To Andronicus, a general. (360)
I know that you were going to receive Palladius kindly without any letter from me. For the laws you govern by and the rhetoric you live by -- you will find both in him.
But these you might find in others. His personal charm, his sociable nature, his way of immediately attracting whomever he meets, the fact that he is himself a festival when no festival is on and makes any festival greater when there is one -- this you will perhaps find in no one else, and certainly not in many.
For these qualities, you would pursue him even if he ran away, far from turning him away when he approaches. So you needed no letter to create friendship. But since you will make use of him and in doing so will praise the man, I insert myself into the matter so that you will give me credit when you praise him.
I know that you were going to receive Palladius kindly without any letter from me. For the laws you govern by and the rhetoric you live by -- you will find both in him.
But these you might find in others. His personal charm, his sociable nature, his way of immediately attracting whomever he meets, the fact that he is himself a festival when no festival is on and makes any festival greater when there is one -- this you will perhaps find in no one else, and certainly not in many.
For these qualities, you would pursue him even if he ran away, far from turning him away when he approaches. So you needed no letter to create friendship. But since you will make use of him and in doing so will praise the man, I insert myself into the matter so that you will give me credit when you praise him.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.