To Eupaterius. (357/58)
You who come from Greece hold rhetoric in honor, and Hieronymus possesses it in the highest degree. It follows, then, that he too must become honored in your eyes — the man whose speaking won over even Strategius for us.
He had a speech written for a case he was litigating, but when the trial proved unnecessary, he asked leave to deliver it anyway. He was granted this, spoke, departed to applause — and I rejoiced. For he and I share the same teacher, and whatever distinction he earns is at once my own.
I am certain you will admire him when he speaks, and admiring him, I am certain you will come to love him — both for the admiration itself and because he is no more an orator than he is a good man. And if it counts for anything that I care about this orator, I will be grateful — and perhaps find a way to repay you.
You who come from Greece hold rhetoric in honor, and Hieronymus possesses it in the highest degree. It follows, then, that he too must become honored in your eyes — the man whose speaking won over even Strategius for us.
He had a speech written for a case he was litigating, but when the trial proved unnecessary, he asked leave to deliver it anyway. He was granted this, spoke, departed to applause — and I rejoiced. For he and I share the same teacher, and whatever distinction he earns is at once my own.
I am certain you will admire him when he speaks, and admiring him, I am certain you will come to love him — both for the admiration itself and because he is no more an orator than he is a good man. And if it counts for anything that I care about this orator, I will be grateful — and perhaps find a way to repay you.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.