Letter 774: It seems I have received young Gaius as the child of three fathers: the one who begot him, you his uncle and...

To Gaius. (362) It seems I have received young Gaius as the child of three fathers: the one who begot him, you his uncle and namesake, and further the maker of noble speeches, the excellent Acacius, who from the moment he himself arrived until the young man came never stopped saying that a good son of good parents would come, a friend from friends, a second Titianus. Consider, then, what sort of man I would be, about to gratify so many, when I would not have been negligent even at the command of one. For your brother, being both your brother and a companion of decency, deserves our respect; and you dwell with the Muses and have the power to praise before them whomever you wish. Is it not dangerous, then, not to obey you in everything? As for the strength of Acacius, with which he does great good — though the other side of it another man might know better — who, upon reflecting, would not place before all others the one whom Acacius ranks alongside Titianus? So I become a father to Gaius. And I count him fortunate for the few days in which he tasted Acacius's mysteries. For it is plain to see that he has partaken of sacred rites.

Γαΐῳ. (362) Τριῶν ἔοικα πατέρων παῖδα τὸν Γάϊον δεδέχθαι, τοῦ τε γεγεννηκότος καὶ σοῦ τοῦ θείου τε καὶ ὁμωνύμου καὶ ἔτι τοῦ τῶν γενναίων δημιουργοῦ λόγων, Ἀκακίου τοῦ καλοῦ, ὃς ἀφ᾿ οὖπερ ἦκεν αὐτός, ἕως ἦλθεν ὁ νέος, οὐδὲν ἐπαύσατο λέγων ὡς ἥξει παῖς χρηστὸς ἐξ ἀγαθῶν, φίλος ἐκ φίλων, ἕτερος Τι- τιανός. ἐνθυμοῦ οὖν τίς ἂν εἴην μέλλων χαριεῖσθαι τοσού- τοις, ὃς οὐδ᾿ ἂν ἑνὸς ἐπιτάττοντος ἠμέλουν. ὅ τε γὰρ σὸς ἀδελφός, σός τε ὢν ἀδελφὸς καὶ ἐπιεικείας ἑταῖρος, αἰδοῦς ἡμῖν ἄξιος σύ τε ταΐς Μούσαις σύνει καὶ δύνασαι παρ᾿ αὑ- ταῖς οὓς ἂν ἐθέλῃς ἐπαινεῖν. οὔκουν ἀκίνδυνον μὴ πάντα σοι πείθεσθαι; τὴν δὲ Ἀκακίου ῥώμην, μεθ᾿ ἧς μεγάλα μὲν ὠφελεῖ, θάτερον δὲ ἄλλος εἰδείη, τίς οὐκ ἂν ἐννοῶν πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων θεῖτο ὃν ἐκεῖνος ἐν τάξει Τιτιανοῦ; ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, γίγνομαι τῷ Γαΐῳ πατήρ· μακαρίζω δὲ ἐκεῖνον τῶν ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν ἐν αἶς ἐγεύσατο τῶν Ἀκακίου μυστηρίων. οὑ γὰρ ἄδηλός ἐστι μετασχὼν ἱερῶν.