Libanius→Eutherius, governor of Armenia|c. 358 AD|libanius
To Eutherius. (358/359)
It pleases me more than winning a province myself that this has happened under your governorship. I congratulate Caesarius on his character and on his reputation -- which grows greater by your endorsement -- and above all I congratulate him on his sons. For there is in those young men such devotion to both decency and learning that even their father might well feel humbled.
I would do anything you ask. If you tell me to love an idle man, I will obey. But these young men, to tell the truth, were recommended to me by their own nature before your letter ever arrived. So it is time for you to ask me a different favor, since the young men have already given themselves this one.
It pleases me more than winning a province myself that this has happened under your governorship. I congratulate Caesarius on his character and on his reputation -- which grows greater by your endorsement -- and above all I congratulate him on his sons. For there is in those young men such devotion to both decency and learning that even their father might well feel humbled.
I would do anything you ask. If you tell me to love an idle man, I will obey. But these young men, to tell the truth, were recommended to me by their own nature before your letter ever arrived. So it is time for you to ask me a different favor, since the young men have already given themselves this one.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.