Letter 768: I love Magnus, as one naturally loves a fellow student and a good man, and I admire him as a formidable and powerful...

To Belaeus. (362) I love Magnus, as one naturally loves a fellow student and a good man, and I admire him as a formidable and powerful orator. I would like him to go on defeating his opponents here and to enjoy the fruits of his land there — not large, but ancestral. The victories he provides me the pleasure of seeing with my own eyes, as he routs one adversary after another. But that he receive something from his property — let that be your concern. And it will be, if you acknowledge those he has appointed to manage his affairs and receive them kindly when they need a hearing. So grant him both these favors, and write — for in that way you will give two gifts: the deeds and the account of them. But if you do the one and fail to add the other, we shall indict you before the Muses for dishonoring their earlier chorus.

Bηλαίῳ (362) Μάγνον φιλῶ μέν, ὡς εἰκὸς συμφοιτητήν τι καὶ ἄν χρηστόν, θαυμάζω δὲ ὡς ῥήτορα δεινόν τε καἰ ἰσχυρόν· βου- λοίμην δ’ ἂν αὐτὸν νικᾶν μὲν ἐνταῦθα τοὺς ἀντιπάλους, καρ- ποῦσθαι δὲ τὴν ἐκεῖ γῆν οὐ πολλὴν μέν, πατρῴαν δέ. τὰς μὲν οὖν νίκας αὐτὸς ὁρᾶν μοι παρέχει τρεπόμενος ἄλλους ἐπ ἄλλοις· τοῦ δ’ ἐΜεν αὐτῷ τι προσιέναι μελέτω σοί. μέλοι δ’ ἄν, εἰ οὓς ἐπέστησε τοῖς πράγμασι γνωρίζοις τε καὶ δικα- στηρίου χρῄζοντας εὐμενῶς δέχοιο. ταῦτά τε οὖν χαρίζου καὶ γράφε, δύο γὰρ οὕτω γε χαριῇ, τά τε ἔργα τόν τε ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν λόγον. εἰ δὲ τὸ μὲν ποιοῖς, τὸ δὲ μὴ προστιθείης, γρα- ψόμεθά σε παρὰ ταῖς Μούσαις, ὅτι δὴ τὸν πρότερον ἀτιμά- ζεις χορόν.