Letter 402.3

gladly, my son, read your speech, which you have sent me, and correct anything that seems to require it, but by the hand of my secretary, for my own hand is useless from severe pain. In spite of the pain, however, I have been carried to the circus. For I am again seized with a passion for the games . . . . be badly composed and wholly in rhetorical style. Footnotes [ edit ] ↑ Certainly an early letter, possibly the earliest preserved (see § 4). In a subsequent letter to Marcus, as Emperor, it seems to be referred to as prima ilia lougiuscula epistula (see Ad Ant. i. 2). Marcus became consul in 140, and this fact could scarcely have been ignored in § 6. ↑ The Latin phrase verba dare alicui means "to use mere words to a person," i.e. to deceive him. It is difficult to reproduce the subtle play on the words. ↑ i.e. "to rinse the mouth." ↑ i.e. "to swab the flagged floor in the baths." ↑ "To bathe the cheeks in tears." ↑ "To wash clothes." ↑ "To wash off sweat and dust." ↑ "To scour out." ↑ "To water mead." ↑ "To gargle the throat." ↑ "To scrub out a horse's frog." ↑ As it happens, it might mean one or two other things in English. ↑ Used in the sense of supprimo , "checked." ↑ cp. below, Ad Caes , ii. 5, Ad Ant. i. 2, ad med. ↑ Marcus (see Thoughts , iii. 14) possibly wrote some sort of History of the Greeks and Romans , which Nicephorus Callistus (iii. 31) may perhaps refer to. But Marcus in his Thoughts , i. 17 ad fin. , disclaims the study of histories. ↑ Gratia was Fronto's wife. He had also a daughter Gratia, who was married about 160, and so probably born between 140 and 145. ↑ Domitia Lucilla, the widow of Annius Verus. The adopted mother of Marcus, the elder Faustina, wife of Pius, died between July 140 and July 141. ↑ The second of these must be the preceding letter. The other may possibly be the first letter given above. ↑ His other pupil, Lucius Verus, also pays Fronto this compliment ( Ad Ver. ii. 2). But Marcus, in his tribute to Fronto in his Thoughts (i. 11), omits all mention of it. ↑ This title can stand for the mother of Marcus as it does in the previous letter, or for Faustina the elder, his adopted mother, or, after his marriage in 145, for his wife Faustina the younger. ↑ A proverb for unflinching justice or determination. ↑ The Discourse on Love which follows. ↑ The speech of thanks to Pius in the Senate for being given the title of Caesar in the year 139 is probably meant. ↑ cp. Hor. Ars Poet. 441. ↑ Possibly Lorium, twelve miles from Rome, where Pius had a villa. ↑ If the preceding sentence can be taken to imply that his mother Lucilla was away, this must refer to Faustina the elder, wife of Pius. ↑ This is the piece referred to in the previous letter. ↑ He is alluding to the speeches of Lysias and Socrates in Plato's Phaedrus . Philostratus ( Ep. 6) sums up the opinions expressed in them thus: τὸ μὲν μὴ ἐρῶντι χαρίζεσθαι, Λυσίου δόξα· τῷ δὲ ἐρῶντι, δοκεῖ Πλάτωνι . ↑ As your relations with him imply. ↑ καλός was the recognised tribute to the victorious boy-athlete, and is constantly so used on vases. See also Aristoph. Vespae , 199. ↑ cp. Lucian, De Saltat. 16: τοὺς ἐξαγορεύοντας τὰ μυστήρια ἐξορχεῖσθαι λέγουσιν οἱ πολλοί . ↑ Possibly the sunflower ( Girasole ), or marigold; see Shaks. Sonnets , xxv. 6. ↑ Orator and master seem both to refer to Fronto. We do not know what he may have said about Lais. ↑ Referring to a letter not preserved. ↑ Off Naples. It is mentioned in connection with Marius by Plutarch. ↑ Probably the mother of Marcus, to whom Fronto sends a greeting in the next letter. ↑ His adopted father, the emperor Antoninus Pius. ↑ For the honour of being made "Caesar" in 139. It could no doubt refer to the Consulship in 145, or the Tribunicia Potestas in 147; but these dates are too late. ↑ Marcus painted this portrait with a loving hand in his Thoughts , i. 6, vi. 30. ↑ There were two rhetoricians of this name, one of Constantinople, the other of Gadara. The latter is probably meant. ↑ We have more on the subject in a letter to Marcus's mother ( Epist. Graec. 