Letter 287: When you took on the governorship of Egypt, I took on the obligation of writing to you about my friends.
To Gerontius. (361)
When you took on the governorship of Egypt, I took on the obligation of writing to you about my friends. They were bound to ask me for letters of introduction, and I could offer no excuse for not providing them.
First among those who asked and who now carries this letter is Heraclides -- a gentle man, skilled in speaking, close to me, and an ornament to Memphis. Show me by how you treat him whether such introductions are worth making or not.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Γεροντίῳ. (361)
Ὅτε σὺ τὴν ἀρχὴν Αἰγυπτίων ἐδέχου, τότε ἐγὼ τοῦ περὶ
τῶν φίλων σοι γράφειν ἀνάγκην. ἐκεῖνοί τε γὰρ ἔμελλον αἰτή-
σειν ἐπιστολὰς ἐμοί τε οὐκ ἂν ἦν μὴ διδόντι λόγος.
πρῶ-
τος δὴ τῶν αἰτούντων καὶ φερόντων Ἡρακλείδης γίγνεται,
πρᾷος ἀνήρ, λέγειν εἰδώς, ἐπιτήδειος ἐμοί, Μέμφιδι κόσμος.
δεῖξον δή μοι τοῖς περὶ τοῦτον ἔργοις εἴτε δεῖ τὰ τοιαῦτα
ἐπαγγέλλειν εἴτε μή.
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