To Maximus. (362)
This Achillius was my fellow student, and his son is being raised under my care — a boy of a lively nature who knows how to work hard. As for Achillius's character, his handling of his estate says enough: he did not enlarge a small fortune by crooked means, but reduced a very large one to a small one through his expenditures on the city.
Now he has come to perform a public service, and he stopped here to see his son. For these are his two concerns: his child and his city. And I think that caring for the child is itself a form of civic devotion — since those who attend to the minds of their sons do far more good for their cities than when they sponsor lavish spectacles.
So, honoring the one and commending the other, and keeping me in mind, see to it that his burden is made light.
This Achillius was my fellow student, and his son is being raised under my care — a boy of a lively nature who knows how to work hard. As for Achillius's character, his handling of his estate says enough: he did not enlarge a small fortune by crooked means, but reduced a very large one to a small one through his expenditures on the city.
Now he has come to perform a public service, and he stopped here to see his son. For these are his two concerns: his child and his city. And I think that caring for the child is itself a form of civic devotion — since those who attend to the minds of their sons do far more good for their cities than when they sponsor lavish spectacles.
So, honoring the one and commending the other, and keeping me in mind, see to it that his burden is made light.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.