1). ↑ The best of such nugalia that we possess is Lucian's on the Fly. Dio wrote one on the Gnat, and even Plato on Fever. There were others on Gout, Blindness, Deafness, and Baldness. cp. also Augustine, De Vera Relig. lxxvii., who says that some had written the praises of ashes and dung verissime atque uberrime . ↑ Horace, Od. i. 2, 31 ↑ Homer, Il. xiv. 350. ↑ A philosopher and rhetorician of Arles, a friend of the emperor Hadrian and of Herodes Atticus and Fronto. ↑ Especially worshipped by Pius and Marcus. ↑ These words point to an early letter. ↑ cp. Thoughts , viii. 30, and below, Ad Ant. i. 1. ↑ This would seem to be an early letter, in spite of its position in the Codex. ↑ On the coast of Etruria (now Civita Vecchia), 47 miles from Rome. Pius inherited the magnificent villa built there by Trajan. ↑ i.e. for the purpose of writing or study. ↑ Possibly Fronto had brought Marcus some books from Rome. ↑ Centumcellae. ↑ Fronto follows Herodotus, as Gellius also professes to do. Fronto probably intended this piece to be a model of narrative style for his pupil. It seems to be of the matter-of-fact style ( siccum genus ) for which Fronto was celebrated. ↑ Or possibly "love of his art." ↑ This and the next four letters refer to a trial at Rome, in which the famous Greek rhetorician, Herodes Atticus, one of Marcus's teachers and his friend, was accused by the Athenians of various crimes. Their principal spokesman was Demostratus, who is mentioned again, Ad Ver. ii. 9. Of the circumstances we only know what the Letters tell us. But a very similar accusation was brought against him nearly thirty years later (see Philostratus, Vit. Soph. p. 242, Kayser). Herodes must have been honourably acquitted on the present occasion, as he was made consul in 143. The trial, one must suppose, preceded the consulship, as he could hardly have been elected to it with such accusations hanging over him. ↑ Marcus practised what he preached in the second trial of Herodes, mentioned above. ↑ His maternal grandfather. It seems as if Herodes was not yet a teacher of Marcus. ↑ Fronto is probably punning on Marcus's name Verus . Hadrian gave him the pet name of Verissimus , which Justin Martyr also uses, and it appears on the coins of Tyras on the Euxine. ↑ We can scarcely keep the assonance: "It is not right that such a wight." ↑ Lit. "keep at a distance with darts." ↑ It is curious that Fronto did not know of this friendship and, indeed, more about such a man as Herodes. ↑ Herodes himself is meant, not his son, as generally supposed. His father left by his will a yearly sum of money to every Athenian citizen. But Herodes compounded with the Athenians for a single payment of 5 minae. However, by deducting from this sum moneys owed by them to his father, he exasperated the citizens against himself, and this may have caused the high-handed proceedings described here. See Philost. Vit. Soph. 236, Kays. ↑ In spite of Fronto's speech they became great friends. See below, Ad. Ant. ii. 8. ↑ Probably not the jurist, mentioned in the Digest , who was later. Nothing is known of the persons named. ↑ Herodes appears to be meant. ↑ Opicus , another form for Oscan = a rude, unlettered person. ↑ Orpheus appears on the Alexandrine coins of Marcus. ↑ So Dio, lxxi. 35, § 6, and Zonaras, ii: ἦν γὰρ καὶ φύσει ἀγαθὸς ἀνήρ, πλεῖστα δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ παιδείας βελτίων ἐγένετο . ↑ Marcus would have assumed the toga virilis about 135 A.D. ↑ Probably Salvius Julianus, the great jurist, who is mentioned in the Digest , xxxvii. 14, 17 Pr. by Marcus as amicus noster . ↑ Ennius probably. ↑ Called amicus noster by Marcus and Verus in Digest , xxxvii. 14, 17 Pr. He was one of Marcus's teachers, and wrote a book for him De Asse ac Ponderibus , which is still extant. ↑ According to Teuffel's Latin Literature , Sota ( Σωτᾶς ) = Sotades. There was a metre called Sotadean, but probably named from a licentious Greek poet mentioned by Martial ( Epigr. ii. 86). ↑ See next letter. ↑ Possibly the word means "to cool down" ( cp. defervescere ) and refers to the vehemence of Gracchus's style, see Ad Ver. i. 1. ad med. ↑ Excerpts from Terence, Vergil, Cicero, and Sallust, entitled Exempla Elocutionum , attributed by some to Fronto, have come down to us. Marcus followed this habit of making extracts. See Thoughts , iii. 14, and below, Ad Caes. ii. 10. ↑ Marcus did not receive the Imperium till 147 (with the Trib. Pot. ), nor was he styled Imperator till 161. There must be some error in the word. The number (I.) that follows the heading may mean the first letter by Marcus in the Codex, in which case the whole first quaternion, which is lost, must have