M. CORNELIUS FRONTO
Fronto to Marcus Antoninus
To my Lord.
It is in keeping with all your other kindness towards me that you wish me to oblige my Lord your brother by sending him the speeches which he asked for. I have taken the liberty of adding a third speech, that for Demostratus Petilianus,[1] about which I have written to him as follows: I have added the speech for Demostratus, but on submitting this to your brother[2] I learnt from him that Asclepiodotus, though he is taken to task in that speech, is not thought ill of by you. As soon as I was aware of this I did my best to have the speech suppressed. But it had already been circulated too widely to be called in. What is to be done next? What, I say, to be done, except that Asclepiodotus too since he has earned your appi obation, should become a veiy dear friend of mine also, just as by heaven Herodes and I are now on the lest of terms, in spite of the speech being extant. Farewell, my most sweet Lord.
Marcus Antoninus to Fronto
To my master, greeting.
I have just heard of your misfortune. Suffering anguish as I do when a single joint of yours aches, my master, what pain do you think I feel when it is your heart that aches? Under the shock of the news I could think of nothing else than to ask you
- ↑ Demostratus appears twice as an accuser of Herodes in the year 142 (for the trial see i. 60 ff.), and again in 170, as we learn from Philostratus, who also tells us that he wrote speeches against Herodes. The speech of Fronto here mentioned may also be the one against Herodes spoken of above (i. 65), but the allusion reads as if it were a recent one.
- ↑ i.e. Marcus.
