Letter 284
To the same person. (361)
I imagine Caesarius, whose death has made Armenia a poorer place, was honored with your tears as well. I believe the city publicly went into mourning for the man -- an "upholder of the city," as Pindar would say.
And this too is no small part of the misfortune: that his son, torn away from his literary studies by the calamity, must now run home, exchanging the cares proper to a young man for those belonging to a father.
Or rather, the family is not altogether unfortunate -- since Providence prepared a remedy for the coming blow in the form of your governorship. For it is clear that you will fight to make their sense of loss as slight as possible, out of respect for the man who lies dead, out of a desire to oblige me, and in the belief that this will win you no less glory than anything else you do -- if you can steady a prosperous household that has been shaken.
The greatest benefaction would be...
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.