Letter 720: I was pleased to see your sons -- one come for oratory, the other leading his brother to it.

To Areion. (362) I was glad to see your sons, the one who had come for the sake of rhetorical studies, the other leading his brother to those studies; for to everyone, I think, the undertaking is a fine one, but to your family it is now even necessary, if indeed it is fitting to guard the reputation that has come to you all from the learning of Agathius, while to destroy it is unholy. I, then, both for the sake of Ancyra, to which I owe many thanks, and for your sake, and for the sake of the young man's uncle, will exert all eagerness and all encouragement; but your son too must become one of those who set me in motion rather than one of those who need to be set in motion themselves. And I am convinced that he will be among those who long for it; for the season that does not allow eloquence to be admired has now passed, and the name is for the boy a stronger spur than any exhortation.

Ἀρείονι. (362) Ἡδέως εἶδόν σου τοὺς υἱούς τὸν μὲν ὑπὲρ λόγων ἥκοντα, τὸν δὲ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἐπὶ λόγους ἄγοντα· παντὶ μὶν γάρ, οἶμαι, τὸ πρᾶγμα καλόν, ὑμῖν δὲ ἤδη καὶ ἀναγκαῖον, εἰ δὴ τὸ τὴν γενομένην ὑμῖν δόξαν ἐκ τῆς Ἀγαθίου σοφίας φυλάττειν μὲν πρέπον, διαφθείρειν δὲ οὐχ ὅσιον. ἐγὼ μὶν οὖν καὶ δι’ Ἄγκυραν, ᾗ πολλὰς ὀφείλω χάριτας, καὶ διὰ σὲ καὶ διὰ τὸν θεῖον τοῦ νέου πάσῃ μὲν προθυμίᾳ, πάσῃ δὲ παρακλήσει χρήσομαι· δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸν σὸν υἱὸν τῶν κινούν- των με μᾶλλον ἢ τῶν κινεῖσθαι δεομένων γενέσθαι. πείθο- μαι δὲ ὡς ἔσται τῶν ἐπιθυμούντων ὅ τε γὰρ οὐκ ἐῶν θαυ- μάζεσθαι λόγους καιρὸς παρελήλυθε τό τε ὄνομα τῷ παιδὶ παντὸς ἰσχυρότερον προτρεπτικοῦ.