contained letters of Fronto. ↑ The alder seems out of place among upland and forest trees. ↑ See Plutarch, On the Fortune of the Romans , ch. x.; and for the various Fortunes cp. De Orat. , ad init. ↑ This letter is evidently an answer to a Pro Somno of Fronto's. By "collusion" he means being really in favour of sleep while pretending to plead against it. ↑ If we keep Hauler's reading of the Codex eiusdem , the pronoun would seem to refer to Theodoras (see p. 38), for we can hardly assent to Hauler's view that σκιλα refers to Squilla Gallicanus, to whom there is a letter below, Ad Am. i. 25. ↑ Marcus seems to refer to Ulysses being driven back-wards and forwards along the coast ( Odyss. xii. ). ↑ Odyss. iii. 117. ↑ ibid. x. 31. ↑ ibid. 29. ↑ ibid. 46. ↑ Sicily. ↑ Odyss. xii. 338. ↑ ibid. xi. 108; xii. 359, 364. ↑ ibid. xii. 370, 372. ↑ Odyss. i. 58. ↑ Iliad , iv. 22, 23. ↑ Ibid. ii. 24. ↑ Fronto. Jerome calls certain translations of the Scriptures non versiones sed eversiones . ↑ Cicero ( Acad. ii. 16) quotes the beginning of Ennius's own account of the dream: Visus Homerus adesse poeta . ↑ cp. Hesiod, Theog. 22 f. ↑ Odyss. xiii. 80. ↑ In a fragment of a letter to Marcus as emperor, Charisius, Ars Grammatica , ii. 223, 8, quotes from Fronto adest etiam usque, quaque tibi natura situs lepos et venustas . ↑ This must refer to some word in the lost pages, not to praevaricor , which characterizes Marcus' treatment of the theme in general. ↑ For the meaning of luteus see Fronto apud Gell. ii. 26, § 8. ↑ Cicero, De Off. iii. 19, calls it rusticorum proverbium . To "flash with the fingers" was to raise some of them sharply for another to rap out the number, a game still played in Italy and called mora . ↑ Possibly the book De Virtute ; see Cicero, Tusc. v. 1. For his other philosophical works see Cicero, Acad. Part. i. 12. ↑ As in Aul. Gell. xv. 7 and Tac. Ann. i. 8; Hildebrand on Apul. Met. iv. 27, takes it as = ambigua . ↑ Fronto is nettled at something Marcus had said against conventional insincerities of language. It was not for nothing that he was called Verissimus . ↑ As when he pretended ignorance ( dissimuiatio ) to elicit a definition from others. ↑ The Greek word = civiliter . cp. urbanitas in the quotation from Quintilian in note on p. 100. ↑ Fronto imitates Sallust in the conclusion of this letter. The last words are a good specimen of a Frontonian sententia or γνώμη . ↑ The epideictic kind ( genus demonstrativum of Quintilian was for show speech, such as panegyrics, speeches of thanks to the Emperor, and μελέτας , like the set declamations of the Greek rhetoricians. Quintilian (xii. 58) distinguishes three styles in oratory as (1) subtile , (2) floridum ( namque id ἀνθηρὁν appellant ) or medium , (3) grande ac robustum ; but Gellius (vii. 14) as gracilis, mediocris, uber . The subject here referred to as occupying Marcus, may be the speech mentioned in the next letter. ↑ Fronto, according to Cl. Mainertus, excelled in pompa (the epideictic speech); according to Macrobius, in the siccum genus (forensic). ↑ Either in a letter or perhaps in the speech. If the former, it may have been in connexion with their being taught to speak the truth. ↑ Droz ( De Frontonis Instit. Orat. p. 47) thinks Fronto had been reading an epideictic speech of Marcus's and been disappointed by it. ↑ The official record, like our "Hansard." Julius Caesar introduced the custom of keeping this record. ↑ Fronto's wife. ↑ The nearest passage to this in our extant Pl. is Most. i. ii. 62: pro imbre amor advenit in cor meum. Is usque in pectus permanavit . ↑ Not the letter ( Ad M. Caes. i. 3) given on p. 83, as Brakman thinks. ↑ Possibly Victorious, or Fronto's brother Quadratus. ↑ See Pliny, N.H. xv. 19. ↑ ibid. xix. 41. The cabbage of Aricia ( brassica oleracea ) is said by Pliny to be the most useful of all, but the argument requires that it should be only for pleasure. ↑ From an interesting anecdote in Philost. ( Vit. Soph. p. 231, Kays.) we find that Marcus formed a higher estimate of Polemo in later life. ↑ His name at this time was Marcus Aurelius Verus. ↑ i.e. Victorinus, afterwards the son-in-law of Fronto. He was one of Marcus's school friends. Lucian, writing a little later, speaks similarly of the critical audiences ( Quom. Hist. Scrib. 