Letter 377: Obodianus fulfilled toward us everything a son should, and his father fulfilled everything a father should, so that...

To Aristaenetus. (358 AD) Obodianus fulfilled toward us everything a son should, and his father fulfilled everything a father should, so that my uncle often told me I must honor that family above all others after the gods. Those who have been everything to me cannot fail to be worthy of your attention as well. Recall, too, the admiration the young man inspired in you by his speech when he served as ambassador. I know that when you left the courtroom and met me, you called our city a mother of orators, taking the ambassador's tongue as your proof. Now his son, imitating his father, has taken up public service before even beginning his rhetorical education. For his father too, at that same age, was spending on civic honors, his ambition outrunning the obligations the law imposed. At present Argyrius — for the grandson bears the same name as his grandfather — is providing the city with public baths. And as he prepares to offer the city horse races, he has been honored with an imperial gift: two four-horse chariots, currently being trained in Bithynia. That we receive the finest horses depends chiefly — indeed entirely — on your influence. So look upon the bearer of this letter with a kind eye, and lend your eager support to the matter.

Ἀρισταινέτῳ. (358) Τὰ παίδων πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπλήρωσεν Ὀβοδιανός, ὁ δὲ ἐκεί- νου πατὴρ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὰ πατέρων, ὥστε καὶ τὸν θεῖον πρός με πολλάκις εἰπεῖν ὅτι μοι τὴν οἰκίαν ἐκείνην μετὰ τοὺς θεοὺς τιμητέον. τοὺς δὲ ἐμοὶ πάντα γεγενημένους οὐκ ἔστι μὴ καὶ σοὶ σπουδῆς ἀξίους εἶναι. ἀναμιμνήσκου δὲ καὶ τοῦ θαύματος οὗ σε ἐνέπλησεν ὁ νεανίσκος ἐξ ὧν εἶπεν, ἡνίκα ἐπρέσβευεν. οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι τοῦ δικαστηρίου μὲν ἀπελθών, ἐμοὶ δὲ συμβαλὼν ῥητόρων μητέρα τὴν πόλιν ἡμῖν ἐκάλεις τεκμή- ῥίον ποιούμενος τοῦ πρεσβευτοῦ τὴν γλῶτταν. ὁ δὴ τούτου παῖς τὸν τοκέα μιμούμενος οὔπω ῥητορικῆς ἡμμένος ἧπται τοῦ λειτουργεῖν. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τηλικοῦτος ὢν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνήλισκε φιλοτιμίᾳ φθάνων τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων ἀνάγκας. νῦν μὲν οὖν Ἀργύριος ἡμῖν, ὁμώνυμος γὰρ ὁ υἱδοῦς τῷ πάππῳ, θεραπεύει λουτροῖς τὰ σώματα, μέλλων δὲ ἵππων ἁμίλλας χαρίζεσθαι τῇ πόλει δώρῳ βασιλικῷ τετίμηται. δύο τέθριππα τὸ δῶρον, οἱ δὲ ἐν Βιθυνίᾳ παιδεύονται. τοῦ γε οὖν ἡμῖν ἀρίστους ἵππους ἐλθεῖν ἐν σοὶ τὸ πλεῖστον, μᾶλ- λον δέ, ὅλον ἡ σὴ ῥοπή. βλέψας οὖν εἰς τὸν διδόντα τὴν ἐπι- στολὴν ἥμερον χρῆσαι προθυμίᾳ περὶ τὸ ἔργον.