Letter 730
To Demetrius, sophist and friend. (362)
What a treasure I had in my hands and never used! The good Eucarpion was brought here many times by various necessities, and I, suffering from my head, could have long since healed it through his art. I spoke briefly with him, but never went so far as to seek a remedy.
That was the folly -- or if you prefer, the bad luck -- of the past. But now he has come and examined my condition more carefully. He discovered its nature and explained what would either stop it entirely or make it hurt less.
We began to experience the benefit right from the first treatment -- and it was no small thing. When I praised and acknowledged this, Eucarpion said, "Let Demetrius the sophist know it too." This was the response of a man who knew you would be as grateful as the patient himself.
So acknowledge the debt and at the same time push him toward something more ambitious. In a great and prolonged war, many stratagems are needed. Persuade him to write a treatise, so that we may look to it and govern the body by following its instructions.
I do not know if I will compose speeches again. But I am sending you the one I delivered recently -- I could not find the earlier ones. The slave assigned to that task was off chasing a goldsmith who had run away with a great deal of other people's money.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.