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straightening and teaching symmetry. It is necessary therefore for you, master, being wise and able to make others wise, and being full of such words and having been taught to love your neighbor as yourself, not to harm with encomiums the spirit of the one who is loved, nor to raise one person on high and exalt him with words, while humbling yourself too much and choosing this unpraiseworthy immoderation, nor to measure your praise by your longing, but to prefer truth to friendship, and to hide the faults of a friend (for the lawgiver of friendship enjoins these things, saying: ‘Love will cover a multitude of sins’), but to admire his visible achievements with measure. And in saying these things, I am not teaching your sagacity, which has been instructed in such things more than all, but I am rejecting my own praises; for one of these things wears [me] out; [and I] also heard God say[ing through the] prophet to Israel: ‘My people, those who call you blessed lead you astray, and they confuse the path of your feet.’ Concerning these things, then, I offer this supplication to your piety; but concerning the girl, I inform your piety that while I care for her on account of her orphanhood, I have not involved myself in discussions concerning betrothal, but have yielded the authority to her mother. And I ask your holiness to make known to us both the name and the family of the one wishing to be betrothed (for the letter contained neither of these), so that I may make these things known both to the mother and to the girl’s relatives and give the necessary counsel. 44 TO ISOCASIUS THE SOPHIST. You not only train the young men who come to you in the Greek language and teach them Attic eloquence, but you also deem them worthy of other foresight, both by caring for the propriety of their character and preparing their life to look towards virtue; and in addition to these things, you also provide other care for them, delivering them from those who try to do wrong, introducing them to those who are able to help, and, in a word, performing the duties of fathers; for these things are characteristic of those like you who instill this rational wisdom into the souls of men. Our most noble and beloved son Philip has such benefits from your magnanimity. For when the contests concerning the cerarchy were at hand, you were among those who [were] contending and doing anything whatever on behalf of the young man. And now, too, as I have learned, your great genius has contributed much zeal, so that he is not among those led and carried about by the good governors, but among those who are honored and deemed worthy of esteem. And may many good things be yours, for providing such care for those deprived of a father. For these things, therefore, we too confess our thanks to your magnificence; but since for the time being his office is doing him harm (for it deprives him even of the first ranks of the council) and all his friends are displeased at this and threaten to no longer care for public affairs if this should happen, I ask your wisdom to undertake this form of benefaction; for it is a benefaction, according to the purpose of your magnificence, even if it is considered a harm by those who know the city’s affairs. For in doing this your magnificence will again show a father's affection. 45 TO THEODOTUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH. Nature has granted to children to speak freely with their fathers at the right time, and the law of slavery to servants both to honor mastery with silence and to speak to their owners

