Page:Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto volume 2 Haines 1920.djvu/103

 hearth, altar, sacred grove and consecrated tree—for I was staying in the country. And now I am waiting to hear from your next letter how much the intervening days have done towards restoring your strength. For, indeed, much greater care and attention are required now, that you may fill your veins gradually and not be in too great a haste to repair your lost strength. For it is a belief verified and traditional that blood when in excess must be promptly drawn off, but must subsequently be regained by slow degrees.

I pray and beseech you, my Lord, take heed, as befits your eminent character, to be sparing and temperate and restrained in all your desires which now, after the abstinence which you have practised on a necessary occasion, must necessarily make themselves felt more keenly and more importunately than usual.

Greet my Lord your brother, whose health you will ensure if you are well. Farewell, most sweet Lord.

? 162 A.D.

to Velius Rufus Senex, greeting.

The figures in a speech are what most set off a speech. There are two kinds of figures, for there are verbal figures or figures of thought. Among the former are trope and metaphor. I employed this figure when I applied the word slough to a body in 87