Letter 2017: If you haven't yet learned about my son Nicasius's praiseworthy character and honorable way of life, then accept as...
If you haven't yet learned about my son Nicasius's praiseworthy character and honorable way of life, then accept as his richest guarantor my friend Promotus — a man distinguished for both virtue and humanity — with whom Nicasius has been closely associated for some time. Judge the young man's qualities by his choice of companion.
That's a fair inference, after all: a man's worth can be measured by the weight and esteem of his friends. My own endorsement carries less force when the testimony of a more prominent person tips the scale. It is to his honor that he should come before you not as a newcomer to be tested, but as a man already proven.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
20 Si necdum filii mei Nicasii laudabiles mores et honestum institutum didicisti, accipe
pro eo locupletissimum vadimonium, meum Promotum virtute et humanitate conspi-
cuum , cui iamdiu praenota6ih' familiaritate sociatur , et bona optimi iuvenis de illius
expende iudicio. iusta enim coniectura est^ qnae de amicomm pondere et aestimatione
colligitur. nam meae adstipulationis minor causa est, cum superioris persona prae-
25 ponderet. cuius honori tribuendum est, ut a te non ut novus subdendus examini sed
ut iam probatus habeatur.
XVn a. 382.
Related Letters
I'm overflowing with joy that the new year will see you as consul.
1. Truly unexpected tidings make both ears tingle. This is my case.
We remain the same in both our affection and our admiration.
I took up your letter with great eagerness, since a long silence had built up my desire for news.
You don't know it, but we've composed another exercise — and you would certainly have asked for the second after the...