rerum fama iioret, et in partem quaesitae a te laudis accedo. vale. LXXV (LXX) . Beasti curiam nostram forumque Romanum, de quo sortiri Sicilia magistratus an- 10 teriorum recordatione metuebat. ades igitur nobis expectatus, illis desiderandus , et praesume tibi accepto ferendum, si provinciae commodaverit posterioris imitatio. auctor est enim bonorum sequentium, qui reliquit exemplum. vale. LXXVI (LXXI). Querebar tacitus ipse mecum de silentio tuo, sed amicam suscensionem recens 15 sermo placavit. ergo in usum veterem revertamur et mutuam diligentiam religiosis salutationibus excolamus. vale. LXXVII (LXXn) . Scripta tua plurimum mihi tribf/unt voluptatis, sed si paululum Romae residere 11 volnisses, multo amplins nobis praesentia tua quam sermo gratiae contulisset. fero 20 tamen aequo animo , quod desiderio nostro amorem patriae />raetulisti , et spero , vi- sendi filii tui gratia, qui nunc liberalibus studiis eruditur, reddendam mihi saepius tui copiam. interea dum absumus, frequentanda tibi est opera scriptionis, ut meus etiam stilus ad vicissitudinem provocetur. LXXVm (LXXIU). 25 Credo miraris, quod adhuc crudo fortunae meae vulnere silentium ruperim. haec F solacia mea, his pascor, his recreor; etsi illa duco maiora, quae mihi ex tuo pectore et sermone redduntur. sed nolo tantisper a me exigas litteras longiores; breves sunt doloris indutiae, et mox in miseras cogitationes recurrunt dissimulata paululum mala. uote F2 / m. fauens F^ 6 iotegre F^ abundo gaudio] //F^, abunde gaudeo Fi.2 7 iii- quedtae partem F^ a te] 11 F^»^^ ante F* uale om, F^ anteriorum] F*, animorum F2.3 10 desiderantibus F8 11 commoda erit // potioris F<* imlUtlo] {r)F, mutatio // 12 auctor est] F«, auctorg F2, om. F^ enimj (//), om. F se- quendus F* reliquerat F2 uale om. F^ 16 uale om. F3 18 tribunt (//) 20 praetulisti] luretusy contulisti (//) Q. AvBKLivs Symmaoiivs. 33 258 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE » F ergo tna potius redundet oratio, quae et tibi laudein pariat servatae amieitiae et mihi solamen adferat praesentis aerumnae. LXXVmi (LXXIIII) . n Vtinam te melior causa tenuisset: facile absentiae tuae damna ferremus. utrum- qne tamen desiderium tui litterarum solacio mitigasti; quas frequentare s dignaberis, si qua tibi adhuc moram necessitas familiaris indixerit. vale. LXXX (LXXVi. Et sancti animi tui adfectione et sermonis adsiduitate delector; ne illud quidem beneficii minoris existimo, quod ad scribendum mihi idoneas tribuis facultates. spero enim vel has litteras meas tibi posse restitui, quas reposcunt, qui tuo iudicio porti- lo tores huius officii deliguntur. ea vero, quae pro mutua amicitia dignaris iniungere, libenter exequenda suscipio, quotiens desiderant operam meam, quos commendatione prosequeris; sed si quid aut neglegentius aut serius sortitur effectum, eorum dissimu- lationi, quos commonendi cura deserit, oportet adscribi. ceterum tam iusta et honesta sunt, quae ipse plerumque delegas, ut mihi vel ultro adpetenda sit executio proba- is bilium litterarum. LXXXI (LXXVI) a. 398^ Diu litteras tuas desiderasse me fateor, quarum adportatio expectationi meae ple- nissime satisfecit. praecipue autem mihi gaudio fuit, quod te pro voto agere nun- tiasti , dehinc quod adventus tui dedisti obsidem sponsionem ; et quoniam te mutuis 20 de me praesumo gaudere, post ingentia pericula, quae solus in commnnis patriae perturbatione toleravi, in bonum me statum redisse significo. superest, nt ad pleni- tudinem prosperorum laetitia nobis sperata proveniat. quod mihi de tuo reditu spo- pondisti. vale. LXXXII (LXXVII). 25 Pomis tuis abunde honorem scripto facerem, si valerem; nunc obsessus membro- rum omnium doloribus, silvarum tuarum laudem sequestro. faciet frequens humanitas tua, nt saepe alias in Marsos bona Phaeacum translata celebremus. LXXXm (LXXVIII). Ruri cum parentibus otiabar , ut algore Praenestini diversorii flagrantiam torridae 30 aestatis excluderem. eo me loci reppererunt litterae tuae, quas expectatione prospe- rioris indicii principio laetus accepi — namque ad hoc locorum nullo me munere ser- monis hilaraveras — , sed ubi omnes molestias, quas Pado auctore tolerasti, sollicita 2 affert F2.3 aerumnae] //, uitae ruinae. uale F*, ruinae. uale F2, iniurie F3 4 et poal tenuisset fnset. (F) 5 lamen doBiderium (//), lacunam