To Clematius. (358 AD)
Was anyone ever so pleased digging the earth for one purpose only to stumble upon gold, as Jovinus was at seeing you as governor, and you at receiving him?
I call your part good fortune, and his virtue — for he ran such a long road to see a friend, while such a prize came to you sitting still. Or rather, his running reveals your virtue too, since a good man would naturally race to such a companion.
As for what you will say and do together — imagine me, though absent, seeing and hearing it all: the leaping about, the laughter flowing from both of you, the reminiscences of old times, talk of the present, the exchange of jokes, and stories about me and my affairs — which hold you most of all and from which you can barely tear yourselves away.
At home, let Jovinus play as before. But if he carries any of that behavior into the forum, punish him as you would me — for not walking with eyes cast down and trembling beside a man who governs Palestine.
Was anyone ever so pleased digging the earth for one purpose only to stumble upon gold, as Jovinus was at seeing you as governor, and you at receiving him?
I call your part good fortune, and his virtue — for he ran such a long road to see a friend, while such a prize came to you sitting still. Or rather, his running reveals your virtue too, since a good man would naturally race to such a companion.
As for what you will say and do together — imagine me, though absent, seeing and hearing it all: the leaping about, the laughter flowing from both of you, the reminiscences of old times, talk of the present, the exchange of jokes, and stories about me and my affairs — which hold you most of all and from which you can barely tear yourselves away.
At home, let Jovinus play as before. But if he carries any of that behavior into the forum, punish him as you would me — for not walking with eyes cast down and trembling beside a man who governs Palestine.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.