Letter 468: Terentianus sends goods home, asks for boots, and hopes to transfer into a cohort.

Claudius Terentianus sends very many greetings to Claudius Tiberianus, his father and lord. Before anything else, I pray for your good health; that is what I want most. You should know, father, that I received the things you sent me through the veteran whose name is now damaged in the papyrus and through Numesianus, including the short cloak. I thank you for thinking me worthy of them and for setting my mind at ease. I have sent you, father, through Martialis, a well-sewn bag. In it you have one pair of mantles, one pair of capes, one pair of linen towels, one pair of sacks, and a linen covering. I had bought that last item along with a mattress and a pillow, but they were stolen from me while I was lying ill on the liburnian [a light warship]. You also have in the bag a single-layer cape; my mother sent that to you. Please receive the chicken cage too. In it you have sets of glassware, a pair of quinarius-sized bowls, six pairs of cups, two school papyrus rolls, ink on papyrus, five pens, and twenty Alexandrian loaves. I beg you, father, be content with just these things for now. If I had not been sick, I had hoped to send you more, and I hope to do so again if I live. I ask you, father, if it seems good to you, to send me from there leather-soled boots and a pair of felt socks. Boots with studs are useless; I have to shoe myself twice a month. I also ask you to send me the pickaxe you sent before. The optio [a junior officer] took that one from me, though I thank him because he is providing me with a better replacement. Beyond this, I ask and beg you, father, to write back to me immediately about your health, telling me that you have recovered it. I am anxious about what is happening at home unless you write back to me. If God wills it, I hope to live frugally and be transferred into a cohort. Here, however, nothing happens without money, and letters of recommendation are worth nothing unless a man helps himself. So please, father, write back to me at once. Know that Carpus wandered here, that Dius was found in the legion, and that I received six denarii on his behalf. My mother, my father, and my brothers send you greetings, and you should know that everything at home is very well. Greet Aphrodisia and Isityche. Greet Arrius the centurion and his family, Saturninus the clerk and his family, Capito the centurion and his family, Cassius the optio and his family, Tyrannius the optio and his family, Sallustius and his family, Terentius the pilot, Fronto and his family, Sempronius Italicus, Publicius, Severinus, your colleague Marcellus, and Lucius. Greet Serenus the clerk and his family. Greet all our tentmates. Farewell from me. I pray that you may be very well for many years, happily and forever. Farewell.

Claudius Terentianus Claudio Tiberiano patri suo et domino plurimam salutem. Ante omnia opto te bene valere, quae mihi maxime vota sunt. Scias me, pater, accepisse res quas mihi misisti per [lacuna] veteranum et per Numesianum, et palliolum; et ago tibi gratias quod me dignum habuisti et securum fecisti. Misi tibi, pater, per Martialem involucrum consutum, in quo habes amicla par unum, amictoria par unum, sabana par unum, saccos par unum, et stragulum lineum. Emeram autem illuc cum culcita et pulvino, et me iacentem in liburna sublata mihi sunt. Et habes in involucrum amictorium singulare; hoc tibi mater mea misit. Accipias caveam gallinariam, in qua habes syntheses vitriae et phialas quinarias par unum et calices paria sex et chartas scholares duas et in charta atramentum et calamos quinque et panes Alexandrinos viginti. Rogo te, pater, ut contentus sis ista modo. Si non iacuissem, sperabam me plura tibi missurum; et iterum spero, si vixero. Rogo te, pater, si tibi videbitur, ut mittas mihi inde caligas cori subtalares et udones par. Caligae autem nucleatae nugae sunt; bis me in mensem calcio. Et rogo ut mihi mittas dolabram eam quam mihi misisti; optionem illam mihi abstulisse, sed gratias illi ago, meliorem aliam mihi praestat. Praeterea oro et rogo te, pater, ut continuo mihi rescribas de salute tua, te habere bonam receptam. Sollicitus sum autem de vice in domo, nisi mihi rescribas. Et si deus voluerit, spero me frugaliter victurum et in cohortem transferri. Hic autem sine aere nihil fiet, neque epistulae commendaticiae nihil valent nisi si quis sibi adiutaverit. Rogo, pater, ut continuo mihi rescribas. Scias Carpum hic errasse et inventus est Dios in legione, et accepisse me pro illo denarios sex. Salutat te mater mea et pater et fratres mei; et scias domo perbene omnia recte esse. Saluta Aphrodisiam et Isitychen. Saluta Arrium centurionem cum suis, Saturninum scribam cum suis, Capitonem centurionem cum suis, Cassium optionem cum suis, Tyrannium optionem cum suis, Sallustium cum suis, Terentium gubernatorem et Frontonem cum suis, Sempronium Italicum et Publicium et Severinum et Marcellum collegam tuum et Lucium. Saluta Serenum scribam cum suis. Saluta omnes contubernales nostros. Vale mihi. Bene valere te opto multis annis felicissime in perpetuo. Vale.