To Spectatus.
Three things need to happen through you: one for a kinsman, one for an orator, and one for a rhetorician.
My cousin needs the emperor's approval to confirm the liturgy he has been called to. Sabinus needs a letter of appointment conferring a more distinguished rank, so that the man who prevails in eloquence is not outranked in status.
And do not let it appear that my friends have weaker patrons than other men have. It would be unbearable for us and discreditable to you if that man were to receive anything that could be held against both me and you.
As for the third -- let him receive his grain allowance, so that his gain may choke our enemies.
Three things need to happen through you: one for a kinsman, one for an orator, and one for a rhetorician.
My cousin needs the emperor's approval to confirm the liturgy he has been called to. Sabinus needs a letter of appointment conferring a more distinguished rank, so that the man who prevails in eloquence is not outranked in status.
And do not let it appear that my friends have weaker patrons than other men have. It would be unbearable for us and discreditable to you if that man were to receive anything that could be held against both me and you.
As for the third -- let him receive his grain allowance, so that his gain may choke our enemies.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.