Letter 6046: We tried to keep the crocodiles -- the ones displayed at the theater show -- alive for your visit.
We attempted to keep alive, until they could be presented before you, the crocodiles that were exhibited at the theatrical spectacle; but, owing to their persistent refusal to eat, which wore them down over the course of fifty days, they were dispatched in the manner of combats at the second set of games. Two of them, still breathing even now, we shall reserve for your arrival, although abstinence from food gives no assurance that they can live for long. Farewell.
44 (45).
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Crocodillos theatrali spectaculo publicatos in praesentiam vestram servare tempta-
vimus, sed perseverante inedia, quae illos per dies quinquaginta producta macerabat,
secundis ludis congressionum more confecti sunt. duos etiam nnnc spirantes in ve-
25 strum diflferemus adventum . licet eos cibi abstinentia longum vivere posse non spon-
deat. vale.
xxxxini (xxxxv).
Revision history
- 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
Related Letters
My dear Zenodorus doesn't yet know you in person, but your reputation has already won his admiration.
Please welcome Maximus -- an old friend but a brand-new courier [agens in rebus, an imperial messenger], a man going...
It's unnecessary work to remind someone who already remembers, but when you've taken on a friend's business, you...
...so you should know that these friends were hand-picked by the distinguished consul himself, and that you are the...
I foresaw the fear that news of my illness would cause you.