10). The passage here quoted may have appealed to patrician pride; or its cadence with its repetition of the letter i may have pleased the hearers. ↑ Marcus himself refused to do this; see Dio, lxxi. 21). It was subsequently forbidden by law (Cod. IX. xlvii. 12). ↑ For luteus see Aul. Gell. ii. 26, § 8, = "flame-coloured," used of a bride's veil. For Fronto's thought cp. Seneca, Ep. 114 and 100 §§ 5 ff., quorundam non est compositio , modulatio est; adeo blanditur et molliter labitur; and lege Ciceronem; compositio una est; pedem servat lenta et sine infamia mollis. ↑ Capit. Vit. Mar. iii. 7, says of Marcus: tantum operis et laboris studiis impendit, ut corpus adficeret . ↑ Marcus was born April 26, 121 A.D. ↑ Polemo, a tipsy gallant, bursting into the lecture room of Xenocrates, was converted by what he heard to better ways, and succeeded him as head of the Academy. ↑ Augustus gave the site of the cemetery on the Esquiline to Maecenas, who covered it with 25 feet of earth and there laid out his "gardens," of which Fronto was now the owner. See Lanciani, Ancient Rome , p. 67 (1889). ↑ April 26. ↑ See Zenob. Prov. Cent. iv. 2. Nothing is known of the Pyrrhaeans. ↑ Whether this and the following letter refer to the thanks for Fronto's consulship is not clear. If so, we should have expected Pius to give Fronto his title of consul. ↑ Faustina the younger, daughter of Pius, seems to be meant, as Mommsen suggested. ↑ An Aegean island to which banished persons were sent. ↑ Marcus is referring to Fronto's speech of thanks to Pius in the Senate. ↑ As symbol of authority. ↑ He knows his own weakness and never feared admonition, because he knows how much he needs it and such a teacher. ↑ Demosth. 928, 6. ↑ Horribiliter appears to be a slang use. ↑ A marginal note in the Codex says that this letter was to excuse Fronto's silence post integritatem redditam . Fronto's health seems meant. ↑ " Amici mores noveris non oderis ." See Trench, On Proverbs , p. 49, note. ↑ Pliny, N.H. viii. 30. ↑ The arrow-snake, Isaiah, xxxiv. 15: so iaculi serpentes , Lucan ix. 720, and cp. Hor. Odes , iii. 27, 6. ↑ Plutarch ( Demetr. 22) says seven years, cp. Pliny, N.H. xxxv. 30, §§ 10, 20. ↑ For the lame Hephaestus see Hom. Il. i. ad fin. ↑ Marcus appears to be speaking of himself. At the end of the preceding letter ( Ad M. Caes. ii. 9, p. 146) and the beginning of this one several pages are lost. ↑ Naevius was the earliest great national poet of Rome. He wrote an epic on the First Punic War, and also tragedies. ↑ cp. Shaks. Hamlet , III. ii, 399. ↑ Probably the Augustan poet, orator, and historian, Asinius Pollio, is meant. His archaism would recommend him to Fronto, who subsequently quotes a work of his ( Ad Verum , ii. 1). ↑ July and August, the two months of Fronto's consulship, during which Fronto had to be in Rome. ↑ He appears as one of Pliny's correspondents in his letters. ↑ Possibly a Punic name, thinks Niebuhr. ↑ Marcus was born on Mons Caelius, where the Annii had a residence. ↑ Caecilius Statius, a comic poet contemporary with Ennius. ↑ Masurius Sabinus was a great jurist of Tiberius's reign. Persius ( Sat. v. 90) mentions a work of his called Rubrica , Possibly Marcus is alluding to the jargon of minute legal distinctions. ↑ Probably named Quadratus. See Corpus Inscr. Lat. xv. 7438. ↑ The Jews. The same may be said of the Moslems and their fast. ↑ Fronto's wife. ↑ The oath was that he had administered his office according to law. Herodian (iv. 3) says that this was done in the old forum ( ἀγορά ). ↑ Homer, Il. ix. 312. ↑ cp. . Capit. Vit. Marci , iv. 9 amavit pugillatum, luctamina . The phrase faucibus urgere is from Sall. Cat. 52. ↑ As Gratia, Fronto's daughter, married Victorinus about the year 160, she is not likely to have been more than two or three years old, at the most, in 143. ↑ i.e. Sallust; M. Porcius is Cato. ↑ This repeated use of atque was a habit of Cato's. ↑ Pius's villa, twelve miles from Rome, on the Via Aurelia, where he died. ↑ Fronto had evidently accused himself of impudentia for sending Marcus something of his (? his speech) to be criticised. ↑ This is the only considerable fragment of Fronto's speeches which we have. Nothing more is known of the case with which it deals. Fronto's legal treatment of the question at issue is severely condemned by Dirksen ( Opusc. i. 243 ff.), but it is quite impossible to believe that Fronto was as ignorant of law as his critic asserts. ↑ The Emperor could legislate either directly by edict , or by a judicial decision ( iudicium = decretum ), or as became usual after Nerva by a rescript , interpreting the law, in answer to an inquiry or petition. ↑ It is possible to take these words as Fronto's own— much way has he made and with speed . ↑ Marcus, when emperor, allowed only one adjournment; see Digest , ii. 12, 1. ↑ The Latin = our slang "sitting tight on." ↑ Pius punished conduct of this kind (see Digest , xlii. 4, 7) by adjudging the inheritance to the other claimant. ↑ cp. Acts , xxvii. 