To Acacius. (358)
The entire speech has been delivered. There was uproar and applause, and the man for whom the speech was an ornament has resolved to send it to many parts of the world — so delighted was he with the gift. For me these things were not insignificant, but the greater thing did not happen: seeing you in the audience doing what you always did — leaping up before anyone else. So I kept saying to Eusebius whenever applause broke out, "What would it be like now if that man were here?" — meaning you.
But I shall have my revenge for this when you are the one speaking and I am the one judging. Know that Titianus is thriving, just as you would pray, and runs more eagerly without the spur than Hieron's famous horse [the celebrated racehorse of the Syracusan tyrant]. When the finest natural talent acquires a passion for hard work, you can imagine what results.
Tuscianus will come to you as a messenger of these things — a skilled craftsman and sound judge of speeches. He visited Titianus one afternoon to test him on a problem and left in admiration.
The entire speech has been delivered. There was uproar and applause, and the man for whom the speech was an ornament has resolved to send it to many parts of the world — so delighted was he with the gift. For me these things were not insignificant, but the greater thing did not happen: seeing you in the audience doing what you always did — leaping up before anyone else. So I kept saying to Eusebius whenever applause broke out, "What would it be like now if that man were here?" — meaning you.
But I shall have my revenge for this when you are the one speaking and I am the one judging. Know that Titianus is thriving, just as you would pray, and runs more eagerly without the spur than Hieron's famous horse [the celebrated racehorse of the Syracusan tyrant]. When the finest natural talent acquires a passion for hard work, you can imagine what results.
Tuscianus will come to you as a messenger of these things — a skilled craftsman and sound judge of speeches. He visited Titianus one afternoon to test him on a problem and left in admiration.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.