M. CORNELIUS FRONTO
Fronto to Marcus as Caesar
To my Lord.
Whether the merit of the act set off the speech,[1] or the speech did not fall short of a most noble act, I can hardly say: yet of this I am sure, that these words had the same author as those deeds. But your brother's speech[2] also delighted me, for it was polished and politic, and I feel sure he had very little time for preparing it.
Marcus Aurelius to Fronto
Answer.
On my return from a banquet of my father's I got your letter, and learn that the messenger who brought it has already gone. So I am writing this quite late in the evening, that you may read it to-morrow. It is no matter of surprise, my master, that my father's speech should seem to you worthy of the occasion. But my brother's speech of thanks is in my opinion the more praiseworthy, in that, as you surmise, he had but little time to prepare it. Farewell, my most delightful of masters. My mother greets you.
Fronto to Marcus as Caesar
To my Lord.
I have had such a choleraic attack[3] that I lost my voice, gasped and struggled for breath; finally,
- ↑ Of Pius.
- ↑ Of thanks, possibly for the consulship in 154.
- ↑ What the specific disease was is not clear.
