To Hierius. (362 AD)
Mine was a desire not entirely unreasonable; yours was the wiser counsel. "What the old man pursues," as the verse says, "he will consider so that nothing goes wrong."
You will perhaps be annoyed if I call you old — as though I myself were still growing my first beard! I admit I am old — even if I denied it, my hair would convict me. But I would say there is more old age in you, when I recall the difference between my time in the schools and yours. So it is no wonder that alongside your own son, you also instruct me, who am younger than you.
Take it, then, that I have accepted this advice and will obey in all else besides. Speak and counsel whatever you think best.
Mine was a desire not entirely unreasonable; yours was the wiser counsel. "What the old man pursues," as the verse says, "he will consider so that nothing goes wrong."
You will perhaps be annoyed if I call you old — as though I myself were still growing my first beard! I admit I am old — even if I denied it, my hair would convict me. But I would say there is more old age in you, when I recall the difference between my time in the schools and yours. So it is no wonder that alongside your own son, you also instruct me, who am younger than you.
Take it, then, that I have accepted this advice and will obey in all else besides. Speak and counsel whatever you think best.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.