Letter 102: Dorotheus praises Gessius so lavishly that Procopius says he is bringing an owl to Athens.

I was delighted that you wrote recommending back to me good Dorotheus, the very man I had previously recommended to you by letter. What greater proof could there be that my letter went just as I hoped? When Dorotheus came to me, he wanted to speak of nothing but you. He wished to please me, and he was delighted by the memory of your kindness. He kept your name constantly on his lips: you were generous, good, and wrapped in Asclepius with both tongue and hand; even the austerity of medicine, he said, had been softened by the graces of your speech. As he spoke, I kept anticipating his praises before I heard them, telling him your qualities myself. Smiling, I said, "You are bringing an owl to Athens." He was all the more eager; whenever he thought he was adding something new, he found it had long been settled with me already. At last he fell silent with pleasure, thanking the gods that he had found such a teacher, one about whom everything can be said and yet nothing new can be reported. Give yourself wholly to the young man, then. If he knows nothing else, he at least knows how to remember those who do him good.

Γεσσίωι ἰατροσοφιστῆι Ἥσθην ὅτι τὸν καλὸν Δωρόθεον, ὃν ὑμῖν διὰ γραμμάτων συνέστησα πρότερον, τοῦτον ἐκ μεταβολῆς αὐτοί μοι συνιστῶντες ἐγράψατε. τί γὰρ ἂν εἴη μεῖζον τεκμήριον τοῦ κατ' ἐλπίδας ἡμῖν χωρῆσαι τὰ γράμματα; ἐλθὼν δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς οὐδὲν ἤθελε λέγειν ὅτι μὴ σέ, κἀμοὶ χαριεῖσθαι θέλων καὶ τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν σῶν εὐφραινόμενος, καί σε πολὺν ἐπὶ στόματος ἦγεν ὡς εὔνουν ὡς ἀγαθὸν ὡς γλώττῃ καὶ χειρὶ τὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν περικείμενον, καὶ ὅτι δὴ τὸ τῆς ἰατρικῆς αὐστηρὸν αἱ τῆς ὑμετέρας γλώττης παρεμυθήσαντο χάριτες. ταῦτα λέγοντος προὐλάμβανον τοὺς ἐπαίνους ἐγὼ πρὶν ἀκοῦσαι τὰ σὰ διηγούμενος, καὶ "γλαῦκα φέρεις Ἀθήναζε" πρὸς τοῦτον ἔλεγον μειδιῶν· ὁ δὲ φιλονεικότερος ἦν, καὶ δοκῶν τι καινὸν ἐπάγειν, πάλαι κείμενον εὕρισκε παρ' ἐμοί, καὶ μεθ' ἡδονῆς ἐσίγα λοιπόν, χάριν εἰπὼν ἔχειν τοῖς θεοῖς εἰ τοιοῦτον εὐτύχησε τὸν διδάσκαλον, περὶ οὗ καὶ πάντα λέγειν ἔστι καὶ καινὸν ἀπαγγέλλειν οὐδέν. ἀλλὰ σαυτὸν ὅλον φέρων ἐπίδος τῷ νέῳ, ὃς εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον, μεμνῆσθαι γοῦν οἶδε τῶν εὖ ποιούντων.