Letter 625: Spectatus has been a good man to us.
To Italicianus. (361)
Spectatus has been a good man to us. He writes to the mother with such praises and such encouragements that he's left nothing for me — what I would say in person, he has been sending in his letters.
And what is finer still: he didn't write better things in letters carried by your people than in those carried by his own — as deceivers do — but is consistent through every letter.
So the matter is proceeding well for us. The grandmother cannot help but rejoice at hearing such things, and in her joy she will likely consent to the match.
You, I believe, should do what I have been urging you to do, since nothing better can be found for the present endeavor.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Ἰταλικιανῷ. (361)
Ὁ Σπεκτάτος ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς εἰς ἡμᾶς γίγνεται καὶ γράφει
πρὸς τὴν μητέρα τοιούτους μὲν ἐπαίνους, τοιαύτας δὲ παρα-
κλήσεις, ὥστ’ οὐδέν μοι πλέον ἀφῆκεν, ἀλλ’ οἷς αὐτὸς χρῶμαι
παρών, ταῦτ’ ἔπεμπεν ἐν ἐπιστολαῖς.
καὶ τὸ ἔτι κάλλιον,
οὐ γὰρ ἀμείνω μὲν ἐν ταῖς ὑπὸ τῶν σῶν κομιζομέναις ἔγρα-
φεν, οὐ τοιαῦτα δὲ ἐν ταῖς ὑπὸ τῶν αὑτοῦ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ
τῶν ἐξαπατώντων, ἀλλ’ ἔστιν αὐτὸς διὰ πάσης ἐπιστολῆς.
καλῶς οὖν ἡμῖν οἰκονομεῖ τὸ πρᾶγμα. χαίρειν γὰρ ἀνάγκη
τὴν τήθην τοιαῦτα ἀκούουσαν χαίρουσαν δὲ καὶ ζεύξειν εἰ-
κός.
σὲ δὲ οἶμαι δεῖν ποιεῖν ἃ παρῄνουν ποιεῖν· ὡς οὐκ
ἔσθ’ ὅ τι ἂν εὑρεθείη βέλτιον εἰς τὴν παροῦσαν σπουδήν.
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