Reminding Those You Care About to Care for Themselves: Four Letters Between Fronto and Marcus Aurelius

 

Name:  Fronto and Marcus Aurelius Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Marcus Aurelius 5.1, 5.2, Index of Book 5, lines 7-8

Fronto to Marcus Aurelius:

To my lord:

If you love me at all, get some sleep the night before you come into the Senate, so you can give your speech with a healthy appearance and a strong voice.

Marcus Aurelius to Fronto:

To my teacher:

I will never love you enough! I’ll get some sleep.

 

Fronto to Marcus Aurelius:

To my lord: Get something to eat, lord...

 

Marcus Aurelius to Fronto:

To my teacher: I got something to eat...

Domino Meo.

Si quicquam nos amas, dormi per istas noctes, ut forti colore in senatum venias et vehementi latere legas.

Magistro meo:

Ego te numquam satis amabo: dormiam.

 

 

 [First lines of two lost letters]:

Domino meo: Sume cibum, Domine...

Magistro meo: Sumpsi cibum...

Fronto [Marcus Cornelius Fronto; 100 – 160 CE, modern Algeria and Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Cirta [modern Algeria] whose rhetorical and literary abilities earned him the nickname “the Second Cicero.” He was tutor and mentor to the future Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. His correspondence with them provides unique insight into the personal lives of much of the Antonine dynasty.

M/M: I Love Those Who Love You, Fronto, Ad M. Caes. 4.1

 

Name:  Fronto Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Marcus Aurelius 4.1.4

But I beg you, let us talk about better things. I love Julianus (the reason we started this conversation). I love everyone who loves you, I love the gods who protect you, I love life because of you, I love our letters together, especially in the ones where I gush my love for you.

 

Sed meliora, quaeso, fabulemur. Amo Julianum (inde enim hic sermo defluxit), amo omnes, qui te diligunt, amo deos, qui te tutantur, amo vitam propter te, amo litteras tecum: Inprimis eis mihi amorem tui ingurgito.

Fronto [Marcus Cornelius Fronto; 100 – 160 CE, modern Algeria and Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Cirta [modern Algeria] whose rhetorical and literary abilities earned him the nickname “the Second Cicero.” He was tutor and mentor to the future Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. His correspondence with them provides unique insight into the personal lives of much of the Antonine dynasty.

M/M: Baby, You Can Drive My Car: SHA Vit. Commodi 3.5-6

Name: Scriptores Historia Augusta Date:   Unknown Region:    Unknown Citation:    Life of Commodus  3.5-6

It is important to note that the shock of Commodus sharing the triumphal chariot with his lover Saoterus was not due to their relationship, but because only the triumphal hero should be riding the chariot. Equal shock is given in Marcus Aurelius' biography, when he allows Commodus to stand in the triumphal chariot, while the emperor walks on foot [SHA Vit. Marc. Ant. XVI.2].

Commodus gave up the war that his father [Marcus Aurelius] had nearly completed, agreeing to the enemy’s terms. When he returned to Rome, he entered in triumph together with his lover Saoterus in the same chariot; more than once he leaned over and kissed him in public. He also kissed him in the Senate house.

Bellum etiam, quod pater paene confecerat, legibus hostium addictus remisit ac Romam reversus est. 6 Romam ut redit, subactore suo Saotero post se in curru locato ita triumphavit, ut eum saepius cervice reflexa publice oscularetur. Etiam in orchestra hoc idem fecit.

--SHA, Vita Commodi III.5-6

 Scriptores Historiae Augustae Little is known about the author(s) of the Historia Augusta; even internal evidence within the text is either falsified, skewed or utterly fictitious. Although attributed to six different authors, the text was likely written by a single author living during the 4th century CE. It is a series of imperial biographies modeled after the works of Suetonius; these biographies cover the reigns of the emperors Hadrian through Carus.

