Letter 568: I praised Spectatus for what he did for you -- or rather for what he did for me, since I consider everything done...

To Silvanus. I praised Spectatus for what he did for you -- or rather for what he did for me, since I consider everything done for you as done for myself. I was pleased when he said he had done only small things and promised greater. Obviously, once the greater things are done, he will call those small too compared with what is still to come. You knew Iamblichus's father not so much from the number of his governorships as from the virtue he showed in them. The son you did not know, since he was young and therefore unknown. But now you will discover a son better than his father -- a man who thinks little of money and a great deal about doing something noble. No athlete loves crowns as much as this man loves relieving a friend of trouble and providing him with good things. He knows how to speak -- he is an orator -- but he also knows when to be silent, where silence is better. If this man passes through your city without meeting you, it will be a loss for both of you: for him, in not sharing your wisdom, and for you, in not sharing his. So seize the good fortune and make use of each other's gifts.

Σιλανῷ. (357) Ἐπῄνεσα Σπεκτάτον τῶν εἰς σέ, μᾶλλον δὲ τῶν εἰς τὰ γὰρ εἰς σὲ ταῦτ’ εἰς ἐμαυτὸν ἡγούμην τε καὶ ἔλεγον πε- πρᾶχθαι. συνήσθην δὲ αὐτῷ μικρὰ μὲν πεποιηκέναι λέγοντι, μείζω δὲ ὑπισχνουμένῳ. δῆλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ τὰ μείζω ποιήσας μικρὰ κἀκεῖνα πρὸς τὰ μέλλοντα φήσει. Ἰαμβλίχου δὲ τὸν πατέρα μὲν ᾔδεις οὐκ ἀπὸ πλήθους μᾶλλον ἀρχῶν ἢ τῆς ἐν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἀρετῆς, τοῦτον δὲ ἠγνόεις, νέος γὰρ ὢν ἠγνοεῖτο· νῦν δὲ εἴσῃ παῖδα βελτίω πατρός, ᾧ χρημάτων μὲν οὐ πολὺς λόγος, πολὺς δὲ λόγος τοῦ τι ποιῆσαι καλόν. οὐχ οὕτως ἀθλη- τὴς ἐρᾷ στεφάνων ὡς οὗτος φίλῳ καὶ λῦσαι κακὸν καὶ πα- ρασχεῖν ἀγαθόν. λέγειν δὲ εἰδώς, ἔστι γὰρ ῥήτωρ, οἶδε καὶ σιγᾶν, οὗ σιγὴ βελτίων. οὗτος ἂν μὴ μαθών σε διαδράμῃ τὴν πόλιν, ἀμφοτέροις αὕτη ζημία, τῷ μὲν οὐ μετασχόντι τῆς σῆς σοφίας, σοὶ δὲ οὐ μεταδόντι τῆς αὑτοῦ σοφίας, ᾧ μάλιστα χρῆν. ἀλλ’ ἀγαθῇ τῇ τύχῃ χρήσασθε τοῖς ἀλλήλων ἀγαθοῖς.