38. ↑ The new Thes. Ling. Lat. gives dissipatur as the gloss for differtur here. ↑ Herodes married Annia Regilla about 143, and this would be his first son by her. His passionate grief on other occasions is noted by Lucian, Demonax , §§ 24, 35, and Philostr. Vit. Soph. 242, Kays. ↑ Aesopus in tragedy, Roscius, who taught Cicero declamation, in comedy. Marcus, probably about this time, was studying under Geminus the comedian; see Capit. iv. 2. ↑ A writer of mimes and an eques of the time of Julius Caesar. ↑ For beneficium and veneficium , cp. Apul. Apol. ii. 2. The letters were constantly interchanged. Shakespeare, Two Gentl. III. i. 216, puns on the words vanished and banished. ↑ The heading is lost, but the letter is certainly addressed to Herodes Atticus in response to the request of Marcus made in a previous letter. ↑ Herodes would not have been fifty at this time. ↑ These two were masters of Fronto; see Index. Marcus ( Thoughts , i. 13) mentions Athenodotus. ↑ Marcus is meant. ↑ A splendid villa of Trajan's on the Etrurian coast, now Civita Vecchia. Pliny, Ep. vi. 31, gives a good description of it. ↑ Between Rome and Centumcellae on the Via Aurelia. ↑ He was tried for massacring nearly the whole nation of the Lusitanians by means of the basest treachery. Cato, though eighty-five years old, was his accuser. Galba brought his sons and one nephew into court to excite pity. ↑ Probably of Etruscan origin, and a sort of "Book of the Dead"; cp. Livy, iv. 7. 12. It is said that such books have recently been found. ↑ "Priest, don the fell" (Dr. Rouse). ↑ i.e. the regio through which ran the Via Aurelia . ↑ A phrase from Cicero ( Tusc. ii. 24, 59). ↑ Fronto plays on two meanings of legere . ↑ A good wine is meant. Marsic wine was poor, see Mart, xiii. 121 and Athen. i. 26. The wine of Signia was astringent and medicinal. ↑ Marcus was fond of hunting; see Capit. iv. 9. Coins also shew this; see Cohen, 408, and a beautiful medallion in Grueber. ↑ Nothing more is known of this speech. ↑ Built by Augustus; see Hor. Od. i. 31; Ep. i. 3. 17. ↑ In the Palace of Tiberius. ↑ Lucian ( Lexiph. 2) speaks of τοὺς ἐργάτας λιγυρίζοντας τὴν θερινὴν ὠδήν . ↑ Capit. Vit. Pii , xi. 5, says Pius always performed the sacrifice himself. ↑ Capit. ( ibid. xi. 2) tells us that Pius vindemias privati modo cum amicis agebat . ↑ Possibly from the Vindemiatores of Novius. ↑ Fronto's daughter. ↑ Ion , 732. ↑ We know from Galen (xiv. 216, Kühn) that Marcus was in later life, too, a good and intelligent patient. ↑ In Plato's Phaedo , ad init. ↑ It is not known who is referred to. ↑ For his speech of thanks as consul (145 A.D. ) or as invested with Trib. Pot. (147). ↑ Cicero uses it ( De Orat. i. 33). ↑ The first four letters seem to refer to the same occasion as the four that precede. ↑ The first mention of Faustina in connection with Marcus, to whom she was married in 145. ↑ A harbour of Latium. Marcus ( Thoughts , i. ad fin. ) mentions a stay there. ↑ Perhaps the phrase means "belittle" or "make light of a thing." ↑ Hauler ( Wien. Stud. 25, pt. 1, 1903) takes differunt as = differuntur , a Plautine usage. ↑ Homer, see above p. 94. ↑ Either Faustina or the mother of Marcus. By Augusta is meant Faustina the younger, who received this title on her marriage to Marcus in 145. ↑ Afterwards Fronto's son-in-law. ↑ It is not known what misfortune had befallen Fronto. ↑ Annia Cornificia, born about 123 A.D. She married Unnnidius Quadratus. ↑ This would be at Lorium, or somewhere in the country. ↑ It is not clear whether this is his mother or Faustina. ↑ If Fronto here refers to the scorpion incident, it is curious that he does not enquire for the rest of the family. ↑ Annia Galeria Faustina, born probably early in 146. She died in infancy, and Herodes set up an inscription to her at Olympia (Dessau, ii. 8803). ↑ This does not seem to be found in the preceding letter. ↑ Of Eunius. ↑ cp. Capit. Vit. Marci , iv. 8, 10. ↑ ibid. xv. 1, and cp. Thoughts , vi. 46. ↑ Capit. xxii. 5: quia durus videbatur ex, philosophiae institutione. ↑ Uber (= grandis , Quintilian, xii. 10. 