Letter 136: Now you have truly repaid me -- not in gold and silver, the kind of payment most people bring and most people enjoy,...

To Albanius. (359/60) Now you have truly paid me my wages, not gold and silver, those things which are brought by the many and which delight the many, but that for the sake of which I even withdrew from my patrimony. And this is reputation. This you have given me, having shown that I am not merely a wrestler, but also a good trainer. For you know that those who do not dare to find fault with one's strength try to bite at that other thing; but you have seated them in silence by your own voice. Let your course then be unremitting, and choose the road of life which you think advantageous to you, but everywhere consider that the art of speaking too befits you. For no life is put to shame by rhetoric. And believe that your father too has need of these things from you, and that he is not without a share of the pleasure, even though he is beneath the earth. The governor among us was reared in the school of Hermes [i.e., in rhetoric], and when men make public speeches he is reminded of his own affairs, and he confesses that he is overcome by this pleasure alone. It would indeed be the part of a sensible man to make use of the present opportunity.

To Albanius (359/60) Now you have truly repaid me my wages — not gold and silver, those things that the many bring and that delight the many, but that for whose sake I even renounced my patrimony. And that is glory. This you have given me by showing that I am not merely a wrestler myself, but also a good trainer. For you know how those who dare not fault your strength try instead to sting on that other point — but you reduced them to silence with your own voice. So let the course be run often. Choose whatever path in life you think advantageous, but believe that eloquence belongs to you everywhere. No way of life is dishonored by rhetoric. And consider that your father too asks this of you — that he not be deprived of this pleasure, even now that he is beneath the earth. Our governor, for his part, was raised in the house of Hermes and is reminded of his own studies by those who plead before him, and he confesses that this is the one pleasure to which he yields. It would be the mark of a sensible man, then, to make use of the present opportunity.

Ἀλβανίῳ. (359/60) Νῦν ὄντως μοι τοὺς μισθοὺς ἀπέδωκας, οὐ χρυσίον καὶ ἀργύριον, ταῦτα δὴ τὰ παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν τε φερόμενα καὶ τέρποντα τοὺς πολλούς, ἀλλ’ οὗ χάριν καὶ τῶν πατρῴων ἀπέ- στην. τοῦτο δέ ἐστι δόξα. ταύτην μοι δέδωκας δείξας, ὡς οὐ παλαιστὴς ἄρα ἐγὼ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυμναστὴς ἀγαθός. οἶσθα γάρ, ὡς οἱ τὴν ῥώμην οὐ τολμῶντες ψέγειν ἐκεῖνο πει- ρῶνται δάκνειν, ἀλλὰ σύ γε αὐτοὺς ἀφώνους ἐκάθισας τῇ σαυτοῦ φωνῇ. γιγνέσθω δὴ πυκνὸς ὁ δρόμος καὶ βίου μὲν ὁδὸν ἣν οἴει σοι συμφέρειν αἱροῦ, πανταχοῦ δὲ οἴου σαυτῷ καὶ τὸ λέγειν προσήκειν. οὐδεὶς γὰρ βίος ὑπὸ ῥητορικῆς αἰ- σχύνεται. καὶ ταῦτα ἡγοῦ δεῖσθαί σου καὶ τὸν πατέρα καὶ μηδὲ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἄμοιρον εἶναι καὶ ταῦτα ὄντα ὑπὸ γῆς. ὁ δὲ ἄρχων ἡμῖν ἐν Ἑρμοῦ τέθραπται καὶ τοῖς ἀγορεύου- σιν ἀναμιμυ σκεται τὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ ταύτης μόνης ὁμολογεῖ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἡττᾶσθαι. νοῦν δὴ ἔχοντος ἂν εἴη χρῆσθαι παρόντι καιρῷ.