To Maximus. (361?)
You were right to honor the man I recommended -- not because I recommended him, but because he deserved it. I hear he conducted himself exactly as I predicted, which gives me double satisfaction: in having a friend worthy of praise, and in being proved an accurate judge of character.
Now I send you another, and I make the same prediction. Test him, and you will find I have not exaggerated. His eloquence is matched by his integrity, and his integrity by his modesty. In a world where these three rarely coexist, he is something of a marvel.
Whatever kindness you show him will be well placed, for he is the sort who repays generosity not with mere words but with deeds of equal weight.
You were right to honor the man I recommended -- not because I recommended him, but because he deserved it. I hear he conducted himself exactly as I predicted, which gives me double satisfaction: in having a friend worthy of praise, and in being proved an accurate judge of character.
Now I send you another, and I make the same prediction. Test him, and you will find I have not exaggerated. His eloquence is matched by his integrity, and his integrity by his modesty. In a world where these three rarely coexist, he is something of a marvel.
Whatever kindness you show him will be well placed, for he is the sort who repays generosity not with mere words but with deeds of equal weight.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.