To Maximus. (357)
By now the kinsmen of Gaudentius ought to be writing us about all the good you have done them. But since they are about to be well treated — for so one must put it — I still urge you to look favorably on Alexander and Pasion, on whose behalf we made our case to you in person and watched you nod your promise.
Even had you heard nothing from me here, once you learned there whose kinsmen they are by blood, respect for the rhetorician should have moved you to defend the pair. As things stand, you cannot refuse even if you wished — you gave the nod.
For the delays so far, I blame your busy schedule. But let what comes next be better than what came before. Had you risen to office from some other path, there might be some excuse for neglecting men of letters. But since it was letters that made you great, show your devotion to those who practice the very art by which you were made.
By now the kinsmen of Gaudentius ought to be writing us about all the good you have done them. But since they are about to be well treated — for so one must put it — I still urge you to look favorably on Alexander and Pasion, on whose behalf we made our case to you in person and watched you nod your promise.
Even had you heard nothing from me here, once you learned there whose kinsmen they are by blood, respect for the rhetorician should have moved you to defend the pair. As things stand, you cannot refuse even if you wished — you gave the nod.
For the delays so far, I blame your busy schedule. But let what comes next be better than what came before. Had you risen to office from some other path, there might be some excuse for neglecting men of letters. But since it was letters that made you great, show your devotion to those who practice the very art by which you were made.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.