Ep. 8.23.1Omnia mihi studia, omnēs cūrās, omnia āvocāmenta exēmit excussit ēripuit dolor, quem ex morte Iūnī Avītī gravissimum cēpī.All my studies, all my cares, all my diversions have been taken away, shaken off, snatched from me by grief, the very heavy grief I have felt at the death of Junius Avitus. Ep. 8.23.2Lātum clāvum in domō meā induerat, suffrāgiō meō adiūtus in petendīs honōribus fuerat;He had put on the broad stripe in my house, he had been helped by my vote in seeking office; Ep. 8.23.2ad hoc ita mē dīligēbat, ita verēbātur, ut mē fōrmātōre mōrum, mē quasi magistrō ūterētur.besides this, he so loved me, so respected me, that he treated me as the shaper of his character, as his teacher, so to speak. Ep. 8.23.3Rārum hoc in adulēscentibus nostrīs.This is rare among our young men. Ep. 8.23.3Nam quotus quisque vel aetātī alterīus vel auctōritātī ut minor cēdit?For how few of them yield, as the junior, to another's age or authority? Ep. 8.23.3Statim sapiunt, statim sciunt omnia, nēminem verentur, nēminem imitantur, atque ipsī sibi exempla sunt.At once they are wise, at once they know everything, they respect no one, imitate no one, and are their own examples.
Ep. 8.23.3Sed nōn Avītus, cuius haec praecipua prūdentia, quod aliōs prūdentiōrēs arbitrābātur, haec praecipua ērudītiō quod discere volēbat.But not Avitus, whose chief wisdom was this, that he thought others wiser, his chief learning this, that he wished to learn. Ep. 8.23.4Semper ille aut dē studiīs aliquid aut dē officiīs vītae cōnsulēbat, semper ita recēdēbat ut melior factus;He was always consulting about something either in literature or in the duties of life, always going away as one made better; Ep. 8.23.4et erat factus vel eō quod audierat, vel quod omnīnō quaesierat.and he had been made better, either by what he had heard or by the very fact that he had asked. Ep. 8.23.5Quod ille obsequium Serviānō exāctissimō virō praestitit!What deference he showed to Servianus, a most exacting man! Ep. 8.23.5quem lēgātum tribūnus ita et intellēxit et cēpit, ut ex Germāniā in Pannoniam trānseuntem nōn ut commīlitō sed ut comes assectātorque sequerētur.whom, when Servianus was legate and he a tribune, he so understood and won over that, when Servianus was moving from Germany to Pannonia, he followed him not as a fellow soldier but as a companion and attendant.
Ep. 8.23.5Quā industriā quā modestiā quaestor, cōnsulibus suīs - et plūrēs habuit - nōn minus iūcundus et grātus quam ūtilis fuit!With what diligence, what modesty, as quaestor, was he no less pleasant and welcome than useful to his consuls — and he served several! Ep. 8.23.5Quō discursū, quā vigilantiā hanc ipsam aedīlitātem cui praereptus est petiit!With what running about, what vigilance did he canvass for this very aedileship from which he has been snatched away! Ep. 8.23.5Quod vel maximē dolōrem meum exulcerat.This is what most of all inflames my grief. Ep. 8.23.6Obversantur oculīs cassī labōrēs, et īnfrūctuōsae precēs, et honor quem meruit tantum;Before my eyes there hover his wasted labours, his fruitless canvassing, and the office he only deserved; Ep. 8.23.6redit animō ille lātus clāvus in penātibus meīs sūmptus, redeunt illa prīma illa postrēma suffrāgia mea, illī sermōnēs illae cōnsultātiōnēs.there comes back to my mind that broad stripe assumed in my home, there come back those first and those last votes of mine, those conversations, those consultations. Ep. 8.23.7Afficior adulēscentiā ipsīus, afficior necessitūdinum cāsū.I am moved by his youth, moved by the misfortune of his family.
Ep. 8.23.7Erat illī grandis nātū parēns, erat uxor quam ante annum virginem accēperat, erat fīlia quam paulō ante sustulerat.He had an aged mother, he had a wife whom he had married a year before as a girl, he had a daughter whom he had lately acknowledged. Ep. 8.23.7Tot spēs tot gaudia diēs ūnus in dīversa convertit.One day has turned so many hopes, so many joys, into their opposites. Ep. 8.23.8Modo dēsignātus aedīlis, recēns marītus recēns pater intāctum honōrem, orbam mātrem, viduam uxōrem, fīliam pūpillam ignāram patris relīquit: Accēdit lacrimīs meīs quod absēns et impendentis malī nescius, pariter aegrum pariter dēcessisse cognōvī, nē gravissimō dolōrī timōre cōnsuēscerem.Just elected aedile, newly a husband, newly a father, he has left his office untouched, his mother childless, his wife a widow, his daughter an orphan who never knew her father: It adds to my tears that, being away and unaware of the impending blow, I learnt at one and the same time that he had been ill and that he had died, so that I could not grow used to the bitterest grief through fear.
Ep. 8.23.8In tantīs tormentīs eram cum scrīberem haec ut haec scrīberem sōla;I was in such torment when I wrote this that this was all I could write; Ep. 8.23.8neque enim nunc aliud aut cōgitāre aut loquī possum.for I can neither think nor speak of anything else now. Ep. 8.23.8Valē.Farewell.