Letter 39: I am well aware that writing now is an implicit admission that I was wrong not to write before.

That to write now carries an accusation of not having written before, I am well aware; for if I do what is just by writing now, then I was doing wrong by not writing before. But thinking it better than never to do so, I greet, however belatedly, a fellow student who has forgotten his comrade. Or do I not suppose this rightly, and is it rather you, who remember most of all, who hold back, because your nestlings are being carried off to others? But, my admirable friend, do not make this an obstacle, and do not in this way consider my affairs small, nor regard the loss of others as mine. For it is possible both that those others fly off elsewhere and that we hold fast to one another, since I both consider the noble Philagrius a friend and call him friend, a man who has taken counsel concerning his sons in a way he will never have cause to regret.

**To Leontius** (358/359) That writing to you now amounts to an indictment of myself for not having written sooner — for if I do the right thing by writing now, then I was doing wrong by not writing before — I am well aware. But judging it better late than never, I send greetings to a fellow student who has forgotten his companion. Or perhaps I am wrong in this assumption, and you remember me perfectly well but hold back because your fledglings have gone off to other teachers? But, my dear friend, do not let that be an obstacle, and do not think so little of what I have to offer, nor count another's loss as mine. For it is quite possible for them to fly off elsewhere while we still hold fast to one another. Indeed, I consider the excellent Philagrius a friend, and I call him one — a man who has made decisions about his sons that he will never have cause to regret.

Λεοντίῳ (358/359) Ὅτι μὲν τὸ νῦν ἐπιστεῖλαι κατηγορίαν ἔχει τοῦ μὴ πρό- τερον ἀπισεῖλαι, εἰ γὰρ νῦν τὰ δίκαια ποιῶ γράφων, τότε ἠδίκουν οὐ γράφων, εὖ οἶδα· κάλλιον δὲ ἡγησάμενος τοῦ μη- δέποτε τὸ βραδέως προσαγορεύω συμφοιτητὴν ἐπιλελησμένον ἑταίρου. ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ὀρθῶς ὑπολαμβάνω, σὺ δὲ μάλιστα μεμνημένος, ἐπειδὴ παρ’ ἄλλους οἱ σοὶ φέρονται νεοττοί, κατ- οκνεῖς; ἀλλ’, ὦ θαυμάσιε, μὴ τοῦτο ποιοῦ κώλυμα μηδ’ οὕτως οἴου τἀμὰ μικρὰ μηδὲ ἐμὴν τὴν ἑτέρων ζημίαν. ἔστι γὰρ καὶ ἐκείνους ἑτέρωσε πέτεσθαι καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀλλήλων ἔχεσθαι, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν καλὸν Φιλάγριον ἡγοῦμαί τε καὶ φίλον καλῶ 15 βεβουλευμένον περὶ τῶν υἱέων ἃ μήποτε μέμψαιτο.