Letter 205: I send you these small tokens not because they match the scale of my affection -- nothing could -- but because they...
To Domnio. (360)
A resolution has won out here: to transplant your fine institution to this place -- the study of law. Seeking the best teacher, I find that man is you, but thinking it impious to uproot an unwilling man, I leave you master of your own decision -- desiring to have you, but not deigning to drag you.
Tell me then what you decide -- and may you decide what I wish. But if the other option wins, indicate whom we might summon without going wrong.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Δομνίωνι. (360)
Δόγμα νενίκηκε παρ’ ἡμῖν τὸ παρ’ ὑμῖν καλὸν καὶ τῇδε
φυτεῦσαι, νόμων μάθησιν. τὸν μὲν οὖν ἄριστον ζητῶν σὲ τοῦ-
τον εὑρίσκω, τὸ δ’ ἄκοντα ἀναστῆσαι νομίζων οὐκ εὐσεβὲς
βουλῆς ἀφίημι κύριον ἐπιθυμῶν μὲν ἔχειν, ἕλκειν δὲ οὐκ ἀξιῶν.
φράζε δὴ τὸ δοκοῦν καὶ φράσαις γε ὅ βούλομαι. νικῶντος
δὲ θατέρου τίνα καλοῦντες οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοιεν μήνυε.
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