Libanius → Bishops Gerontius and John
Tradução moderna em inglês
To Gerontius. (361)
When you took on the governorship of Egypt, I took on the obligation of writing to you about my friends. They were bound to ask me for letters of introduction, and I could offer no excuse for not providing them.
First among those who asked and who now carries this letter is Heraclides -- a gentle man, skilled in speaking, close to me, and an ornament to Memphis. Show me by how you treat him whether such introductions are worth making or not.
Texto latino / grego
Γεροντίῳ. (361) Ὅτε σὺ τὴν ἀρχὴν Αἰγυπτίων ἐδέχου, τότε ἐγὼ τοῦ περὶ τῶν φίλων σοι γράφειν ἀνάγκην. ἐκεῖνοί τε γὰρ ἔμελλον αἰτή- σειν ἐπιστολὰς ἐμοί τε οὐκ ἂν ἦν μὴ διδόντι λόγος. πρῶ- τος δὴ τῶν αἰτούντων καὶ φερόντων Ἡρακλείδης γίγνεται, πρᾷος ἀνήρ, λέγειν εἰδώς, ἐπιτήδειος ἐμοί, Μέμφιδι κόσμος. δεῖξον δή μοι τοῖς περὶ τοῦτον ἔργοις εἴτε δεῖ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπαγγέλλειν εἴτε μή.