Letter 326: It grieves me to hear that two men I trained are now at odds with each other.

To Aristainetos. (357) This Thalassius bears his father's name, but his character is finer than his father's. Who is so fair-minded, so good? Who has been quicker to start a friendship, or more faithful in keeping one? Who has held back from mockery, or borne it more graciously? He had some share in literary education, though less than he wanted, because he was orphaned young. Pained by this himself, he admires and loves those whom he knows to possess eloquence. Though he lives in great wealth, he is more temperate than the poor; he uses his fortune to defend the needy, and praises being rich for this one reason alone -- that it helps a naturally noble character to show itself. None of this escapes Strategius either: he too admires Thalassius, as we do, misses him when he is absent and delights in his company. Indeed Strategius has often asked, "Why is he the only one who asks for nothing?" -- for the young man is ready to give but slow to ask. Whenever he appears, praise pours in from every side, from those he has helped and from those who know the people he has helped. No one has blamed Fortune for her kindness to him: so determined is he to remain modest amid abundance. Of all the people he knows, he has benefited some and harmed none. He loves me more than a man loves his father, respects me more than a student does his teacher, and makes me master of his possessions as the law makes him master of his own. I could not rightly keep silent about this, nor should you remain ignorant of it. I would have been doing wrong, and you would have suffered loss, had I not introduced to each other two people who most justly deserve to know one another.

Ἀρισταινέτῳ. (357) Θαλασσίῳ τούτῳ τὸ μὲν ὄνομα πατρῷον, ὁ τρόπος δὲ τοῦ ’κείνου καλλίων. τίς μὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἐπιεικής, τίς δὲ χρηστός; τίς ἦρξε μᾶλλον φιλίας; τίς ἐτήρησε συστᾶσαν; τίς ἀπέσχετο σκωμμάτων; τίς ἤνεγκε σκώμματα; λόγων δὲ μετ- έσχε μέν, οὐχ ὅσων ἐβούλετο, διὰ τὴν ὀρφανίαν, τούτῳ δὲ ἀλγῶν αὐτῷ, παρ’ οἷς οἶδεν ὄντας λόγους εὐδαιμονίζει τε καὶ φιλεῖ, ζῶν δὲ ἐν πλούτῳ μεγάλῳ σωφρονεῖ μὲν πλέον τῶν πενομένων, εἰς δὲ τὸ τοῖς πένησιν ἀμύνειν χρῆται τοῖς οὖσι κατὰ τοῦτο μόνον ἐπαινῶν τὸ πλουτεῖν, ὅτι συμπράττει πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν φύσει γενναίᾳ. ταῦτ’ οὐδὲ τὸν Στρατήγιον λαν- θάνει, θαυμάζων δέ, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, ζητεῖ τε ἀπόντα καὶ παρ- όντι χαίρει. καὶ δὴ καὶ πολλάκις ἤρετο· τί δὴ μόνος οὐδὲν ἐπαγγέλλει; δοῦναι μὲν γὰρ ἕτοιμος ὁ νεανίσκος, αἰτῆσαι δὲ βραδύς. εἰ δὲ ὀφθείη που, πανταχόθεν ἐγκώμια παρά τε τῶν εὖ πεπονθότων καὶ τῶν τοὺς εὖ παθόντας ειδότων. τὴν Τύχην δὲ οὐδεὶς ἐμέμψατο διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοῦτον εὔνοιαν· οὕτως ἐσπούδακεν εἶναι μέτριος ἐν ἀφθόνοις. καὶ ὧν οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς μὲν εὐηργέτηκε, τοὺς δὲ οὐκ ἐλύπησεν. ἐμὲ δὲ φιλεῖ μὲν πλέον ἢ ὡς ἄν τις πατέρα, αἰσχύνεται δὲ μᾶλλον ἢ μαθητής, ποιεῖ δὲ τῶν αὑτοῦ κύριον, ὥσπερ αὐτὸν ὁ νόμος. ταῦτ’ οὔτ’ ἐμὲ σιγᾶν εἶχε καλῶς οὔτε σὲ μὴ μαθεῖν. ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ἂν ἠδίκουν, ὑμεῖς δ’ ἂν ἐζημιοῦσθε μὴ συναγόμενοι παρ’ ἐμοῦ δικαιότατα ἂν ἀλλήλους εἰδότες.