Letter 717: Even if you do not write to me, I still feast on your letters.
Even if you do not write to me, I still feast on your letters. Whenever I learn that someone has received one, I am immediately at their side, and whether by persuasion or by force over their objections, I read it.
The profit, then, is no less than theirs. But the honor belongs to them alone. I too desire honor, since I desire your affection. For clearly, if you honor me at all, you would not do so without loving me.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Ἰουλιανῷ. (362)
Ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπιστέλλεις, ἡμεῖς γε τοῖς
σοῖς ἑστιώμεθα γράμμασιν. ὅταν γὰρ ὅτι τις ἔλαβε μάθοvεν,
εὐθὺς ἡμεῖς πλησίον καὶ ἢ πείσαντες ἢ κρατήσαντερ ἀκόντων
ἀνέγνωμεν.
τὸ μὲν οὖν κέρδος οὐχ ἧττον ἢ ᾿ κείνων,
τὸ τετιμῆσθαι δὲ παρ’ ἐκείνοις μόνοις ἐρῶμεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ
τιμῆς, ἐπειδὴ καὶ φίλτρου τοῦ παρὰ σοί. δῆλον γὰρ ὡς, εἴ τι
τιμήσεις, οὐκ ἄνευ γε τοῦ φιλεῖν τοῦτο ποιήσεις.
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