Letter 5077: If the conditions of my present situation permitted, I would throw myself into your affairs even without being asked.

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 398 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|AI-assisted
monasticism

If the circumstance of my present time allowed it, I would press myself upon your prayers even unasked. On which point, being assured of my own disposition, you do not require, as I think, the affirmation of words. As things now stand, the condition of my fortune excuses us from festive duties to such a degree that it requires, besides, the consolations of others. Therefore, since for the time being it is not in my power to frequent joyful gatherings, it lies with your help to relieve one who grieves. To what end is this? you will say. That you permit our brother Florentinus, a most distinguished and most honored man, to remain attached to my sojourn abroad. This much only I ask: that you interpret as much to be expended by him out of this stay, which he has granted me, as you would have had of pleasure from his presence. 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AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

Si condicio temporis mei sineret, votis me tuis etiam non rogatus ingererem. qua lo
in re certus animi mei adsertionem verborum, sicuti arbitror, non requiris. nunc for-
tunae meae qualitas in tantum nos a festivis excusat officiis, ut solacia insuper requi-
rat aiiena. ergo quia in manu mea interim non est laetos frequentare conventus, tuae
opis est levare maerentem. quorsum istud'? inquies. ut fratrem nostrum Florentinum
clarissimum atque omatissimum vimm peregrinationi meae cohaerere patiaris. tantum 15
peto, nt ab eo interpreteris inpendi ex hac commoratione, quam mihi tribuit, quantum
ex eius praesentia voluptatis habuisses. vale.

Revision history

  1. 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

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