58) corresponds to the Greek ἁρδός , and characterises the epideictic kind of oratory. ↑ Cic. Ad Att. i. 19 uses this word as equivalent to acclamationes , i.e. approval by acclamation ; but επιφώνημα also stands for exclamatio , a rhetorical term for apostrophizing something to excite pity or anger (see Auct. ad Herenn. iv. 15. 22). Quintilian however uses it (viii. 5) for the summing up in a concise, telling form of a narrative or proof. ↑ The word Quinquatrus means "falling on the fifth day" ( i.e. after the ides of March, viz. March 19), but the feast also lasted five days. A lesser festival of the same name fell on June 13. Suetonius ( Domit. 4) says that Domitian celebrated the feast yearly at his villa at Albanum. ↑ Afterwards became the town of Albanum. Dio, lxvii. 1, describes it. He tells us (lxvii. 14, § 6) that Acilius Glabrio (supposed to have become subsequently a Christian) fought with wild beasts ( cp. Juvenal, 4, 95). Suetonius ( Domit. 10) informs us that he was put to death by Domitian. ↑ Apparently the daughter, not the wife, of Marcus. ↑ Probably his residence on the Esquiline, the Horti Maccenatiani . ↑ A Lucilius was trib. pl. in 94, but no Acilius appears as censor at that date. This letter seems to be an answer to the preceding one, but it gives details of the theme which we should expect to have been given when it was first set. ↑ Victorinus, later Fronto's son-in-law. For his incorruptibility see Dio, lxxii. 11. The family came from Pisaurum in Umbria. ↑ A Stoic philosopher, but with leanings to Platonism. His system, like that of Marcus subsequently, concerned itself only with ethics. ↑ This was written, therefore, between April 26, 146, and April 26, 147. ↑ See Plut. Ages. 30. ↑ Supposed by some to be Plautus. ↑ Here came the parting of the ways, and philosophy and his teacher Rusticus definitely vanquished Fronto and rhetoric. See Thoughts , i. 7 and 17, § 4. ↑ Philost. ( Vit. Soph. 242, Kays.) tells us that Marcus sometimes wrote to Herodes three letters in one day. ↑ The expression points to a time after Marcus had been invested with the Trib. Pot. and Proconsular Imperium. ↑ Obviously of Hero and Leander. ↑ Annia Galeria Faustina and Annia Lucilla, who was born about 148. A son born between the two died soon after birth in 147. See C.I.G. 3176. ↑ July 1, 138. ↑ If this letter is correctly dated, these rota would be the decennalia . See Coins of Pius , Cohen, 226-229. ↑ As only one daughter is now mentioned, the little Faustina must have died, leaving Lucilla alone. ↑ This the first allusion to Lucius Verus, the other adopted son of Pius, afterwards joint-emperor with Marcus. ↑ Lucilla, the daughter of Marcus, must be meant. ↑ There is an inscription ( C.I.L. vi. 8588; cp. viii. 997) by his wife, Fuficia Clymena, to Q. Saenius Pompeianus as conductor IIII publicorum Africae , i.e. , farmer of four public revenues of Africa (see Orelli, Inscr. Lat. 6650). ↑ Lucilla and Arria Fudilla, the latter born about 150 A.D. ↑ Asia. Fronto was consul in 143, and the usual interval between the consulship and proconsulate at this time was twelve to fifteen years. But Fronto may have had his appointment accelerated in consideration of his age or health. ↑ Marcus speaks very highly of him ( Thoughts , i. 8; 17, § 4), and Epiphanius calls him ἔταιρος Ἀντωνίνου . But see Capit. Vit. Pii , x. § 4, and Lucian, Demonax , § 31. ↑ Cirta, in Numidia, where he was born. ↑ Where he probably studied in his youth. ↑ A procurator might be (1) a collector of the imperial revenues, (2) a steward, (3) an overseer of any kind, as agent or manager. ↑ Of Pius. ↑ Of thanks, possibly for the consulship in 154. ↑ What the specific disease was is not clear. ↑ sc. "must my feeling be." ↑ Or, "above all." ↑ On the birthday of one of the children; see next letter. ↑ The mother of Marcus. ↑ Probably Domitia Faustina, who died as an infant. See inscription on the Moles Hadriana , Orelli 672 = Willmi. 964. Cornificia, the next daughter, was not born till about 159. ↑ Ehrenthal thinks that Marcus should have said: "We too love you the more because Gratia is like you. (So we can understand how our likeness to our baby endears us to you." ↑ April 26 (? 