. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I have read a little of Coelius and of Cicero's speech, but as it were by stealth, certainly by snatches, so closely does one care tread on the heels of another, my one relaxation the while being to take up a book. For our little daughters are at present lodging with Matidia1 in the town, so that they cannot come to me in the evening owing to the keenness of the air. Farewell, my best of masters. The Lord my brother and my daughters2 with their mother, whose . . . . send you their affectionate greetings.
Send me something to read which you think particularly eloquent, either of your own or Cato's or Cicero's or Sallust's or Gracchus's or some poet's, for I need relaxation, and especially of such a kind that the reading of it may uplift me and shake me free from the cares that beset me; also if you have any extracts from Lucretius or Ennius, sonorous lines if possible, and any that give the impress of character.
161 A.D.
Fronto to my Lord Antoninus Augustus.