To Modestus. (358-361)
Those colts of mine, whom I have led from the meadows of the Muses and given to you -- some were summoned by you, others came uninvited. I congratulate the first group on the honor you have shown them, and the second on their own longing for you. For by running to you of their own accord, they show that they would rightly have been among those invited.
You will look after all of them -- the wealthy ones, so they may gain reputation, and the poor ones, so they may gain resources. But you should show something extra to those who were not thought worthy of the invitation. For the invited ones, even if they say nothing, already have no small thing. But the uninvited need a word of comfort -- both to hear and to receive.
**To Modestus** (358–361)
Among my colts, whom I raised in the meadows of the Muses and gave to you, some you see who were summoned by you, and others who came unsummoned. The former I count blessed for the honor you have shown them; the latter, for the longing they have shown toward you. For by rushing to you of their own accord, they make clear that they would rightly have been among those invited.
You will, of course, look after all of them — the well-off, so that they may win distinction, and the poor, so that they too may gain some means. But you must show particular attention to those who appear not to have been deemed worthy of the honor, since for the invited, even if they say nothing, that distinction itself is no small thing; but for the others, a single word of encouragement — both to speak and to receive — would be consolation enough.
Those colts of mine, whom I have led from the meadows of the Muses and given to you -- some were summoned by you, others came uninvited. I congratulate the first group on the honor you have shown them, and the second on their own longing for you. For by running to you of their own accord, they show that they would rightly have been among those invited.
You will look after all of them -- the wealthy ones, so they may gain reputation, and the poor ones, so they may gain resources. But you should show something extra to those who were not thought worthy of the invitation. For the invited ones, even if they say nothing, already have no small thing. But the uninvited need a word of comfort -- both to hear and to receive.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.