Letter 668: You cannot avoid helping the Galatians, whom you once governed, wherever they turn, and I am bound by many reasons...

To Anatolius. It is not possible for you to refrain from helping in every way the Galatians, over whom you held office, and for me there is the necessity, on many accounts, of assisting them in whatever I am able. As for Aetius, beyond the claim he has in common with the rest, I myself love him for his character, and you too would love him, reasonably, on the very same grounds. For he knows how to make trouble for no one for the sake of gain, but would endure any toil for the sake of honorable ends. Anatolius came to know these things well, who admired him in many respects, yet was not able to repay him. And he, even so, praises the man. And yet, besides his failing to obtain what he hoped for, he has suffered loss even in his own affairs, small as they are; and if he should recover them, he makes much of it. Do not, then, overlook him while he wastes his time, but see to it that he shall neither be slighted nor be quickly sent away.

Ἀνατολίῳ. (361) Οὔτε σοὶ μὴ βοηθεῖν ἔνι πανταχοῦ Γαλάταις, ὧν ἦρξας, ἐμοί τε ἀνάγκη πολλῶν εἵνεκα αὐτοῖς συμπράττειν ὅ τι ἂν δύνωμαι. Ἀέτιον δὲ πρὸς τῷ κοινῷ δικαιώματι φιλῶ μὲν αὐτὸς διὰ τοὺς τρόπους, φιλοίης δ’ ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν εἰκότως. οἶδε μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ κέρδους ἐνοχλῆσαι, πάντα δ’ ἂν ὑπὲρ καλῶν ὑπομείναι πόνον. ἔγνω ταῦτα Ἀνατόλιος καλῶς, ὃς πολλὰ μὲν αὐτὸν ἐθαύμασεν, ἀμείψασθαι δὲ οὐκ ἴσχεν. ὁ δὲ καὶ οὕτως ἐπαινεῖ τὸν ἄνδρα. καίτοι πρὸς τῷ μὴ τυχεῖν ἐλπίδος κὰν τοῖς αὑτοῦ μικροῖς οὖσιν ἐζημίωται κἂν κομίσηται, ποιεῖται μέγα. μὴ τοίνυν αὐτὸν περιίδῃς τρί- βοντα χρόνους, ἀλλ’ ὅπως μήτε καταφρονηθήσεται καὶ ταχέως ἀπαλλάξεται σκόπει.