Letter 99

Let unknown men be praised so that the light of testimony may illuminate merits hidden in obscurity. But in the present case, I'd better spare myself the effort — it would be pointless to vouch for my friend Palladius, a man already recognized by all good judges for his eloquence and learning. Besides, I need to be careful: praise that falls short of such a man neither does justice to him nor reflects well on me. So I'll step back from that role. I want you to be convinced of just one thing: Palladius's eloquence is so great that we should mourn his absence from Rome, and his personal charm so winning that we should be glad wherever he's summoned. Farewell.

Laudentur incogniti, ut eorum merita in occulto sita testimonii splendor inradiet; mihi inpraesentiarum supersedendum est huiusmodi scriptione, ne incepti frustra sim, si fratrem meum Palladium spectatum bonis omnibus facundiae atque eruditionis ad- stipuler.^ dehinc cauto opus est, ne inpar tanto viro praedicatio neque eum, cui de- fertur, aequiperet et meam operam devenustet. quiesco igitur has partes et hoc unum 15 persuasum tibi volo, mereri facundiam Palladii, ut doleamus, quod urbi negatus est, mereri amabilitatem eius, ut quod accitus est^gaudeamus. LXXXXV (LXXXVmi) a. 379.