Letter 443: You have reached the rank your good sense was always going to bring you -- a good sense that is both genuine and not...
You have reached the rank your good sense was always going to bring you -- a good sense that is both genuine and not lost on the emperor's attention. You were already well-disposed toward me before, and now you might reasonably add affection to goodwill, on account of our family connection.
As for the ambassadors, I would love to write on their behalf, but I do not yet dare make such requests before I have received a letter from you first.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Ἐλπιδίῳ. (355)
Ἥκεις εἰς τοῦτο τάξεως, οἷ σε ἔμελλον ἄξειν αἱ φρένες
ἀγαθαί τε οὖσαι καὶ τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως οὐ λανθάνουσαι νοῦν.
ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ πρόσθεν εὐνοικῶς εἶχες, νῦν δ’ ἂν καὶ προσθείης
τὸ φιλεῖν εἰκότως διὰ τὸ κῆδος.
περὶ δὲ τῶν πρέσβεων ἥδι-
στα μὲν ἂν ἐπέστελλον, τολμῶ δὲ οὔπω τὰ τοιαῦτα πρὶν παρὰ
σοῦ μοι γράμματα ἐλθεῖν.
Related Letters
(For 347.) Coss. Rufinus, Eusebius; Præf.
You have Spectatus in your hands -- the man you have been longing to get hold of.
You ask how my affairs stand but say nothing about the state of your own health -- as if I cared less about that...
Source. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol.
1. The eagerness of my longing is soothed by the opportunities which the merciful God gives me of saluting your reverence. He Himself is witness of the earnest desire which I have to see your face, and to enjoy your good and soul-refreshing instruction.