indicavi 6 quam (/'j 10 has om. F 22 praetulerim: superest ad plenitudinem prosperorum, ut ex te laetitia nobis sperata proueniat 31 eo om. F lectione percensni, accnsato yernnla tno flnmine, cnins tnrbidos meatns et infidnm 11 agmen expertns es, retnli conservationis tnae gratiam diis anctoribns bonaeqne fortn- nae. qnamobrem conplacitnm est mifai sernm exhibiti sermonis ofQcinm, cnins longam 2 cessationem secnndis rebns tnis incnsare potnissem. factnm est enim religione qna 5 debuit, nt prins liberationem tnam qnam pericnlnm discerem. qnare penes sospita- tores tni deos manebit faaec cnra, nt beneficiis snis ingiter inmorentnr teqne ob me- ritnm donent largo aetatis excnrsn, ita nt senectns nihil decoqnat firmitatis. interea 3 qnoniam te grata secessio et qnies dnlcis amplectitnr, qnaeso cnram dignatns adripias nobiscnm saepins ioqnendi. adicies pluscnlnm refectioni corporis, si ant emittendis 10 epistnlis aut vicissim snmendis peregrinationem levaris. Certe nobis nihil antiqnins erit qnam te legere, qnibns blanditias oris tni interim non contingit andire. vale. LXXXUII (LXXVIIII). Qnod ait noster comicns: nnmqnam te adeo, qnin abs te doctior abeam, F id ego de epistnlis tnis iure memoraverim, quae mnltis salibns nonnnraqnam senten- istiamm, plernmqne versunm farciuntnr. velnti nnnc litterae tnae halantes Platonicnm nectar qnantnm mihi mnneris et honoris dedernnt! nam nisi tibi b^^ftmm PftTtMl"^ ">» spectatns essem, numqnam me Atticis Musis inpertiendnm pntasses. qnare hniusmodi operi freqnenter accingere et amicitiae diligentiam sednlo persevera, cum hoc nego- tium tibi nostri ofGcii vicissitndo commendet. vale. 20 LXXXV (LXXX). Amicae voluntatis indicium est, qnod adeptus amplissimnm consulatnm cognitio- /I nem mihi et societatem tanti gandii praestitisti. qnare hnins tibi apnd me mnneris opima lans est, qnando ita secnras es mei, nt tnis rebns prosperis scias nos posse laetari. qnid qnod etiam consnlare negotinm fnit honoris tni nnntinm latins pro- 25 movere? gandia enim, qnibns panci frnnntnr, angnsta snnt: dehinc ipsins aetemi principis beneficinm celebrins atqne oraatius reddidisti, cni snb occasione talinm litte- raram apnd mnltos gratias videris egisse, qnod /am benigne animadvertat oflicia. facito, oro te, nt istam gratiam scribendi adsidnitate continnes. vale. LXXX VI (LXXXI) . 30 Conpotem me optati nnntii praestitisti ; fateor enim verae amicitiae hanc esse rationem , nt commoda nostra mutuo gandeamns. gratulor igitur cnm tibi familiari- tatis nostrae, tum famae temporam, qnam recentis iudicii aequitas in aetemam glo- riam vindicavit. fnnctns es optimi civis ofGcinm multa opera, perpeti sollicitndine ; 13 Terent. Eun. 791. 2 retnlistl r 6 sniB] lufeUu, tuis (77)r 11 andire] T, om, (/7) repetit F^ non nnqaam F^ 15 sarciuntur F^ nunc om. F^ tnae om. F^ ha- lantes] luretus, alantes F3, alentes F^ 1 m. 77, olentes F^F^ 2 m, 16 et honoris om, F» tibi om, F3 partium] T, artium F, patrum /7 17 Atticis] a tuis F» quare et F3 18 dili- gentiam] F, diligentia F 19 uale] (77), om. F, qui epist. 87 cum hnc coniufigunt 24 tni] sui (/^ 27 quod tam] Suse^ quam {/7] animaduertantnr (7^ 31 igitur cnm] (r), ergo (77) 33» 260 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE /T sed nolo paeniteat: virtus durioribus negotiis enitescit et aspernatur declivem facili- 2 tatem maximoque sudore arduum laudis adnititur. adde huc, quod in ore fortissimi principis agis et publico bono sine satietate defrneriS; quae res non conpensat modo sed etiam commendat laborem. iam illud quale est, quod in causa non tantum tua fortunae eluctatus incertum uuUi nostrum debes victoriae tuae gratiam! plura vellem, sed videor mihi in praesentia satis fecisse verborum. nunc si tibi potestas est, malo, ut iam recurras: si quid morarum est, quaeso respondeas. LXXXVII (LXXXU). F Summa tibi apud me laus et solida gratia est, quando i^« adfectas amicitiae cnl- tum, ut nos litterarum honore digneris. sed pars epistulae tuae, qnae laudem mihi lo adsignavit eloquii , sit licet nimis iucunda , minus tamen est vera. non audeo scri- bere: mentiris et decipis, cum haec de me praedicas, sed illud potius: scio, quod amore fallaris. tu quemquam facundum voces, vir in dicendo summarum partium, cui sit patriciae dignitatis oratio? ergo parce verbis lenocinantibus et fuco oblitis et