Letter 823: This Theodorus was born among us but is enrolled among you, having inherited his father's citizenship.

To Modestus. (363 AD) This Theodorus was born among us but is enrolled among you, having inherited his father's citizenship. He became my student when I was just beginning my career, and he imitated my labors in rhetoric and my brothers' devotion to me. His studies gave us hope that he would be a great force in the courts and earn wealth from his voice. But as he advanced, he came to value gold over bronze [i.e., philosophy over advocacy] and grew too noble to think that kind of power important — excelling in temperance, practicing justice, avoiding crowds, and loving quiet. Now he has come to you under compulsion — and even the gods, they say, yield to necessity. Receive the man kindly, as befits my fellow citizen and student, grant him swift resolution of his affairs, and if anyone tries to wrong him, meet them with the full force of the law. For it would be the height of absurdity if neither his father nor I could be of any help to him — when we have both long been honored by you.

Μοδέστῳ. (363) Θεόδωρος οὗτος ἔφυ μὲν παρ᾿ ἡμὶν, ἐγγέγραπται δὲ παρ’ ὑμῖν πολιτείας πατρικῆς κληρονομήσας. γενόμενος δὲ φοιτη- τῆς ἐμός, ὅτε ἄρτι τοῦ πράγματος ἡπτόμην, τοὺς μὶν ἐμοὺς περὶ λόγους ἐμιμήσατο πόνους. τὴν δὲ τῶν ἀδελφῶν εὔνοταν εἰς ἐμέ. αἱ μὲν οὖν διατριβαὶ παρεῖχον ἡμῖν ἐλπίδας, ὡς μέγα ἐν δικαστηρίοις ἰσχύσει καὶ πλοῦτον ἀπὸ τῆς φωνῆς ἐρ- γάσεται· προιὼν δὲ χρυσὶ ἀντὶ χαλκῶν ἐθαύμασε καὶ ἐγένετο καλλίων τοῦ τὴν ἐκεῖ δύναμιν ἡγεῖσθαι μέγα σωφροσύνῃ τε διενεγκὼν καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἀσκῶν καὶ φεύγων ὄχλους καὶ ἡσυχίας ἐρῶν. νῦν δὲ ἥκει παρ’ ὑμᾶς ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης, ἧς ἡττᾶσθαι καὶ θεοὺς λόγος. δέχου δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα ἡμέρως καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς ἐμὸν πολίτην καὶ μαθητήν, καὶ ταχείας αὐτῷ ποίει τὰς ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἀπαλλαγάς, κἂν ἐπιχειρῇ τις ἀδικεῖν, ἀπάντα μετὰ τῶν νόμων· ὡς ἔσται τῶν ἀτοπωτάτων, εἰ μηδὲν αὐτὸν ὀνήσομεν μήθ’ ὁ πατὴρ μήτ’ ἐγώ, καὶ ταῦτα ἄμφω παρὰ σοὶ πάλαι δὴ τιμωμένω.