Letter 122: A young man short of means looks to Gessius's teaching as the start of an honorable life.
The bearer was raised by a widowed mother and complains of lacking necessities. Yet youth and freedom to do what he wished have not lifted him into idleness. Wanting to set his fortunes right, he loves learning and is hurrying to your tongue, expecting to draw from it enough starting capital for an honorable life.
He thinks simply looking to you will solve what pains him, and that your teaching will repair his hopes for the future. Since I know your mind and how ready you are for those who need benefit, I confidently bring the young man to you, giving you, instead of a great gift, material on which you can again practice cultivation.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Γεσσίωι ἰατροσοφιστῆι Ὁ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐπιδιδοὺς ὑπὸ μητρὶ χήρᾳ τραφεὶς καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἔνδειαν αἰτιώμενος, ὅμως οὐχ ὑπὸ νεότητος ἐπαρθεὶς οὐδ' ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ πράττειν ὅ τι θέλοι γενόμενος πρὸς ῥαθυμίαν ἀπέκλινεν, ἀλλ' ἐπανορθοῦσθαι τὴν τύχην ἐθέλων καὶ λόγων ἐρᾷ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν γλῶτταν ἐπείγεται, ἀρκοῦσαν ἀφορμὴν πρὸς εὐσχήμονα βίον ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀρυσόμενος, ὡς ἀρκοῦν ἐς ὑμᾶς ἰδεῖν καὶ τῶν λυπούντων ἔχειν τὴν λύσιν, τῇ παρ' ὑμῶν διδασκαλίᾳ τὰς πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἐλπίδας ἐπανορθούμενος. ὅθεν τὴν ὑμετέραν γνώμην εἰδὼς καὶ ὡς πρόκεισθε τοῖς εὖ παθεῖν δεομένοις, θαρρῶν ὑμῖν προσάγω τὸν νέον, ἀντὶ μεγάλης δωρεᾶς ὕλην ὑμῖν χορηγῶν τοῦ πάλιν δύνασθαι γεωργῆσαι.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern procopius gaza batch8 matia greek v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.matia.gr/pisth/pdf/pg_migne/Procopius_of_Gaza_PG_87a-87c/Epistulae.pdf
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