Letter 1082: You know — whether by reputation or firsthand — how long I've championed your achievements.

You hold it as a thing presumed or known, how great is the long-standing esteem I have for your praise. For that reason I allow nothing to be done that would mar the favor of your acts. Priscianus, my brother, who is to be reckoned among the foremost of philosophers for his learning and his integrity, has obtained the emoluments of a salary by the authority of the senate. Concerning his stipend a doubt is said to have arisen; yet even if the will of the leading men had granted him nothing of such an allowance beforehand, your learning ought to bring him its fruit. For you know that the liberal arts are nourished by honor, and that it is a mark of a flourishing commonwealth that rich rewards be paid out to the professors of the disciplines. I beg you, therefore, that by this disturbance neither his advantage be lessened nor the authority of reckoning be taken from that most ample order. It concerns your reputation and your glory that you be seen to have entertained doubt about the philosopher's salary for the sake of confirming a benefit rather than of denying it.