Letter 103: The horn of Amalthea [a mythological symbol of abundance and good fortune] has arrived in your province: Eutherius,...
**To Philagrius** (357/58)
The horn of Amalthea has come to you — Eutherius, that thoroughly good man. For whatever you yourself would have done for Armenia had you been governing it, just such things you should expect will come to it from him as well — a man in whom reside rhetorical eloquence, gentleness of character, the practice of justice, and a desire for glory. It is for these qualities, I believe, that the emperor too has set him over cities whose good governance is the security of the empire.
When he asked me what was the finest thing he would see in your region, I said "Philagrius," and I recounted what I know of you — or rather, only a small part of what I know of you, for to tell everything would be a great labor and would take a very long time.
You, for your part, should consider him the finest thing to see from the Great City. For even if he, wishing to be modest, says he is second to many, do not let it escape you that while he may be surpassed by many in wealth, in beauty of soul he has the power to surpass them all.
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