Letter 541
To Elpidius.
Every time I went to him and made my case, asking that you receive what is rightly yours regarding the bronze, he sat there as if he could not hear me. When you arrive, you will hear the reasons he behaved this way toward us.
Now that your son has come, I made another attempt. This time he was more receptive than before. He made himself available to learn, and he listened as I told him about your natural talent: how young you were when you went to Athens, what reputation you won there, and what speeches you delivered.
Going further, I told him about your lawsuits against your guardian, the appeal, the second round of trials, all the treachery you suffered when you reached for the chair [a teaching position], and the death of the man who seemed to have beaten you -- in connection with a wedding, no less -- and how Calchas [i.e., a prophetic figure; likely a mutual acquaintance with a flair for prediction] had foretold all this to you. He was impressed, asked to meet you, and sent whatever he was permitted to give -- since the emperor's decrees limited the larger gifts.
So come, and bring plenty of speeches. Obviously, however many you bring, they will be good ones. Come with high hopes -- I predict you will leave having received more than you dared pray for.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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