156). ↑ Viz. Marcus's birthday. ↑ Lucilla, the mother of Marcus, died about 156. This is the last mention of her. ↑ Nothing is known of Censorius, but Gavius Maximus, whom he attacked, probably died in 157. The tone of this letter is much more formal and less familiar than the previous ones to Pius, and this may be evidence of an earlier date. But Fronto had a difficult task to perform, and his letter is a model of tact. ↑ He was praef. pract. under Hadrian from 119–135 A.D. ↑ Consul II. in 146, and then praef. urbi. ↑ Or do the words mean "from your marks of approbation"? ↑ He was praef. praet. 141–157, and therefore, we may suppose, a personal friend of Pius. ↑ Fronto had pupils who lived with him, such as the two sons of Sardius Saturninus, mentioned below. ↑ This was the historian Appian, who tells us in the Preface to his History that he received such an appointment from Marcus and Lucius, when emperors. These procurators were set over every department of state and of the imperial household. They managed the emperor's domains, his mines, etc., the corn-supply, the water-supply, and the alimentary institutions. In the imperial provinces the procurators were fiscal officers. The procurator a rationibus was the highest of these officials, and corresponded to a Secretary of State. ↑ i.e. that the Greek as well as Appian should be granted his request. ↑ See Fronto's letter throwing up his proconsulship, p. 236. ↑ It appears that Appian had sent Fronto a present of two slaves, which Fronto returned. Appian now sends them again, with this letter. ↑ Martial heads his thirteenth book of epigrams Xenia , from the little complimentary gifts made to guests and friends. ↑ At Athens a man, who thought himself unfairly taxed compared with another, could claim a re-assessment for both or an exchange of properties between them ( ἀντιδόσις ). ↑ Hom. Il. vi. 236. ↑ cp. Hesiod, W. and D. 349, 354: εὖ μὲν μετρεῖσθαι παρὰ γείτονος, εὖ δ᾽ ἀποδοῦναι | αὐτῷ τῷ μέτρῳ ↑ Proconsul of Africa 156–159. Apuleius also ( Apol. 94 f.) wrote to Avitus a letter of recommendation, eulogizing him in language that reminds us of Fronto. ↑ Fronto tells us elsewhere ( Ad Ver. ii. 7, and cp. Marcus, Thoughts , i. 11) that φιλοστοργία was practically non-existent, at least among the patricians of Rome. The word means affection between the members of a family. ↑ Corn. Repentinus Contuccius was praef. praet. with Fur. Vietorinus for the year 159, and probably died that year. As the praef. praet. had judicial powers, the case of Fabianus may have come before him. ↑ Probably the consul of 146, and the father-indaw of Marcus's daughter Fadilla. In his Thoughts , i. 14, Marcus mentions the latter as "having confidence in the love of his friends." ↑ Phrynichus in his Ἐκλογή speaks highly of a Sulp. Cornelianus, and says that Marcus and Lucius put all the affairs of the Greeks in his charge συνεργὸν αὐτὸν ἑλόμενοι τῆς βασιλείας . ↑ If the MS. concilii may be so translated. The Consilium was a body of officials and assessors attending the judges at a trial. ↑ Nothing is known for certain of him. Plarianus was leg. pr. pr. of Africa in 159. For him see C.I.L. viii. 800, 1177. ↑ cp. the use of adparatus in Hor. Od. i. 38. Dio, lxxii. 11, § 2, uses the expression παρασκευὴ τῶν λόγων . ↑ The other name of Julianus. He was consul in 145, and therefore proconsul about 157–159. ↑ Fronto was born at Cirta, now Constantine, in Numidia. Triumvirs, also in some cases quattuorviri iuri dicundo , were the chief magistrates of municipia . Colonies, such as Cirta, usually had duumviri . ↑ Gratia. ↑ Now Bona or Beled el Aneb. ↑ A grammarian of whom an inscr. ( C.I.L. vi. 146) says orator utraque facundia maximus . For him see Aul. Gell. xix. 13. ↑ The official title of senators. ↑ This letter appears to have been written very soon after the death of Pius (on March 7, 161). Fronto had been away four months, possibly on a visit to Africa, where he had property and friends. ↑ Terence, Phorm. III. i. 6. Adelphi , III. ii. 32. ↑ The great-aunt of Marcus. One of the little daughters must have been Cornificia, born about 159. It is not clear who the other was. Domitia Faustina died before Marcus became emperor, and Sabina was not born yet. ↑ Lucilla and Fadilia. ↑ In 143. cp. above, p. 113. ↑ cp. Marcus, Thoughts , i. 16; vi. 30. ↑ Also called Pylades. They were both pantomimi . ↑ Probably a freedman of Verus, named after the great actor Apolaustus (mentioned Vit. Veri , viii.). ↑ Not Suetonius the writer, who would have been seventy years old by 139 A.D. Select critical notes [ edit ] ↑ Fronto may have in mind here Hor. Ars Poet. 382-4. ↑ A few words are lost, of which Mai gives a dozen letters, one word probably being < voc > abula . ↑ At least two pages are lost. ↑ This mutilated passage covers eleven lines (Mai) or fourteen lines (du Rieu) of the Codex. ↑ The greater part of a page is lost. ↑ A loss of two and a half lines. ↑ One line missing. ↑ There is a large gap here. ↑ Two pages are lost. ↑ The gap to statuit is half a column, from there to aureo about thirteen lines, and eleven lines are lost after aureo . ↑ A gap of about thirty-four letters, but the word ceteri can be read. ↑ About forty letters are lost here. ↑ These words are from the Index in the Codex. They are followed by a gap of two pages, containing the first half of the letter, the purport of which can be partly gathered from Marcus's answer. ↑ Two pages are lost. ↑ Two pages are lost here. ↑ Fronto may be referring to the word lacus . A page is lost here. A marginal note in the Codex gives Baiae , Lucrinus , and Avernus , as mentioned in the lost part. ↑ Two pages are lost, to molliantur . ↑ Query battuunt , of fencing. See Suet. Cal. 32; 54. ↑ Four pages are lost here. ↑ Six pages are lost from vidi in Ad Caes. ii. 4 above. ↑ Satires , ii. 3, 254 ↑ The title may have been added by Mai. ↑ The letter covered about twenty-five lines, or one column of the Codex. ↑ The mutilated passage covers about eight lines: so I understand Mai, but possibly he means that eight lines are lost between Quanta and me . ↑ Size of lacuna is not known. ↑ Several pages are missing between this fragment and the beginning of Ad M. Caes. ii. 10 given above, p. 136. ↑ It is not known how much is lost here. ↑ About one page is lost. Hauler, in Misc. Ceriani , pp. 504-520, promises in his forthcoming edition to throw fresh light on the pages Ambr. 65. 66. ↑ Four pages are lost. ↑ These words are from the Index. Apart from them four pages are lost from nostrum in the previous letter. ↑ These fifteen letters have only the opening words preserved. As they were contained (including the beginning of the following letter) in four pages of the Codex, they could only have been four or five lines apiece. ↑ Probably only a line or two of this letter is lost, the gap here covering part of Ad Pium , 7. ↑ The lost parts at the end of this letter and at the beginning of Ad Pium , 9, cover one page. ↑ From here eighteen lines are lost, the one sentence ( permultum , etc.) given being from the margin of the Codex. ↑ One line lost, and after quo nine and a half lines. ↑ The mutilated portions of this letter cover about forty lines. ↑ This letter is omitted in the Index of Letters to Pius , but is found among them. It is clearly to Marcus. ↑ Twelve letters are lost. ↑ About eighteen letters are lost. ↑ Two lines are lost here. ↑ Seven lines lost. ↑ Hauler says five lines more of the letter remain, in which Fronto sends greetings to his friends, and thanks Lollianus by anticipation for his trouble. ↑ About one column is lost, but in this Hauler ( Wien. Stud. 33, pp. 174 ff.) says he has deciphered some other lines, which he does not, however, give. ↑ Two pages are lost. ↑ Three lines lost. ↑ About two lines lost in these gaps. ↑ sc. Cirtensibus . The title is from the Index, as two pages are lost here. The letter which preceded this one was also to the Triumvirs of Cirta (Index, Naber, p. 189; Ambr. 292, col. 2). ↑ From mediocrium are five lines. ↑ About five lines are lost. ↑ About eight lines lost. ↑ Thirteen lines lost. ↑ Four lines are lost. ↑ About eight lines are lost. ↑ A new book begins here, as the words Legi emendavi immediately before it shew, but it is not certain whether it is the second book to Antoninus. More than a column is lost here. ↑ It is not known how much is lost, probably not much. ↑ Owing to the condition of the Codex it is impossible to tell whether this is a separate letter or part of Ad Verum i. 4, as Naber thinks. Possibly it is a letter to a friend, and not to the Emperor at all. ↑ About seventeen lines are lost. 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