Laudator Temporis Acti

Herodian 4.10.5 (tr. C.R. Whittaker; the letter was from Caracalla to Artabanus V):

On the receipt of this letter the initial Parthian reaction was to say that a Roman marriage to a barbarian was not suitable since they had nothing in common, they did not understand each other's language and had different habits of food and dress. The Romans had plenty of patrician families (like the Arsacids in Persia) from whom Antoninus could choose a daughter. The racial purity of neither should be contaminated.

τοιούτοις αὐτοῦ γράμμασιν ἐντυχὼν ὁ Παρθυαῖος τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἀντέλεγε, φάσκων οὐχ ἁρμόζειν Ῥωμαίῳ γάμον βάρβαρον. τίνα γὰρ ἔσεσθαι συμφωνίαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, μήτε τῆς ἀλλήλων φωνῆς συνιεῖσιν, ἔν τε διαίτῃ καὶ σκευῇ διαφέρουσιν ἀλλήλων; εἶναι δὲ παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις εὐπατρίδας πολλούς, ὧν τινὸς ἐπιλέξασθαι δύναιτ᾿ ἂν θυγατέρα, παρά τε αὑτῷ Ἀρσακίδας· καὶ μὴ δεῖν μηδέτερον γένος νοθεύεσθαι.

μὴ δεῖν: δεῖν O

The same (tr. Edward C. Echols):

At first the Parthian king did not approve of the proposals in Antoninus'’s letters, saying that it was not proper for a barbarian to marry a Roman. What accord could there be when they did not understand each other's language and differed so radically in diet and dress? Surely, the king said, there are many distinguished Romans, one of whose daughters he could marry, just as for him there were the Arsacids; it was not fitting that either race be bastardized.

Related posts:

• Birds of a Feather Flock Together
• Mixed Marriages