Letter 326: It grieves me to hear that two men I trained are now at odds with each other.

To Aristaenetus. (357) This Thalassius has his name from his father, but his character is finer than that man's. For who is so reasonable, who so honorable? Who has been more a leader in friendship? Who has better preserved a friendship once formed? Who has refrained from mockery? Who has endured mockery? Of learning he has had a share, though not as much as he wished, on account of his orphanhood; and grieving over this himself, among those whom he knows to possess eloquence he counts them blessed and loves them; and though living in great wealth, he is more temperate than the poor, while for defending the poor he uses what he has, praising wealth on this account alone, that it cooperates with a noble nature toward making a display of itself. These things do not escape even Strategius, who, admiring him as we do, both seeks him when he is absent and rejoices in his presence. And indeed he has often asked: why is he the only one who solicits nothing? For the young man is ready to give, but slow to ask. And if he should be seen anywhere, encomiums come from every quarter, both from those who have been well treated and from those who know the ones who have been well treated. And no one has found fault with Fortune for her goodwill toward him; so earnestly has he striven to be moderate amid abundance. And of the people he knows, some he has benefited, and others he has not grieved. As for me, he loves me more than anyone would love a father, and he shows more deference than a pupil, and he makes me master of what is his, just as the law makes him so. These things it was not fitting for me to keep silent about, nor for you not to learn. For I would have been doing wrong, and you would have been suffering loss by not being brought together, when through me you would most justly have come to know one another.

Ἀρισταινέτῳ. (357) Θαλασσίῳ τούτῳ τὸ μὲν ὄνομα πατρῷον, ὁ τρόπος δὲ τοῦ ’κείνου καλλίων. τίς μὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἐπιεικής, τίς δὲ χρηστός; τίς ἦρξε μᾶλλον φιλίας; τίς ἐτήρησε συστᾶσαν; τίς ἀπέσχετο σκωμμάτων; τίς ἤνεγκε σκώμματα; λόγων δὲ μετ- έσχε μέν, οὐχ ὅσων ἐβούλετο, διὰ τὴν ὀρφανίαν, τούτῳ δὲ ἀλγῶν αὐτῷ, παρ’ οἷς οἶδεν ὄντας λόγους εὐδαιμονίζει τε καὶ φιλεῖ, ζῶν δὲ ἐν πλούτῳ μεγάλῳ σωφρονεῖ μὲν πλέον τῶν πενομένων, εἰς δὲ τὸ τοῖς πένησιν ἀμύνειν χρῆται τοῖς οὖσι κατὰ τοῦτο μόνον ἐπαινῶν τὸ πλουτεῖν, ὅτι συμπράττει πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν φύσει γενναίᾳ. ταῦτ’ οὐδὲ τὸν Στρατήγιον λαν- θάνει, θαυμάζων δέ, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, ζητεῖ τε ἀπόντα καὶ παρ- όντι χαίρει. καὶ δὴ καὶ πολλάκις ἤρετο· τί δὴ μόνος οὐδὲν ἐπαγγέλλει; δοῦναι μὲν γὰρ ἕτοιμος ὁ νεανίσκος, αἰτῆσαι δὲ βραδύς. εἰ δὲ ὀφθείη που, πανταχόθεν ἐγκώμια παρά τε τῶν εὖ πεπονθότων καὶ τῶν τοὺς εὖ παθόντας ειδότων. τὴν Τύχην δὲ οὐδεὶς ἐμέμψατο διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοῦτον εὔνοιαν· οὕτως ἐσπούδακεν εἶναι μέτριος ἐν ἀφθόνοις. καὶ ὧν οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς μὲν εὐηργέτηκε, τοὺς δὲ οὐκ ἐλύπησεν. ἐμὲ δὲ φιλεῖ μὲν πλέον ἢ ὡς ἄν τις πατέρα, αἰσχύνεται δὲ μᾶλλον ἢ μαθητής, ποιεῖ δὲ τῶν αὑτοῦ κύριον, ὥσπερ αὐτὸν ὁ νόμος. ταῦτ’ οὔτ’ ἐμὲ σιγᾶν εἶχε καλῶς οὔτε σὲ μὴ μαθεῖν. ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ἂν ἠδίκουν, ὑμεῖς δ’ ἂν ἐζημιοῦσθε μὴ συναγόμενοι παρ’ ἐμοῦ δικαιότατα ἂν ἀλλήλους εἰδότες.