Letter 418
To Anatolius, former official. (355)
After suffering many physical ailments -- having barely recovered from some and still bearing others -- I have one consolation: my hopes for you. Do not imagine that people talk of anything else. The word everywhere is that very soon you will hold the position that has long been rightfully yours, and that the state will have its salvation.
They base this on two things: your virtue, and the emperor's ability to see who can actually save the cities.
But please, do not flee from office again when it approaches. That kind of evasion is not becoming. If you were destined to be a runaway, you have already played that role -- when you ran away from Rome.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.