To Apolinarius and Gemellus. (360?)
You hardly seem to be away from us at all. Writing with such skill is not at all the mark of absent friends but, I would say, of people still in our company. So while I was pleased that you wrote, I was even more pleased at how well you write.
As for the eunuch who delivered the letter -- since I assumed he had come from you, and he said he had been staying here all along, I called him a rascal. But then I immediately cleared him of the charge and turned my complaint on you instead, realizing it was your neglect that caused him to stay behind.
And yet, after your own natural abilities, this man is responsible for the fine reputation you have earned -- standing guard like a watchdog against those who would do you harm. You enjoyed his services fully, and now that the time for repayment has come, you have cast him aside.
Come now, my boys, look after this tutor of yours -- either by summoning him to Cilicia or by sending him something from there. And let the man who carries this letter persuade you to be generous with your money, even without my many urgings. His uniform marks him as a soldier, but his deeds enroll him among philosophers -- for he has imitated Socrates in the midst of opportunities for profit: the good Ammianus.
You hardly seem to be away from us at all. Writing with such skill is not at all the mark of absent friends but, I would say, of people still in our company. So while I was pleased that you wrote, I was even more pleased at how well you write.
As for the eunuch who delivered the letter -- since I assumed he had come from you, and he said he had been staying here all along, I called him a rascal. But then I immediately cleared him of the charge and turned my complaint on you instead, realizing it was your neglect that caused him to stay behind.
And yet, after your own natural abilities, this man is responsible for the fine reputation you have earned -- standing guard like a watchdog against those who would do you harm. You enjoyed his services fully, and now that the time for repayment has come, you have cast him aside.
Come now, my boys, look after this tutor of yours -- either by summoning him to Cilicia or by sending him something from there. And let the man who carries this letter persuade you to be generous with your money, even without my many urgings. His uniform marks him as a soldier, but his deeds enroll him among philosophers -- for he has imitated Socrates in the midst of opportunities for profit: the good Ammianus.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.