To Ulpianus. (~361 AD)
What people on shore feel when they watch others sailing through a storm — imagining the waves crashing against their own bodies — that is what we have felt as we consider the times in which you have assumed your office. We are full of anxiety and turmoil, as though we ourselves were beset on every side by circumstances.
But we pray for you, and you — strive to be worthy of your father, of your own nature, and of the education you have acquired. Show that even the harshness of the times is overcome by a noble spirit.
I say this not to persuade someone who is already persuaded, but to encourage a fine impulse. As for the good Amphilochius: I know you will treat him well even if no one says a word on his behalf, yet I ask it all the same. He was my fellow student and your comrade-in-arms, a skilled teacher, and a father of children who do their father credit.
What people on shore feel when they watch others sailing through a storm — imagining the waves crashing against their own bodies — that is what we have felt as we consider the times in which you have assumed your office. We are full of anxiety and turmoil, as though we ourselves were beset on every side by circumstances.
But we pray for you, and you — strive to be worthy of your father, of your own nature, and of the education you have acquired. Show that even the harshness of the times is overcome by a noble spirit.
I say this not to persuade someone who is already persuaded, but to encourage a fine impulse. As for the good Amphilochius: I know you will treat him well even if no one says a word on his behalf, yet I ask it all the same. He was my fellow student and your comrade-in-arms, a skilled teacher, and a father of children who do their father credit.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.