Letter 59: Even if you cannot have all that you desire, you have at least half of it.
**To Albanius** (359/360)
Even if you cannot enjoy the full measure of your desire, you have at least half of it. For since you are in love with our city, you have no small portion of it in the excellent Priscianus — he who looked after your labors, whose recitations you attended, and who, when you were praising Modestus, lent distinction to your words by putting them forward.
Repay the man, then, with your praise, and teach beloved Ancyra who this man is in eloquence and in the qualities of his character. A man who knows how to speak will surely recognize the treasure in these gifts.
And I believe you will embrace your old love once again, if you learn the reason for his journey. A longing for his tongue has seized the Emperor. And victory in those contests is itself a great thing, and becomes the beginning of still greater things.
Let no one, seeing this, think rhetoric without honor — for it is powerful among those where it truly exists, and to those who look down on it, it can say: "Still the strength abides in me."
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