Letter 11
To Leontius.
Herodotus said that men's ears are less trustworthy than their eyes. But in your case I hold the opposite view: my ears are more trustworthy than my eyes. Even if I had seen you ten times over, I would not trust my eyes as much as I now trust my ears. A man incapable of lying has told me that while you distinguish yourself in every respect, you surpass even yourself in your deeds "with hand and foot," as Homer says [Odyssey 8.148, originally about athletic competitions].
I am therefore entrusting you with a military command. I have sent you a complete suit of infantry armor and enrolled you in my household guard [the protectores domestici, an elite imperial unit].
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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