Letter 187: At first we had no way of knowing where exactly you were.

To Modestus. (358/59) At first we had no way of knowing where exactly you were. That you were in the land between the two rivers -- the Tigris on one side, the Euphrates on the other [Mesopotamia] -- that much was clear. But where in that country, even the local cities could not say, thanks to an eagle [i.e. Modestus himself] who never sits still. I prayed that you would pause from your wanderings long enough for letters to reach you, and that has now happened. The moment you caught your breath, you wrote to me and roused me to write in return. You will not claim that last year, as the proverb goes, was better for correspondence than this one. As for the young man you sent to study medicine under Thallus as his teacher -- I have not yet managed to see him. Either he has not arrived, or he thinks he has no need of us.

Μοδέστῳ. (358/59) Τὸ μὲν πρῶτον οὐκ ἦν ἡμῖν εἰδέναι, ποῦ ποτε ὢν τυγ- χάνεις, ἀλλ’ ὅτι μὲν ἐν τῇ ποταμὸν ἑκατέρωθεν ἐχούσῃ, Τί- γρητα μὲν ἐνθένδε, Εὐφράτην δὲ ἐνθένδε, τοῦτο οὐκ ἦν ἀγνο- εἰν· ταύτης δὲ ἐκείνης ὅπου τοῦτό γε καὶ τὰς αὐτόθι πό- λεις ἐλάνθανε διὰ τὸν οὐδαμοῦ καθήμενον ἀετόν. εὐχόμην δή σε τῆς πλάνης ἀπαλλαγέντα στῆναι μικρόν, ὅπως γένοιτο πορεύεσθαι ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς, ὃ δὴ καὶ γέγονεν. ὡς γὰρ ἀνέ- πνευσας, ἐπέστειλάς τε καὶ πρὸς ἐπιστολὰς ἐγείρεις, καὶ οὐ φή- σεῖς γε τὸ παρελθὸν ἔτος κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν εἰς γράμματα γενέσθαι βέλτιον τοῦ νῦν. ὃν δὲ ἔπεμψας ἐπὶ ἰατρικὴν νέον διδασκάλῳ Θάλλω χρησόμενον, οὔπω ἔσχον ἰδεῖν. ἢ γὰρ οὐχ ἧκεν ἢ οὐδὲν ἡμῶν οἴεται δεῖσθαι.