Quintus Aurelius Symmachus→Decimus Magnus Ausonius|c. 390 AD|Decimus Magnus Ausonius|From Rome|To Bordeaux|AI-assisted
SYMMACHUS TO AUSONIUS
Although the praise of sons in the mouths of their parents is for the most part true, yet somehow or other it suffers a discount to its credit, since it is judged to have an eye to personal favor. And so, uncertain in my mind, I ask what words I ought now above all to take up concerning that honorable man, your son-in-law Thalassius. If I touch sparingly upon the graces of his character, I shall be thought to resemble one who is envious; if I pursue them as is just, I shall come very close to a flatterer. I shall therefore imitate the restraint of Sallustian testimony [the historian Sallust, famous for his terse, sparing praise]. You have a man worthy of you, and through you of a consular family, one whom the fortune of office found to be greater than her own benefits, and whom the integrity of his mind and his holiness have already provided with better gifts. Farewell.
Although praise bestowed upon their children is generally accepted as gospel by parents, yet it is somehow discounted when it is considered to have an eye to the favour of the great. I am at a stand, therefore, and ask what words 1 shall choose especially at this time in speaking of that worshipful man, Thalassius, your son-in-law. If 1 touch sparingly upon the graces of his character, I shall be thought to show signs of jealousy: if 1 duly enlarge upon them, I shall be next door to a flatterer. I will therefore copy Sallust 1 in his rigid mode of giving evidence. You have as son-in-law a man worthy of you, and, through you, of a consular family—one whom Fortune in her bestowal of distinctions has found too great to need her benefits, whom a faultless nature and stainless character have already furnished with higher gifts. Farewell.
SYMMACHUS AUSONIO
ETSI plerumque vera est aput parentes praedicatio
filiorum, nescio quo tamen pacto detrimentum
meriti sui patiatur, dum personarum spectare gratiam
iudicatur, quaero igitur incertus animi, quae mihi
nunc potissimum super viro honorabili Thalassio
genero tuo verba sumenda sint. si parce decora
morum eius adtingam. liventi similis existimabor:
si iuste persequar, ero proximus blandienti. Imitabor
igitur Sallustiani testimonii castigationem. Habes
virum dignum te et per te familia consulari, quem
fortuna honoris parti maiorem beneficiis suis repperit,
emendatio animi et sanctitas potioribus iam
paravit. vale.
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SYMMACHUS TO AUSONIUS
Although the praise of sons in the mouths of their parents is for the most part true, yet somehow or other it suffers a discount to its credit, since it is judged to have an eye to personal favor. And so, uncertain in my mind, I ask what words I ought now above all to take up concerning that honorable man, your son-in-law Thalassius. If I touch sparingly upon the graces of his character, I shall be thought to resemble one who is envious; if I pursue them as is just, I shall come very close to a flatterer. I shall therefore imitate the restraint of Sallustian testimony [the historian Sallust, famous for his terse, sparing praise]. You have a man worthy of you, and through you of a consular family, one whom the fortune of office found to be greater than her own benefits, and whom the integrity of his mind and his holiness have already provided with better gifts. Farewell.
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
SYMMACHUS AUSONIO ETSI plerumque vera est aput parentes praedicatio filiorum, nescio quo tamen pacto detrimentum meriti sui patiatur, dum personarum spectare gratiam iudicatur, quaero igitur incertus animi, quae mihi nunc potissimum super viro honorabili Thalassio genero tuo verba sumenda sint. si parce decora morum eius adtingam. liventi similis existimabor: si iuste persequar, ero proximus blandienti. Imitabor igitur Sallustiani testimonii castigationem. Habes virum dignum te et per te familia consulari, quem fortuna honoris parti maiorem beneficiis suis repperit, emendatio animi et sanctitas potioribus iam paravit. vale.