Ausonius
liber xx
Ausonii Burdigalensis Vasatis Gratiarum Actio Ad Gratianum Imperatorem Pro Consulatu
I. Ago tibi gratias, imperator Auguste; si possem, etiam referrem. sed neque tua fortuna desiderat remunerandi vicem neque nostra suggerit restituendi facultatem. privatorum ista copia est inter se esse munificos: tua beneficia ut maiestate praecellunt, ita mutuum non reposcunt. quod solum igitur nostrae opis est, gratias ago: verum ita, ut apud deum fieri amat, sentiendo copiosius quam loquendo. atque non in sacrario [loco] imperialis oraculi, qui locus horrore tranquillo et pavore venerabili raro eundem animum praestat et vultum tui; sed usquequaque gratias ago, tum tacens, tum loquens, tum in coetu hominum, tum ipse mecum, et cum voce patui, et cum meditatione secessi, omni loco actu habitu et tempore. nec mirum, si ego terminum non statuo tam grata profitendi, cum tu finem facere nescias
Thanksgiving For His Consulship
book xx
The Thanksgiving Of Ausonius Of Bordeaux, The Vasate,1 for his consulship, addressed to the emperor gratian
I. I Express my thanks to you, most gracious Emperor; could I do so, I would also make repayment. But neither does your estate need any interchange of bounty, nor does mine supply the ability to return it. Men of private station alone have the opportunity for being liberal to one another: your favours at once surpass all others in their princely scale and demand no requital. And so I express my thanks—all that is in my power to do: yet in such a way as one is wont to do in the presence of God, with greater fulness of feeling than of speech. And it is not in the shrine of the imperial oracle, a place where feelings of subdued fear and reverent awe rarely permit your subject to exhibit outwardly all that he feels within; but it is at all times and in all places that I express my thanks, now silently in my own heart, now with my tongue, now in company with others, now by myself, whether I speak openly or reflect inwardly and apart, in every place, deed, habit, and season. Nor is it surprising that I set no limit to the expression of my gratitude, seeing that you do not know how to