Ep. 7.19.1Angit mē Fanniae valētūdō.Fannia's illness distresses me. Ep. 7.19.1Contrāxit hanc dum assidet Iūniae virginī, sponte prīmum - est enim affīnis -, deinde etiam ex auctōritāte pontificum.She contracted it while nursing the Vestal virgin Junia, at first of her own accord — for she is a relative — and then also by authority of the pontiffs. Ep. 7.19.2Nam virginēs, cum vī morbī ātriō Vestae cōguntur excēdere, mātronārum cūrae custōdiaeque mandantur.For when the virgins are compelled by the force of illness to leave the hall of Vesta, they are entrusted to the care and keeping of married women. Ep. 7.19.2Quō mūnere Fannia dum sēdulō fungitur, hōc discrīmine implicita est.While Fannia was diligently performing this duty, she was caught up in this danger. Ep. 7.19.3Īnsident febrēs, tussis incrēscit;The fevers persist, the cough grows worse; Ep. 7.19.3summa maciēs summa dēfectiō.extreme wasting, extreme weakness. Ep. 7.19.3Animus tantum et spīritus viget Helvidiō marītō, Thraseā patre dignissimus;Only her mind and spirit stay strong, most worthy of her husband Helvidius and her father Thrasea; Ep. 7.19.3reliqua lābuntur, mēque nōn metū tantum, vērum etiam dolōre cōnficiunt.the rest is failing, and wears me down not only with fear but also with grief.
Ep. 7.19.4Doleō enim fēminam maximam ēripī oculīs cīvitātis, nesciō an aliquid simile vīsūrīs.For I grieve that a very great woman is being snatched from the eyes of the state, which may never see her like again. Ep. 7.19.4Quae castitās illī, quae sānctitās, quanta gravitās quanta cōnstantia!What purity she has, what integrity, what dignity, what steadfastness! Ep. 7.19.4Bis marītum secūta in exsilium est, tertiō ipsa propter marītum relēgāta.Twice she followed her husband into exile, and a third time she was herself banished on her husband's account. Ep. 7.19.5Nam cum Seneciō reus esset quod dē vītā Helvidī librōs composuisset rogātumque sē ā Fanniā in dēfēnsiōne dīxisset, quaerente mināciter Mettiō Cārō, an rogāsset respondit: "Rogāvī";For when Senecio was on trial for having written books on the life of Helvidius, and had said in his defence that he had been asked to do so by Fannia, and Mettius Carus asked her menacingly whether she had asked him, she replied: 'I asked him'; Ep. 7.19.5an commentāriōs scrīptūrō dedisset: "Dedī";whether she had given him notebooks when he was about to write: 'I gave them'; Ep. 7.19.5an sciente mātre: "Nesciente";whether her mother knew of it: 'She did not know'; Ep. 7.19.5postrēmō nūllam vōcem cēdentem perīculō ēmīsit.in short, she uttered not a word that yielded to danger.
Ep. 7.19.6Quīn etiam illōs ipsōs librōs, quamquam ex necessitāte et metū temporum abolitōs senātūs cōnsultō, pūblicātīs bonīs servāvit habuit, tulitque in exsilium exsilī causam.Indeed, those very books, although they had been abolished by decree of the senate through the necessity and fear of the times, she saved and kept when her property was confiscated, and took with her into exile the cause of her exile. Ep. 7.19.7Eadem quam iūcunda quam cōmis, quam dēnique - quod paucīs datum est - nōn minus amābilis quam veneranda!And she is also so pleasant, so courteous, so — a gift granted to few — no less lovable than venerable! Ep. 7.19.7Eritne quam posteā uxōribus nostrīs ostentāre possīmus?Will there be anyone hereafter whom we can hold up to our wives as a model? Ep. 7.19.7Erit ā quā virī quoque fortitūdinis exempla sūmāmus, quam sīc cernentēs audientēsque mīrēmur, ut illās quae leguntur?Will there be anyone from whom we men too may take examples of fortitude, whom we may admire, seeing and hearing her, as we admire those women we read about? Ep. 7.19.8Ac mihi domus ipsa nūtāre, convulsaque sēdibus suīs ruitūra suprā vidētur, licet adhūc posterōs habeat.And to me the house itself seems to be tottering and, wrenched from its foundations, about to collapse, although it still has descendants.
Ep. 7.19.8Quantīs enim virtūtibus quantīsque factīs assequentur, ut haec nōn novissima occīderit?For by what great virtues, what great deeds, will they ensure that she has not died the last of her line? Ep. 7.19.9Mē quidem illud etiam afflīgit et torquet, quod mātrem eius, illam - nihil possum illūstrius dīcere - tantae fēminae mātrem, rūrsus videor āmittere, quam haec, ut reddit ac refert nōbīs, sīc auferet sēcum, mēque et novō pariter et rescissō vulnere afficiet.What afflicts and torments me too is that I seem to be losing her mother again, that mother — I can say nothing more glorious — of so great a woman, whom she, just as she restores and brings her back to us, will take away with her, and strike me with a wound both new and reopened. Ep. 7.19.10Utramque coluī utramque dīlēxī: utram magis nesciō, nec discernī volēbant.I revered them both, I loved them both: which more I do not know, nor did they want a distinction to be made. Ep. 7.19.10Habuērunt officia mea in secundīs, habuērunt in adversīs.They had my services in good fortune, they had them in adversity.
Ep. 7.19.10Ego sōlācium relēgātārum, ego ultor reversārum;I was their comfort when banished, I was their avenger when they returned; Ep. 7.19.10nōn fēcī tamen paria atque eō magis hanc cupiō servārī, ut mihi solvendī tempora supersint.yet I have not repaid them in full, and so all the more I want her to be spared, so that there may still be time left for me to pay my debt. Ep. 7.19.11In hīs eram cūrīs, cum scrīberem ad tē;Such were the anxieties I was in when I was writing to you; Ep. 7.19.11quās sī deus aliquis in gaudium verterit, dē metū nōn querar.and if some god turns them to joy, I shall not complain of my fear. Ep. 7.19.11Valē.Farewell.