Letter 5029: You write that respect for me flourishes among all.
You write that respect for me flourishes among all. I rejoice in such testimony, but I confess that it is your doing that my reputation thrives as it does. You are the author of the favorable report about me, and I do not blush at this account — for it is more honorable to owe one's good name to the advocacy of a friend than to one's own self-promotion.
Continue to speak well of me, and I shall endeavor to deserve it. For the greatest pressure on a man's character is not the criticism of his enemies but the praise of his friends. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Scribis reverentiara nostri apud oranes vigere. gaudeo huiusraodi testiraonio, sed
profiteor, tua opera fieri, ut taliter v/geat existiraatio mea. tu mihi es auctor ruraoris
secundi , neque hac tantura gratia vadatura rae esse sentio. nara illud etiara , quod 30
8 hec V
16 tibi palmam (/"), palam tibi F
25 q. anf. symmachi. iic. explicit ad neoteriam incipit eiasdem ad felicem •vini* P, incipit ad feU-
oem F, om. V 27 om. VF 28 aigere gaudeo] iage regio V 29 aigeat] /7, argeat V, ur-
gneat P, argeatur F auctor] ego, fautor PVF 30 esse om. F
te praesule processit ad commodam proximomm meorum, qnamvis iustitiae datam sit, PVF
tibi tamen refertur acceptum. cesso longius pergere, quia in remunerandis beneficiis 2
ieiuna est yerborum vicissitudo. simul obstrepunt curae, quas officiis familiaribus te-
nuis patriae yictus opponit. ero apud te posthac loquacior, cum refoverit studium
5 meum rei frumentariae instauratfl securitas.
xxxxvin pcxxxvi).
Related Letters
I am really ashamed of sending you the Cappadocians one by one. I should prefer to induce all our youths to devote themselves to letters and learning, and to avail themselves of your instruction in their training. But it is impracticable to get hold of them all at once, while they choose what suits themselves.
I am older than you, but I do not think myself better in nature.
1. Which is first in order, knowledge or faith? I reply that generally, in the case of disciples, faith precedes knowledge.
To Ἀκακίῳ. (361)
If you honor our companion as he deserves, you will have done us a favor as well.