M. CORNELIUS FRONTO
lack skill and perseverance in maternal duties injure their eggs and their young with talons or teeth, maltreating them not from malice but from want of experience in nursing.
6. I at least call to witness the Gods above and the Gods below and the hidden loyalties of human friendship, that I have ever been the author[† 1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nor has he been influenced by kindness so great and benefits so many whenever . . . . . . . . . . . . he has his own end. But let us always strive for those things, which we have neither been willing to pass over in silence nor think it right to deny, and such things, if the Gods are just, as are true and in accord with the straightforward nature of our friendship.
Fronto to Gavius Maximus.[1]
. . . . . . . . Grief added to anger upset the man's mental balance . . . . Anger poisoned and ruined his other virtues . . . . But let no one find fault with my love for Niger, who is not prepared to blame yours first. Lastly, I did not begin to love Niger on your account, that I should on your
- ↑ He was praef. praet. 141–157, and therefore, we may suppose, a personal friend of Pius.
S 2
- ↑ The mutilated portions of this letter cover about forty lines.