Love Me Like You Do: Fronto, Ad Ant. Imp. I.3 & 1.4

Name:  Fronto and Marcus Aurelius Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Marcus Aurelius 1.3, 1.4

Although modern concepts of masculinity tend to discourage affection between men, this was not the case in ancient Rome. The correspondence between the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his mentor Marcus Cornelius Fronto reveals intimate details of their loving, supportive relationship.

  I, Fronto, greet my lord the Emperor Antoninus: 

I saw your little chickadees—the best sight I could ever see, since they look so much like you! It isn’t possible for there to be anything else closer to how you look. I took a shortcut on my way to Lorium, but it was slippery and a rough climb. I didn’t see you face-to-face, but I did see you every time I turned my head. The gods have blessed [your children] with healthy coloring and healthy lungs. One of your kids was holding a piece of white bread like the little princeling that he is; the other one held peasant bread, perfect for a philosopher’s son. God bless the farmer [Marcus], the field [his wife Faustina], and the harvest [their kids] he reaped so similar to himself. I even heard their little voices so sweet and charming, and somehow I recognized the charm of your mannerisms and the cadence of your voice coming from their little mouths. You’d better watch out, or you’ll find me even more boastful; for now I have little ones that I love as much as you, whom I love with not only my eyes, but with my ears as well. 

Hi to my mentor! 

Reading your letter, I could picture my little children as you saw them; I even saw you, too. I beg you, my mentor, love me as you do; love me as you love my little kids; I haven’t finished what I want to say: love me, as you have loved me. The utter joy of reading your letter has made me write this to you. For what can I say about the elegance of your letter, except that you are speaking Latin, but the rest of us speak neither Latin nor Greek. Please keep writing to my lord brother [Lucius Verus]. He wanted me to ask you, and his constant begging is making me aggravated and moody. Farewell, my most delightful mentor. Say hi to your grandson for me.

Domino meo Antonino Augusto Fronto. 

1 Vidi pullulos tuos, quod quidem libentissime in vita mea viderim, tam simili facie tibi, ut nihil sit hoc simili similius. Feci prorsus compendium itineris Lorium usque, compendium viae lubricae, compendium clivorum arduorum. Tamen vidi te non exadversum modo, sed locupletius sive me ad dexteram sive ad sinistram convertissem. 2 Sunt autem dis juvantibus colore satis salubri, clamore forti. Panem alter tenebat bene candidum, ut puer regius, alter autem cibarium, plane ut a patre philosopho prognatus. Deos quaeso sit salvus sator, salva sint sata, salva seges sit, quae tam similes procreat. Nam etiam voculas quoque eorum audivi tam dulcis, tam venustas, ut orationis tuae lepidum illum et liquidum sonum nescio quo pacto in utriusque pipulo adgnoscerem. Jam tu igitur, nisi caves, superbiorem aliquanto me experiere: Habeo enim, quos pro te non oculis modo amem, sed etiam auribus. 

 Magistro meo salutem.

1 Vidi filiolos meos, cum eos tu vidisti; vidi et te, cum litteras tuas legerem. Oro te, mi magister, ama me, ut amas; ama me sic etiam quomodo istos parvolos nostros amas; nondum omne dixi, quod volo: Ama me, quomodo amasti*. 2 Haec ut scriberem, tuarum litterarum mira jucunditas produxit; nam de elegantia quid dicam, nisi te Latine loqui, nos ceteros neque Graece neque Latine. Domino meo fratri peto scriptites. Valde vult, ut hoc a te impetrem; desideria autem illius intemperantem me et violentum faciunt. Vale, mi jucundissime magister. nepotem tuum saluta. 

 

Fronto [Marcus Cornelius Fronto; 100 – 160 CE, modern Algeria and Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Cirta [modern Algeria] whose rhetorical and literary abilities earned him the nickname “the Second Cicero.” He was tutor and mentor to the future Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. His correspondence with them provides unique insight into the personal lives of much of the Antonine dynasty.