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ἀνορθοῦντες καὶ τὴν συμμετρίαν διδάσκοντες. Χρὴ τοίνυν σε, δέσποτα, σοφὸν ὄντα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους σοφίζειν δυνάμενον καὶ τῶν τοιούτων λόγων πλήρη τυγχάνοντα καὶ φιλεῖν τὸν πέλας ὡς σεαυτὸν δεδιδαγμένον, μὴ βλάπτειν τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις τοῦ φιλουμένου τὸ φρόνημα, μηδὲ τὸν μὲν αἴρειν εἰς ὕψος καὶ μετεωρίζειν τοῖς λόγοις, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ταπεινοῦν ὑπὲρ τὸ ἄγαν καὶ τὴν οὐκ ἐπαινουμένην ταύτην ἀμετρίαν αἱρεῖσθαι, μηδὲ τῷ πόθῳ τὴν εὐφημίαν μετρεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν προτιμᾶν τῆς φιλίας, καὶ κρύπτειν μὲν τὰς τοῦ φίλου κηλῖδας (ταῦτα γὰρ ὁ τῆς φιλίας νομοθέτης παρεγ γυᾷ· Ἀγάπη , λέγων, καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν ), τὰ δὲ φαινόμενα κατορθώματα συμμέτρως θαυμάζειν. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγων, οὐ τὴν σὴν διδάσκω ἀγχίνοιαν, τὴν πάντων μάλιστα τὰ τοιαῦτα πεπαιδευμένην, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐπαίνους ἀπο κρουόμενος· ἀποκναίει [με] γὰρ τούτων τὸ ἕτερον· ἤκουσα [δὲ καὶ] τοῦ Θεοῦ δ[ιὰ τοῦ] προφήτου πρὸς τὸν Ἰσραὴλ λέγοντος· Λαός μου, οἱ μακαρίζοντες ὑμᾶς πλανῶσιν ὑμᾶς, καὶ τὴν τρίβον τῶν ποδῶν ὑμῶν ταράσσουσι . Περὶ μὲν τούτων ταύτην σου τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ τὴν ἱκετείαν προσφέρω· περὶ δὲ τῆς παιδὸς διδάσκω σου τὴν θεοσέβειαν, ὡς κήδομαι μὲν αὐτῆς διὰ τὴν ὀρφανίαν, οὐ μὴν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς τοὺς περὶ μνησ τείας καθῆκα λόγους, ἀλλὰ τῇ μητρὶ ταύτης παρεχώρησα τὴν ἐξουσίαν. Παρακαλῶ δέ σου τὴν ὁσιότητα δηλῶσαι ἡμῖν τοῦ μνηστεύσασθαι βουλομένου καὶ τοὔνομα καὶ τὸ γένος (οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων περιεῖχε τὰ γράμματα), ἵνα καὶ τῇ μητρὶ καὶ τοῖς προσήκουσι τῇ παιδὶ ταῦτα ποιήσω γνώριμα καὶ συμβουλεύσω τὰ δέοντα. 44 ΙΣΟΚΑΣΙΩ ΣΟΦΙΣΤΗ. Τοὺς παρ' ὑμᾶς φοιτῶντας νέους οὐ μόνον τὴν ἑλλάδα φωνὴν ἐκπαιδεύετε καὶ τὴν ἀττικὴν εὐγλωττίαν διδάσκετε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀξιοῦτε προμηθείας, τῆς τε τῶν ἠθῶν ἐπιμελόμενοι κοσμιότητος καὶ τὸν βίον πρὸς ἀρετὴν βλέπειν παρασκευάζοντες· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὴν ἄλλην αὐτῶν ποιεῖσθε κηδεμονίαν, τῶν ἀδικεῖν πειρωμένων ἀπαλλάττοντες, τοὶς ὠφελεῖν δυναμένοις συνιστῶντες, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τὰ πατέρων ἐργαζόμενοι· ταῦτα γὰρ ἴδια τῶν καθ' ὑμᾶς τὴν λογικὴν ταύτην σοφίαν ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχαῖς ἐμβαλλόν των. Τοιαύτας ἔχει παρὰ τῆς σῆς μεγαλονοίας εὐεργεσίας ὁ εὐγενέστατος καὶ ποθεινότατος υἱὸς ἡμῶν Φίλιππος. Καὶ γὰρ ἡνίκα οἱ περὶ τῆς κηραρχίας ἐνειστήκεισαν ἀγῶνες, τῶν [ἐν] αγωνιζομένων ἦσθα καὶ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν πραττόντων ὑπὲρ τοῦ νέου. Καὶ νῦν δέ, ὡς ἔγνων, πολλὴν ἡ σὴ μεγαλοφυΐα σπουδὴν συνεισήνεγκεν, ὥστε αὐτὸν μὴ τῶν ἀγομένων καὶ φερομένων ὑπὸ τῶν καλῶν ἡγεμόνων εἶναι, ἀλλὰ τῶν γεραιρομένων καὶ τιμῆς ἀξιουμένων. Καί σοι πολλὰ γένοιτο ἀγαθά, τοιαύτην ποιουμένῳ κηδεμονίαν τῶν πατρὸς ἐστερημένων. Ὑπὲρ μὲν οὖν τούτων καὶ ἡμεῖς χάριν ὁμολογοῦμεν τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῇ σῇ· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τέως αὐτῷ λυμαίνεται τὸ ἀξίωμα (ἀποστερεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν τοῦ βουλευτηρίου πρωτείων) καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐπιτήδειοι πρὸς τοῦτο δυσχεραίνουσι καὶ ἀπειλοῦσι μηκέτι τῶν πραγμάτων φροντίζειν, εἰ τοῦτο γένοιτο, παρακαλῶ σου τὴν σοφίαν ἀναλαβέσθαι τοῦτο τῆς εὐεργεσίας τὸ εἶδος· εὐερ γεσία γάρ ἐστι, κατὰ τὸν τῆς σῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας σκοπόν, εἰ καὶ τοῖς εἰδόσι τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράγματα βλάβη νομίζεται. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ σὴ ποιοῦσα μεγαλοπρέπεια, τὴν πατρικὴν αὖθις δείξει φιλοστοργίαν. 45 ΘΕΟ∆ΟΤΩ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΙΑΣ. ∆έδωκε παισὶν ἡ φύσις εὐκαίρως παῤῥησιάζεσθαι πρὸς πατέρας, καὶ τοῖς οἰκέταις ὁ τῆς δουλείας νόμος καὶ σιγῇ τὴν δεσποτείαν τιμᾶν καὶ λαλεῖν πρὸς τοὺς κεκτημένους