M. CORNELIUS FRONTO
daughter and your wife.[1] that all may go well, and will bless our household with children and grandchildren, and will see to it that those, who have been and shall yet be born of you. shall be like you. Daily tiffs indeed and disagreements I have with our little Victorinus or our little Fronto. While you never ask any reward[2] of any one for act or speech. your little Fronto prattles no word more readily or more constantly than this Da (Give). I on my part do my best to supply him with scraps of paper and little tablets, things which I wish him to want. Some signs, however, even of his grandfather's characteristics he does shew. He is very fond of grapes: it was the very first food he sucked down, and for whole days almost he did not cease licking a grape with his tongue or kissing it with his lips and mumbling it with his gums and amusing himself with it. He is also devoted to little birds; he delights in chickens, young pigeons, and sparrows. I have often heard from those who were my tutors and masters that I had from my earliest infancy a passion for such things. As for my penchant, however, for partridges in my old age, there is no one who knows me ever so slightly but is aware of that. For there is no deed or word of mine that I would wish to keep secret from others. Nay. whatever there be in my heart of hearts I would wish all others to know as well as myself . . . .
- ↑ The same person, viz. Gratia, who was possibly with child. The son here mentioned must be the consul of 199 A.D., who set up an inscription to his son of the same name: M • AUFIDIO • FRONTONE • PRONEPOTI • M • CORNELII • FRONTONIS • ORATORIS • CONSULIS • MAGISTRI • IMPERATORUM • LUCI • ET • ANTONINI • NEPOTI • AUFIDI • VICTORINI • PRAEFECTI • URBI • BIS • CONSULIS • FRONTO • CONSUL • DULCISSIMO • (Corp. Inscr. Lat. xi. 6334).
- ↑ See Dio, lxxii. 11.
